Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 23, Issue 5, 2016

Nanomaterials can get into the blood circulation after injection or by release from implants but also by permeation of the epithelium after oral, respiratory or dermal exposure. Once in the blood, they can affect hemostasis, which is usually not intended. This review addresses effects of biological particles and engineered nanomaterials on hemostasis. The role of platelets and coagulation in normal clotting and the intera Read More

Atherosclerosis is driven by inflammation with an involvement of innate and adaptive immune responses. Toll-like receptors, the well-defined pattern recognition receptors of the immune system, play a central role in macrophage activation. Toll-like receptors recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns expressed by a wide range of infectious agents and provide a strong link between local innate and adapti Read More

Melanoma is a leading cause of mortality from skin cancer and has a poor prognosis. Despite rapid advances in the treatment of this tumor type, the efficacy of current chemo-/targeted-therapies is still limited owing to the lack of sufficient drug accumulation in the tumor tissue and development of chemo-resistance. Recently, the application of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in cancer therapy has gained substantial Read More

Expanding antibiotic use in clinical practice and emergence of bacterial resistance are fueling research efforts for the development of novel antibacterials. Underexploited or completely novel mechanistic approaches and biological targets are of especial interest. Undecaprenyl pyrophosphate synthase (UppS) is an essential enzyme in the biosynthesis of the bacterial cell wall. Although UppS is a validated target, Read More

The development of multifunctional theranostic agents has become an intriguing venture for personalized oncology, because they can integrate tumor diagnosis and therapy. One approach explored to obtain such multifunctional theranostic agents is through the chemical conjugation of anticancer drugs and contrast agents with various cancer-targeted ligands. The other approach is based on the nanoplatform, in which Read More

The anti-cancer properties of liquorice have been attributed, at least in part, to glycyrrhizin (GL). However, GL is not directly absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract. It is hydrolyzed to 18-β-glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), the pharmacologically active metabolite, by human intestinal microflora. GA exhibits remarkable cytotoxic and anti-tumor properties. The pro-apoptotic targets and mechanisms of action of GA have been extensiv Read More