Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 21, Issue 41, 2015

The family of NADPH oxidase (Nox) proteins plays an integral role in the homeostatic functions of the cell, including gene expression, cell migration, proliferation, senescence and inflammation. There are currently 4 isoforms (Nox1, 2, 4 and 5) that are expressed across all cell types of the vascular system and play an important role in many physiological processes such as endothelial function, vascular tone and angiogenesi Read More

Experimental and clinical studies provided evidence that formation of intra-platelet reactive oxidant species (ROS) is implicated in the process of thrombosis. Animal models demonstrated that enhanced ROS formation was associated with serious thrombotic complications and death. In recent years, nutritional and therapeutic approaches were tested to modulate ROS mediated thrombus formation. The use of a nutritional appr Read More

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) contribute to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease, including hypertension, atherosclerosis, cardiac hypertrophy, heart failure and restenosis. Thiol proteins and thiol oxidoreductases are key players in cell signaling, and their altered expression and/or activity has been associated with a disrupture in cardiac and vascular homeostasis. Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) is a thiol oxi Read More

Liver fibrosis is a pathological consequence of chronic liver diseases and results from the progressive accumulation of altered extracellular matrix, highly enriched in type I and III fibrillar collagens. In advanced stages, fibrosis leads to cirrhosis, defined by abnormal liver architecture and altered vascularization. Clinical consequences of cirrhosis are failure in the synthetic function of the liver, portal hypertension, high susceptibility Read More

Inner ear pathologies are associated with major morbidity and loss of life quality in affected patients. In many of these conditions, production of reactive oxygen-species (ROS) is thought to be a key pathological mechanism. While the sources of ROS are complex (including for example mitochondria), there is increasing evidence that activation of NOX enzymes, in particular NOX3, plays a key role. NOX3 is a multi-subunit Read More

Pathological angiogenesis in the retina is a leading cause of serious vision loss in potentially blinding eye diseases, including proliferative diabetic retinopathy, retinopathy of prematurity and the wet form of agerelated macular degeneration. Hypoxia is thought to be the driver of pathological angiogenesis, and transcription factors such as hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are key me Read More

The NADPH oxidases (NOX) represent a family of 7 related transmembrane enzymes that share a basic structural paradigm and the common ability to utilize NADPH to synthesize superoxide and other reactive oxygen species (ROS). NOX isoforms are distinguished from each other by their amino acid sequences, expression levels in different cell types, the mechanisms of enzyme activation and the type of ROS that are gene Read More

Nox generated ROS, particularly those derived from Nox1, Nox2 and Nox4, have emerged as important regulators of the actin cytoskeleton and cytoskeleton-supported cell functions, such as migration and adhesion. The effects of Nox-derived ROS on cytoskeletal remodeling may be largely attributed to the ability of ROS to directly modify proteins that constitute or are associated with the cytoskeleton. Additionally, Nox-deriv Read More

Oxidative stress-related diseases underlie many if not all of the major leading causes of death in United States and the Western World. Thus, enormous interest from both academia and pharmaceutical industry has been placed on the development of agents which attenuate oxidative stress. With that in mind, great efforts have been placed in the development of inhibitors of NADPH oxidase (Nox), the major enzymatic Read More