Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 21, Issue 3, 2015

Phosphodiesterase 2 (PDE2) is a ubiquitous enzyme whose major role is to hydrolyze the important second messengers cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). In the central nervous system, pharmacological inhibition of PDE2 results in boosted cAMP and/or cGMP signaling, which is responsible for series of changes in protein expression relevant to psychiatric and learnin Read More

Phosphodiesterases (PDEs) are a super family of 11 enzyme families responsible for the hydrolysis of the intracellular secondary messengers cyclic AMP (cAMP) and cyclic GMP (cGMP). PDE4, in particular, is highly expressed in brain regions involved with regulation of memory, anxiety, and depression, including the hippocampus, amygdala, and nucleus accumbens. Senescence has been shown to result in extreme dysregula Read More

Phosphodiesterases (PDEs) are the only known enzymes to degrade intracellular cyclic AMP and/or cyclic GMP. The PDE superfamily consists of 11 families (PDE1– PDE11), each of which has 1 to 4 subtypes. Some of the subtypes may have multiple splice variants (e.g. PDE4D1–PDE4D11), leading to a total of more than 100 known proteins to date. Growing attention has been paid to the potential of PDEs as therapeutic targ Read More

Phosphodiesterase inhibitors (PDE-Is) enhance cAMP and/or cGMP signaling via reducing the degradation of these cyclic nucleotides. Since both cAMP and cGMP signaling are essential in a variety of cellular functions, including neuroplasticity and neuroprotection, PDE-Is are receiving increased attention as possible targets for treatment of age-related cognitive decline as well as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In this review Read More

Developing therapeutics for traumatic brain injury remains a challenge for all stages of recovery. The pathological features of traumatic brain injury are diverse, and it remains an obstacle to be able to target the wide range of pathologies that vary between traumatic brain injured patients and that evolve during recovery. One promising therapeutic avenue is to target the second messengers cAMP and cGMP with phosphodieste Read More

Stroke is the fourth leading cause of mortality and neurological disability. It is caused by an intricate interplay of environmental and genetic factors. Genes not only influence susceptibility to stroke but have also been found to alter the response to pharmacological agents and may also influence the clinical outcome of the disease. Current treatment strategies for stroke include tissue plasminogen activator, antiplatelet agents and Read More

The harmful effects caused by misuse of psychoactive substances have raised both medical and social problems. Substance dependence is a chronic relapsing disorder, which appears to involve neuroadaptive changes in cellular signaling and downstream gene expression. The unchanged consumption of present substances and increasing demand for new psychostimulants make the development of novel management/tre Read More

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal-dominant inherited neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor dysfunction, cognitive decline, and emotional and psychiatric disturbances. The genetic mutation is characterized by a CAG expansion, resulting in the formation of a mutant huntingtin protein with an expanded polyglutamine repeat region. Mutated huntingtin has been shown to impair a number of physiologic Read More

Cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP are essential second messengers that regulate multiple signaling pathways in virtually all cell types. Their accumulation in cells is finely regulated by cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (PDEs), the only enzymes that can degrade these signaling molecules and thus provide exquisite control over intracellular signaling processes. One PDE family, PDE10A, is highly enriched in the brain and its unique ex Read More

Phosphodiesterase 11A (PDE11A) is the most recently discovered 3’, 5’-cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase. By breaking down both cAMP and cGMP, PDE11A is a critical regulator of intracellular signaling. To date, PDE11A has been implicated to play a role in tumorigenesis, brain function, and inflammation. Here, we consolidate and, where necessary, reconcile the PDE11A literature to evaluate this enzyme as a potential th Read More