Infectious Disorders - Drug Targets (Formerly Current Drug Targets - Infectious Disorders) - Volume 9, Issue 1, 2009

Prion diseases are strictly fatal neurodegenerative and infectious disorders in man and animal for which no effective therapeutic or prophylactic regimens are presently available. The underlying molecular mechanism is the conformational conversion of the normal cellular prion protein (PrPc) into the pathological isoform PrPSc, accompanied by dramatic changes in biochemical properties. Prion diseases are prototypic for conf Read More

Prion diseases are infectious and fatal neurodegenerative disorders of man and animals which are characterized by spongiform degeneration in the central nervous system. In human diseases, the manifestation can be sporadic, familial or acquired by infection. Prion disorders are caused by the accumulation of an aberrantly folded isoform of the cellular prion protein (PrPc), commonly named PrPSc. Although prion diseases a Read More

Recent outbreaks of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease have aroused great concern in many countries and have necessitated the development of suitable therapies. We have demonstrated that sulfated glycans such as pentosan polysulfate and fucoidan, and amyloidophilic compounds such as amyloid dye derivatives, styrylbenzoazole derivatives, and phenylhydrazine derivatives have effic Read More

In the last decade information has accumulated on the potential anti-prion activity of polycyclic compounds. Initially we showed that the antitumoral idodoxorubicin reduced the infectivity in experimental scrapie. On the basis of the chemical homology with anthracyclines, we rapidly moved to tetracyclines, compounds that are safer and widely used as antibiotics in clinical practice. The tetracyclines, essentially doxycy Read More

Prion diseases are fatal and incurable infectious neurodegenerative disorders affecting humans and other mammals. Prions are composed essentially if not solely of PrPSc, a misfolded form of the host-encoded PrP protein. PrPSc catalyzes the transconformation of the normal endogenous PrP (PrPC) into more PrPSc. Prion replication thus corresponds to the propagation of an altered folding state of PrP. Several Read More

Until now it is still not clear which structural elements of the prion protein (PrP) are involved in its conversion process. Characterisation of these essential regions would help to understand the conversion process itself and might help to develop specific therapeutic approaches to inhibit PrPres formation by dominant inhibitory mutations. To address this important question 33 evenly spaced insertion mutants were generated spa Read More

Prions are unique in that the infectious particles contain no detectable nucleic acid and appear to consist of aggregated forms of misfolded cellular prion protein. Prions form distinct strains and can transmit disease between species. Whilst the molecular basis of prion diseases is beginning to be unravelled, much remains unknown including the atomic structure of the infectious and toxic species. In contrast, the structure and foldi Read More

Prion diseases are neurodegenerative disorders characterized by the accumulation of an abnormal prion protein named PrPSc. PrPSc results from the post-translational conformational modification of the host-encoded protein PrPC. To date there is no treatment for this inexorably fatal disease. Hence, a major focus of research consists in the identification of new molecules that could interfere with in vivo prion propagation. Pro Read More

The 37 kDa/67 kDa laminin receptor (LRP/LR) represents a key player for cell adhesion, is associated with the metastatic potential of solid tumors and is required for maintenance of cell viability by preventing apoptosis. LRP/LR acts as a receptor for viruses such as Sindbis virus, Venezuelean Equine Encephalitis (VEE) virus, Adeno-associated-viruses (AAV) and Dengue Virus, the latter causing 50 to 100 million infections in hum Read More

The transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are rapidly progressive and invariably fatal neurodegenerative diseases for which there are no proven efficacious treatments. Many approaches have been undertaken to find ways to prevent, halt, or reverse these prion diseases, with limited success to date. However, as both our understanding of pathogenesis and our ability to detect early disease increases, so do our potenti Read More

The progress in understanding disease pathology and phenomenology in prion disorders and recent advances in diagnostic techniques might allow researchers to think about therapeutic trials in CJD patients. Some attempts have been made in the past. Drugs tested involved a variety of compounds, which belong to antimicrobial, antiinflammatory or analgesic substance classes. Most papers on this subject describe single Read More