Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology - Volume 15, Issue 11, 2014

Proteins in the cell experience various stressful conditions that can affect their ability to attain and maintain the structural conformations they need to perform effectively. Protein chaperones are an important part of a cellular protein quality control system that protects the integrity of the proteome in the face of such challenges. Chaperones from different conserved families have multiple members that cooperate to regul Read More

Presenilin (PS) was identified in screens for mutations causing the early onset forms of familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD) in 1995. As catalytic units of the γ-secretase complex, presenilins participate in the processing of amyloid beta protein (Aβ), the main component of deposits in brain of patients with AD. The more than 90 substrates of γ-secretase isolated so far demonstrate its contribution to wide range of cellular proce Read More

Prion diseases which are serious neurodegenerative diseases that affect humans and animals occur in various of species. Unlike many other neurodegenerative diseases affected by amyloid, prion diseases can be highly infectious. Prion diseases occur in many species. In humans, prion diseases include the fatal human neurodegenerative diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), Fatal Familial Insomnia (FFI), Gers Read More

Prion diseases are progressive neurodegenerative diseases that are associated with conformational changes that convert normal cellular prion protein (PrPC) into an abnormal pathogenic prion protein (PrPSc). It is widely recognized that prion diseases are forms of transmissible amyloidosis and are considered to be protein-misfolding diseases (conformational diseases), a category that also includes Alzheimer’s disease. Trace Read More

Recently the prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically across much of the world. Obesity, as a complex, multifactorial disease, and its health consequences probably result from the interplay of environmental, genetic, and behavioral factors. Several lines of evidence support the theory that obesity is programmed during early development and that environmental exposures can play a key role. We therefore hypot Read More

Neoflavonoids comprise a group of natural compounds with varied chemical structures and promising pharmacological properties, including antioxidant capacity. This work describes an evaluation of the in vitro antioxidant capacity of a new coumarin derivative, i.e., 7-acetoxy-4-aryl-3,4-dihydrocoumarin, in terms of its ability to quench the 2,2- diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH•), 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulf Read More

Oridonin, an ent-kaurane diterpenoid mainly extracted from Chinese medical plant Rabdosia rubescens and some related species, has been reported its remarkable antitumor efficacy in various cancer cells. This review will be focused on the underlying molecular mechanisms for the treatments of oridonin in hematological malignancies, which include the regulation of oncoproteins (AML1-ETO, NPM1 mutants, PML-RA Read More