Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 24, Issue 3, 2017

Aromatic amino acid, cysteine sulfinic acid, glutamate and histidine decarboxylases, belonging to group II of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent enzymes, catalyze the synthesis of dopamine/serotonin, hypotaurine, γ-aminobutyric acid and histamine, respectively. Considering that these reaction products are all essential bioactive molecules, group II decarboxylases have been long studied from an evolutionary, biochemic Read More

Background: Pregnancy specific β1-glycoproteins (PSGs) have long been recognized as trophoblast quality and embryo viability markers. However, biological roles of PSGs remain obscure, and structure/function relationships to other feto-placental proteins as well as implications for drug design have not been reviewed. This review summarizes and discusses advances in 45-year studies of PSGs with focus on the latest achieveme Read More

Graphene-based nanomaterials have drawn abundant interest in various fields such as biomedicine in recent years. Thanks to the ultra-high surface area of single-layered graphene, higher molecular loading is obtained. In addition, easy modifications were acquired because of its ample oxygen-content functional groups. Owing to its excellent physical- chemical properties, graphene-based nanomaterials have been widel Read More

Infectious urinary stones make a serious medical problem concerning up to 20% of population. Additionally, recurrence after treatment reaches 50%. The formation of infectious urinary stones is connected with urinary tract infection with various bacteria. These are mainly the bacteria from Proteus species which have been isolated in 70% of bacteriainduced urinary stone cases. These microorganisms produce urease - a bac Read More

Background: Muscular dystrophies are inherited disorders characterized by progressive skeletal muscle degeneration without curative therapy. The specific defective protein in each type of muscular dystrophy has been associated with different deleterious factors that contribute to the progression of the disease. Among these factors, the impairment of calcium homeostasis, the ubiquitin-proteasome dysfunction, and th Read More