Current Molecular Medicine - Volume 7, Issue 2, 2007

One of the great demands and challenges for vaccination is to successfully target the pathogens responsible for much of mankind's chronic disease burden including: AIDS, infectious hepatitis, tuberculosis and malaria. Another is realizing the potential of therapeutic immunization to cure diseases such as cancer, allergy and inflammatory autoimmunity. To achieve these objectives, the fundamental insights gained from immunology Read More

Two hematopoietic cytokines are currently gaining increasing attention within neurological research. Erythropoietin (EPO) and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) have long been known for their ability to induce the proliferation of certain populations of hematopoietic lineage cells. However, it has recently been found that EPO, G-CSF, and their respective receptors are also expressed in the human central nervous s Read More

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2), and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) are the etiological agents of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in humans and a related disease in non-human primates. These viruses infect T cells and macrophages that express the surface glycoprotein, CD4, because this glycoprotein acts as a coreceptor for incoming virus pa Read More

Similar to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the hepatitis B virus (HBV) replicates via reverse transcription, in this case, within infected hepatocytes. Substantial advances have been achieved in the past ten years in developing and utilizing nucleoside/nucleotide analog drugs to inhibit HBV replication. Most are chain terminators that interfere with one or more steps in the replication cycle. Four of them (lamivudine, ade Read More

This article aims to give an overview on the characterization, properties and regulation of enzymes, particularly the cytochrome (CYP) P450 enzymes, in the formation of bile acids from cholesterol. Bile acids are biologically active molecules that promote absorption of dietary lipids in the intestine and stimulate biliary excretion of cholesterol. Bile acids and oxysterols, formed from cholesterol, act as ligands to nuclear rece Read More

Current treatments for AMI centre on prompt restoration of epicardial coronary blood flow. Despite improvements, AMI is still associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Novel approaches are therefore keenly sought. Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1, CD54) is a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily. It is implicated in neutrophil and monocyte-endothelial cell adhesion, processes contributing to myoc Read More