Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 7, Issue 8, 2000

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are the subject of ever increasing interest because of their presumed involvement in the etiology of numerous clinical disorders. Unfortunately, the absence of atomic-level structural data, as well as the pharmacological complexity of these receptors leaves many fundamental questions unanswered. An understanding of how ligands interact with the receptor and, in-turn, ho Read More

The continuing specter of resistance to antimicrobial agents has driven a sustained search for new agents that possess activity on drug resistant bacteria. Although several paths are available to reach this goal, the most generalized would be the discovery and clinical development of an agent that acts on a new target which has not yet experienced selective pre-ssure in the clinical setting. Such a target should be essential to th Read More

Nitric oxide (NO) possesses many physiological effects and S-nitrosothiols have been identified in a variety of tissues exhibiting many NO-like activities. This review focuses on the latest discoveries pertaining to the biological functions of S-nitrosothiols and the recent research progress in the chemical properties and biomedical applications of RSNOs.

Advances in combinatorial chemistry, high-throughput screening, and molecular modeling have revolutionized the process of drug discovery in the pharmaceutical industry. Drug discovery efforts for the primary protozoal parasitic diseases of the developing world, malaria, leishmaniasis, and trypanosomiasis, have also begun to employ these tech-niques. Drug targets in these parasites, exemplified by cysteine proteases and t Read More