Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 13, Issue 34, 2007

Discovery of effective and safe drugs traditionally entails the synthesis and/or screening of large numbers of compounds. Considering that marketed compounds represent only one compound out of every 30,000 compounds synthesized, the pharmaceutical industry has devoted substantial efforts and finances to methodologies that have the potential to shorten the discovery process. One of the best strategies is t Read More

The discovery of new pharmaceuticals via computer modeling is one of the key challenges in modern medicine. The advent of global networks of genomic, proteomic and metabolomic endeavors is ushering in an increasing number of novel and clinically important targets for screening. Computational methods are anticipated to play a pivotal role in exploiting the structural and functional information to understand specifi Read More

Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs) are zinc-containing proteinases that are responsible for the metabolism of extracellular matrix proteins. Overexpression of MMPs has been associated with a wide range of pathological diseases such as arthritis, cancer, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease. The excessive and unregulated activity of Matrix Metalloproteinases type 2 (MMP-2), also known as gelatinase A, has been ident Read More

The discovery and optimization of nonbonded interactions, such as van der Waals interactions, hydrogen bonds, salt bridges and the hydrophobic effect, between small molecule ligands and their receptors is one of the main challenges in rational drug discovery. As the theory of molecular interactions advances more evidence accumulates that nonbonded interactions, such as unconventional hydrogen bonds (X-H Y interact Read More

Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship (QSAR) modeling has been traditionally applied as an evaluative approach, i.e., with the focus on developing retrospective and explanatory models of existing data. Model extrapolation was considered if only in hypothetical sense in terms of potential modifications of known biologically active chemicals that could improve compounds' activity. This critical review re-examines th Read More

Cyclooxygenases (COXs), the enzymes involved in the formation of prostaglandins from polyunsaturated fatty acids such as arachidonic acid, exist in two forms-the constitutive COX-1 that is cytoprotective and responsible for the production of prostaglandins and COX-2 which is induced by cytokines, mitogens and endotoxins in inflammatory cells and responsible for the increased levels of prostaglandins during inflammation Read More

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder, characterized by glucose overproduction and glucose underutilization. Current therapy for T2DM includes drugs, like metformin, glitazones, sulphonyl ureas, etc. Extensive research has been carried out world wide on molecular targets for T2DM like PPARγ, PTP1B, DPP-IV, GSK-3, cannabinoid receptor, fructose-bisphosphatases, β3 adrenoceptor, etc. in the development of newer a Read More

In this review, we will discuss drug design based on proven and potential anti-influenza drug targets including viral hemagglutinin (HA), neuraminidase (NA), M2 ion channel, 3P polymerase complex, and host factors such as kinases. We have summarized influenza inhibitors based on their mode of actions. For instance, included are descriptions of (1) inhibitors of HA cleavage, such as nafamostat, camostat, gabexate, Read More