Letters in Drug Design & Discovery - Volume 16, Issue 6, 2019

Background: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) is one of the key targets of insulin resistance research, in addition to being ligand-activated transcription factors of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily with a leading role in adiposeness activation and insulin sensitivity. They regulate cholesterol and carbohydrate metabolism through direct actions on gene expression. Despite their therapeutic Read More

Background: The development of drug-resistant by bacteria appears rapidly and thus making the effectiveness of antibiotics severely limited. Methods: A series of thiourea derivatives was synthesized, characterized and evaluated for their in vitro antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral activities. Results: Structures of the newly synthesized compounds were confirmed by elemental and spectral analysis. The biological res Read More

Background: Capecitabine is one of the most effective and successful drugs for the treatment of uterine and colorectal cancer which has been limited in use due to occurrence of handfoot syndrome (HFS). Overexpression of human thymidine phosphorylase enzyme is predicted to be one of the main causes of this syndrome. Thymidine phosphorylase enzyme is involved in many cancers and inflammatory diseases and pyrimi Read More

Background: N-myc downstream regulated gene 3 (NDRG3) is a newly discovered oxygen-regulated protein which will bind with L-Lactate in hypoxia and further activate Raf (rapidly accelerated fibrosarcoma)-ERK (extracellular regulated protein kinases) pathway, promoting cell growth and angiogenesis. Methods: Competitive inhibition on the binding of NDRG3 and L-Lactate may be potentially a useful strategy for the re Read More

Background: In this study, novel ortho-hydroxy N-acyl hydrazone moiety including compounds (3a-l) were designed, based on procaspase activating compound (PAC-1) which is a small molecule known with antitumor activity. The antitumor activity was evaluated on A549 (human lung cancer cell line) and CCD 19Lu (human lung normal cell line). Methods: Twelve N'-arylidene-2-[4-(methylsulfonyl)piperazin-1-yl]acetohydrazide deriv Read More

Background: In search of novel anticancer agents, a series of 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives (12a-j) containing 1,3,4-thiadiazole moieties were synthesized, and their structures were confirmed by 1HNMR, 13CNMR and ESI-MS spectral analysis. Methods: Cytotoxicity of these compounds was evaluated by MTT assay in vitro against four human tumor cell lines, i.e. A549 (lung), MCF-7 (breast), A375 (melanoma) and HT-29 (colo Read More

Background: Three series of new 7-fluoro-4-(1-piperazinyl) quinolines (I1~I6, II1~II2 and IV1~IV4) were synthesized. Their anti-tumor activity was evaluated in vitro against three human carcinoma cell lines, namely SGC-7901 cells, BEL-7402 cells and A549 cells expressing high levels of EGFR by Methyl Thiazolyl Terazolium (MTT) assay. Methods: Three series of quinoline derivatives were synthesized, characterized and evaluate Read More

Background: Large-scale energy landscape characterization of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) is important to understand the interaction mechanism and protein-protein docking methods. The experimental methods for detecting energy landscapes are tedious and the existing computational methods require longer simulation time. Objective: The objective of the present work is to ascertain the energy profiles a Read More

Background: SMS family plays a very important role in sphingolipids metabolism and is involved in the membrane mobility and signaling transduction. Methods: SMS2 subtype was related to a variety of diseases and could be regarded as a promising potential drug target. However, the uncertainty of the binding sites and the molecular mechanism of action limited the development of SMS2 inhibitors. Herein, we disco Read More

Background: In this study; we aimed to increase water solubility and formula dissolution through synthesizing more soluble chemical derivative of rutin. Objective: The synthesized rutin derivative is novel and shows an improvement in solubility and hence possibly a better oral bioavailability. The steps followed in this study are of major benefit which can be utilized by herbal and pharmaceutical industries to improve their products. Read More

Background: 1,2,3-Triazoles and imidazoles are important five-membered heterocyclic scaffolds due to their extensive biological activities. These products have been an area of growing interest to many researchers around the world because of their enormous pharmaceutical scope. Methods: The in vivo and in vitro enzyme inhibition of some thioglycosides encompassing 1,2,4- triazole N1, N2, and N3 and/or imidazole moieties Read More