Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 9, Issue 17, 2002

Developments in the domain of non-peptide opioid receptor agonists, beginning from the first evidence of opiate binding to definite receptors, are briefly summarized. The recent achievements are in a more detailed way depicted and discussed.Novel agonists for each of three opioid receptor basic types (δ, κ and μ) are presented with the special emphasis on one-type-selective ligands. Such selective or even specific agonists h Read More

This paper is the second part of the review on opioid receptor ligands and deals with the progress in the field of non-peptide opioid receptor antagonists (starting from the pioneering opiate studies in the early seventies) with particular stress on the last decade accomplishments.As X-ray high resolution structure determination of the ligand-receptor systems for G protein-coupled receptors meets with considerable experim Read More

Oxidative damage is shown to affect every class of biological macromolecule in Alzheimer disease. Disruptions in iron and copper homeostasis are understood as being key players in neurodegenerative disease pathogenesis. Metal homeostasis as it pertains to alterations in brain function in neurodegenerative diseases is reviewed here with its relations to oxidative stress. While there is substantial documented evidence for al Read More

Cisplatin represents one of the most potent drugs available in the cancer chemotherapy for several solid tumors, such as germ cell tumors, ovarian, lung, head and neck, and bladder cancers. Structure-activity relationship studies showed that leaving groups (generally chlorine) and two amine ligands in platinum complexes must be in the cis orientation and that the corresponding trans compounds are inactive. During th Read More

Recent advances in growth factor therapy for the treatment of ischemic disease of the heart and peripheral vasculature offer hope for a novel strategy that is based on the generation of a new blood supply. Members of the fibroblast growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor families and several other molecules have all been shown to induce significant angiogenesis in animal models of acute or chronic, myoc Read More

A variety of hydroxamic acid derivatives have recently been touted for their potential use as inhibitors of hypertension, tumor growth, inflammation, infectious agents, asthma, arthritis, and more. Here we provide a comprehensive review of the basic medicinal chemistry and pharmacology of hydroxamic acid derivatives that have been examined as inhibitors of zinc metalloproteases, matrix metalloproteinase Read More