Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 22, Issue 39, 2016

Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are a superfamily of transmembrane proteins that mediate intracellular signaling by phosphorylating substrate proteins involved in cell proliferation, survival, differentiation or migration. The Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor (HER) family belongs to the RTKs superfamily, and comprises four members: EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor), HER2, HER3 and HER4. Physiologically, t Read More

Quinones are among the most studied natural and synthetic products in the literature because they have considerable biological potential. These compounds exhibit activity against many microorganisms and are able to eliminate tumor cells through several mechanisms of action. Some of these compounds have become drugs that are used clinically. However, they also have problems with respect to solubility, stability and t Read More

Background: Thyroid cancer is the most common type of endocrine neoplasia. Differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) represents 94% of all thyroid cancer types. Approximately 20% experience local recurrence and 10% distant metastasis. The recurrent DTC often becomes less differentiated, loses the iodine uptake capability and consequently loses the radioactive iodine treatment option. Under these circumstances survivabilit Read More

Background: Angiogenesis is a mechanism, which tumors use to recruit oxygen and nutrients in order to maintain growth. The vascular endothelial growth factor family is the primary mediator of this process. For the last couple of decades, inhibition of angiogenesis has been the subject of extensive research, but so far anti-angiogenic drugs have only shown a modest effect. Methods: This paper reviews four relevant anti-a Read More

Histone lysine methylation can be modified by various writers and erasers. Different from other epigenetic modifications, mono-, di, and tri- methylation distinctly modulate chromatin structure and thereby contribute to the regulation of DNA-based nuclear processes such as transcription, replication and repair on their target genes depending on different sites. Modulators with opposing catalytic activities dynamically and pr Read More

The era of personalized medicine for cancer treatment has just begun opening up novel molecular targets improving cancer therapy. Members of the insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) axis have been described to be altered and to have prognostic relevance in several different tumor identities. IGF2 belongs to the most complexly regulated growth factors known. As an imprinted gene it is controlled by epigenetic alterations. IGF2 Read More

Prostate cancer remains an increasingly common malignancy worldwide. Many advances in drug development have been achieved for the conventional treatments; however, chemotherapeutic agents are distributed nonspecifically in the body where they affect both prostate cancer and healthy cells. Limited dose achievable within the prostate tumor and suboptimal treatment due to excessive toxicities reveal the importa Read More

Affinity-based chromatography assays encompass the use of solid supports containing immobilized biological targets to monitor binding events in the isolation, identification and/or characterization of bioactive compounds. This powerful bioanalytical technique allows the screening of potential binders through fast analyses that can be directly performed using isolated substances or complex matrices. An overview of the recent Read More

In recent years, advances in nanotechnology have raised the specter of developing effective agents for the treatment of high-impact diseases, like gastric cancer, which remains one of the major causes of cancer deaths worldwide. This article reviews advances in the treatment of this pathology using several types of nanoparticles. First, we start with an overview of gastric cancer, its prevention, detection and the available treatm Read More

Recent evidence highlights that energy requirements of cancer cells vary greatly from normal cells and they exhibit different metabolic phenotypes with variable participation of both glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Interestingly, mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) has been identified as an essential component in bioenergetics, biosynthesis and redox control during proliferation and metastasis of ca Read More

Quinolones have a large bio-dynamicity. Although they are well known as antibacterials, another important activity has been investigated – quinolones are able to inhibit cancer cell proliferation. In view of the great versatility associated with the synthesis of quinolones, many researchers have spent time and resources on the development of new structurally diversified quinolone derivatives with the purpose of finding new Read More

This review highlights recent advances in the preparation of silica nanoparticles (SNPs) functionalized with porphyrins and phthalocyanines for application in cancer photodiagnostic and photodynamic therapy (PDT). The use of photosensitizer-SNP formulations has emerged recently as a new nanomedicine for cancer research owing to their unique physicochemical properties, which make them useful for photo-biomedical Read More

Background: PIK3CA gene was found in generation of p110 alpha (p110α) protein through an instruction process. p110 alpha acts as a catalytic subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) proceed phosphorylation of signal molecules through PI3K pathway. This PI3K involved in regulation of cellular growth, transformation, adhesion, apoptosis, survival and motility. In some situations the PI3K/Akt pathway get altered due to Read More