Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 14, Issue 36, 2008

In this decade, novel strategy against cancer, antiangiogeneic therapy, was attempted. A major microenvironmental event in tumor growth and expansion is the ‘angiogenic switch’, an alteration in the balance of pro-angiogenic and anti-angiogenic molecules that leads to tumor neovascularization. Angiogenesis, a process by which new vascular networks are formed from pre-existing capillaries or circulating endo Read More

Circulating endothelial cell (CEC) and progenitor (CEP) number and viability are modulated in various pathological conditions including cancer. There is increasing evidence showing that CEC and CEP play a role in cancer progression and metastasis in different animal models. At the clinical level, emerging data support that CEC and CEP kinetics and viability might predict the efficacy on anticancer drug combinations that include a Read More

Macrophage migration inhibitor factor (MIF) is a highly conserved and evolutionarily ancient mediator with pleiotropic effects that has been implicated in tumor growth and progression. MIF's function is unique among cytokines and its effects extend to multiple processes fundamental to tumorigenesis such as tumor proliferation, evasion of apoptosis, angiogenesis and invasion. These pleiotropic functional aspects are par Read More

Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) has recently been shown to be the most potent inhibitor of angiogenesis in the mammalian eye, and is involved in the pathogenesis of angiogenic eye disease such as proliferative diabetic retinopathy. However, a functional role for PEDF in tumor growth and angiogenesis remains to be determined. Melanoma is one of the most highly invasive and metastatic tumors. Malignant Mel Read More

We have utilized multicolored fluorescent proteins to develop three imaging models of tumor angiogenesis. In one model, the nonluminous induced capillaries are clearly visible by contrast against the very bright tumor green fluorescent protein (GFP) fluorescence examined either intravitally or by whole-body imaging in real time. Intravital images of an orthotopic model of human pancreatic tumors expressing GFP visualized ang Read More

Angiogenesis is a complex process which is critical for the growth, invasion, and metastasis of tumors. In the past ten years numerous new agents have been developed as angiogenesis inhibitors. Angiogenesis inhibitors can be classified by their targeted area of the angiogenic process; (1) VEGF and its receptors VEGFR (e.g. Bevacizumab); (2) tyrosine kinases within endothelial cells (Sunitinib); (3) proliferation of endothelial cells ( Read More

The introduction of stem cells and/or progenitor cells into damaged myocardium has promising therapeutic potential in ischemic heart diseases and dilated cardiomyopathy. However, understanding the biologic mechanisms and the outcomes of transplanted cells during cardiac regenerative therapy remains mostly limited to histological assessment. Positron emission tomography (PET) is a sensitive molecular imaging modalit Read More

Subtype selectivity of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) has been proposed to be the most salient feature for the development of drugs for asthma and inflammation. The present review provides an account of various strategies to overcome the side effects of the PDE4 inhibitors. Subtype selectivity and recent developments of molecular modeling approaches towards PDE4 were addressed using QSAR and docking, followed by a det Read More

Neurodegenerative diseases comprise a heterogeneous spectrum of neural disorders that cause severe and progressive cognitive and motor deficits. A histological hallmark of these disorders is the occurrence of disease-specific cell death in specific regional subpopulations of neurons, such as the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra in Parkinson's disease. Neurodegenerative disease can also possibly oc Read More