Letters in Drug Design & Discovery - Volume 17, Issue 8, 2020

Background: Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), respiratory diseases and a major threat to mankind is spreading at an unstoppable rate affecting almost every part of the world with Europe being the most affected continent. Originated from China in December 2019 with sequence homology similar to SARS having a high rate of mutation has created a global pandemic with no effective therapy available. Objective: This editori Read More

Proteins of B-cell lymphoma (Bcl-2) family are key regulators of apoptosis and are involved in the pathogenesis of various cancers. Disrupting the interactions between the antiapoptotic and proapoptotic Bcl-2 members is an attractive strategy to reactivate the apoptosis of cancer cells. Structure-based drug design (SBDD) has been successfully applied to the discovery of small molecule inhibitors targeting Bcl-2 proteins i Read More

Background: In this work, new heterocyclic compounds containing 3-(4-tertbutylphenyl)- 5-cyclopropyl-4H-1,2,4-triazole ring were synthesized, starting from iminoester hydrochlorides and 4-tert-butylbenzhyrazide. Methods: Ethyl N-[(4-tert-butylphenyl)carbonyl]cyclopropanecarbohydrazonoate was used to synthesize 4-amino-3-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-5-cyclopropyl-4H-1,2,4-tria Read More

Background: Acetylcholine deficiency in the hippocampus and cortex, aggregation of amyloid-beta, and beta-secretase overactivity have been introduced as the main reasons in the formation of Alzheimer’s disease. Objective: A new series of cinnamic derived acids linked to 1-benzyl-1,2,3-triazole moiety were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) inhibi Read More

Background: Kinesins and tubulin inhibitors have attracted researchers’ attention as hopeful targets for achieving effective anticancer agents. Dihydropyrimidine-2-ones (DHPMs) inhibit motor proteins Eg5 in the polymerization process of tubulin, also scaffold bearing benzothiazole heterocycle can block tubulin polymerization/depolymerization. Objective: In this study, the cytotoxic effects and molecular modeling of Read More

Objectives: Trefoil factor family is expressed in several tissues of the body and provides gastric and intestinal protection and healing. This research aims to indicate the mechanism involved in its function. Methods: The intestinal epithelial cells were pretreated with JAK inhibitor AG490 or the concentration of 60ug/ml human recombinant trefoil factor, while the levels of phospho-STAT3, E-cadherin and N-cadherin were detecte Read More

Background: Protein pharmaceuticals routinely display a series of intrinsic physicochemical instabilities during their production and administration that can unfavorably affect their therapeutic effectiveness. Glycoengineering is one of the most desirable techniques to improve the attributes of therapeutic proteins. One aspect of glycoengineering is the rational manipulation of the peptide backbone to introduce new N-glycosylat Read More

Background: Pyrazolines are reported having anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and antidiabetic activities in the literature. Drugs like celecoxib, antipyrine, etc. are structurally similar to the designed compounds. Objectives: To synthesize and characterize N-acetyl pyrazole and quinoline conjugates and test them for Anti-inflammatory, Antioxidant, Antibacterial, Antiamylase and Antimalarial activities. Methods: A series of Read More

Background: Aminoglycoside 6'-N-acetyltransferase type Ib (AAC(6')-Ib) from Klebsiella pneumoniae is an established drug target and has conferred insensitivity to aminoglycosides. Aminoglycosides are often inactivated by aminoglycoside modifying enzymes encoded by genes present in the chromosome, plasmids, and other genetic elements. The AAC(6′)- Ib is an enzyme of clinical importance found in a wide variety of Read More

Background: In this study, modulators of human Chemotactic cytokine receptor 5 (CCR5) were described using a quantitative structure-activity relationship model (QSAR). This model was based on the molecule’s chemical structure. Methods: All 56 compounds of CCR5 receptor antagonists were randomly separated into two sets, 43 were reserved for training and the other 13 for testing. In the course of this study, molecular Read More

Background: Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and Tuberculosis (TB) are global concern. According to the WHO fact sheet on tuberculosis, in 2017, 10 million people fell ill with TB, and 1.6 million including 230,000 children died from the disease. There is a critical need of design and development of novel chemotherapeutic agents to combat the emergence and increasing prevalence of resistant pathogens. In the present study, a ne Read More

Background: MDA-MB-231 is a Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) cell line, which is resistant to tyrosine kinase inhibitors, such as lapatinib. Lapatinib is well-recognized as an anti- EGFR and anti-Her2 compound. Here, we report one of the possible explanations for lapatinibresistance in TNBC cells, the most incurable type of breast cancer. Methods: Using western blotting, we have observed that lapatinib-treated cells enh Read More