Infectious Disorders - Drug Targets (Formerly Current Drug Targets - Infectious Disorders) - Volume 6, Issue 4, 2006

Candida albicans is an opportunistic pathogenic fungus capable of causing infections in an expanding population of immunosuppressed patients. The implementation of proteomics in the post-genomic era of this organism can provide vital information about its biological complexity and pathogenic traits. C. albicans proteomic analyses to date have focused on the understanding of the cell wall, virulence, dimorphism, anti Read More

Oxazolidinones are a new class of totally synthetic antibacterial agents with wide spectrum of activity against a variety of clinically significant susceptible and resistant bacteria. These compounds have been shown to inhibit translation at the initiation phase of protein synthesis. DuP-721, the first oxazolidinone showed good activity against M. tuberculosis when given orally or parenterally to experimental animals but was n Read More

Significant momentum has been recently generated in understanding the HIV fusion process. This has led to the development of a host of HIV entry inhibitors which are currently in preclinical and/or clinical development or have been approved for clinical use. In this review we update our understanding of HIV fusion, specifically highlighting novel mechanisms and agents that inhibit this process. Major focus will be placed o Read More

The therapeutic armamentarium for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection continues to expand. New targets such as entry and integration have recently been successfully exploited. However, HIV-infected patients in need of treatment are currently committed to lifelong suppressive therapy. The persistence of integrated HIV DNA genomes capable of producing virus is a fundamental obstacle to the eradic Read More

The development of microbial resistance to practically all currently used antimicrobial agents has spurred efforts to develop new antibiotics and to identify novel targets in bacterial cells. This review summarizes the evidence for inhibition of bacterial ribosomal subunit formation as a target for many antibiotics distinct from their well-known inhibition of translation. Features of a model to explain this activity are explored. Results Read More

Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors (NNRTIs) have become an inherent component of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infections. One of the most serious problems associated with NNRTIs is that the virus exhibits resistance to the drug through mutation once the virus is exposed to the drug. New inhibitors effective against these muta Read More