Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 4, Issue 15, 2004

Metals are both targets and tools for chemotherapeutic intervention. Metals in Medicine is a dynamic interdisciplinary research field whose major goals are to contribute to an understanding of the role of endogenous and exogenous metals in disease, and to exploit this knowledge for managing or curing fatal illnesses. In 2000, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Healt Read More

NAMI-A, i. e. (imH)[trans-RuCl4(dmso-S)(im)] (im = imidazole, dmso = dimethylsulfoxide), is a Ru(III) complex that, after extensive preclinical investigations that evidenced its remarkable and specific activity against metastases, has recently and successfully completed a Phase I trial (first ruthenium complex ever to reach clinical testing). This review article, after a brief summary of the main chemical and pharmacological Read More

Nuclear DNA is the cellular target for many cancer treatments, and DNA-directed chemotherapies continue to play an important role in drug discovery in the postgenomic era. The majority of DNA-targeted anticancer agents bind through covalent interactions, non-covalent intercalation or groove binding, or hybrid binding modes. The sequence and regiospecificity of these interactions and the resulting structural alterations Read More

The zinc-dependent enzymes known as matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are medicinal targets due to the activity of these enzymes associated with diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and arthritis. The development of most MMP inhibitors (MPIs) has followed a basic design formula: a peptidomimetic backbone is attached to a zinc-binding group (ZBG). MPI backbones have varied enormously and improved with increas Read More

The trivalent gallium cation is capable of inhibiting tumor growth, mainly because of its resemblance to ferric iron. It affects cellular acquisition of iron by binding to transferrin, and it interacts with the iron-dependent enzyme ribonucleotide reductase, resulting in reduced dNTP pools and inhibition of DNA synthesis. The abundance of transferrin receptors and the up-regulation of ribonucleotide reductase render tumor cell Read More

Whilst nitric oxide (NO) has emerged as one of the most versatile and ubiquitous molecules in the human body with a diverse range of physiological functions, dysfunction in NO biosynthesis or metabolism has led to the pathogenesis of a number of disease states. A variety of therapeutic strategies have therefore emerged that either reduce or increase endogenous NO levels depending on the disease pathology. The pred Read More

Despite advances made in its therapeutic management, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has remained an intractable problem, and complete eradication of the virus an unrealized goal. Experience in the clinical application of combination therapy using a variety of reverse transcriptase and protease inhibitors have revealed a number of challenges, in spite of the observed albeit temporary success in reducti Read More

Iron chelators may be of value as therapeutic agents in the treatment of cancer. They may act by depleting iron, a necessary nutrient, and limiting tumor growth. Alternatively or additionally, they may form redox-active metal complexes that cause oxidative stress via production of reactive oxygen species, damaging critical intracellular targets and thereby eliciting a cytotoxic response. Studies in vitro have evaluated the stru Read More

The remarkable discovery of the enediyne antitumor antibiotics almost two decades ago has led to significant developments in the systematic design and study of simple synthetic enediyne constructs and their Bergman cyclization reactivities. Advances in understanding both the geometric and electronic factors that are important in influencing the activation barrier to formation of the potent 1,4-phenyl diradical intermediat Read More