Letters in Drug Design & Discovery - Current Issue

This perspective focuses on the hyper-permeable vasculature, contributing to the passive accumulation of drugs or NP-drug combinations through the paracellular and/or transcellular pathways. This unique, cardinal, pathological feature of the vasculature in solid tumors is a major determinant for the entry of anti-cancer macromolecules, with longer drug retention, attributable to imperfections in the lymphatic drainage system. Read More

Parkinson's disease (PD) is an age-related progressive neurodegenerative condition characterized by dopaminergic neuronal loss in the brain's substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc). Growing evidence suggests that apoptosis, neuroinflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidative stress are important factors in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. Isoquercetin is a natural flavanol compound possessing anti-apo Read More

Pyrazolone has a wide range of biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, antimicrobial, anti-tubercular, anti-oxidant, anti-helminthic, and anticancer effects. Due to their various clinical practice and research activities, they have a wide range of applications and prospects. They continue to be the subject of many research and analytical studies to learn more about their medicinal chemistry. I Read More

Herbal and dietary supplements are products that add more nutritional value to the diet. The use of these products has increased worldwide and has become widespread. Recently, the food products market has witnessed significant advancements in improving the health and well-being of individuals with increased nutritional requirements or in preventing related diseases and conditions. Overall, dietary supplements posses Read More

Inflammation, follicular epidermal hyperproliferation, and Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes) are the primary causes of acne vulgaris, a prevalent skin condition that affects millions of young adults and adolescents. This intricate pathophysiology leads to various acne symptoms, such as whiteheads and blackheads, inflammatory nodules, and scarring. Among the many traditional allopathic acne therapies that often have Read More

BackgroundWD repeat structural domain 5 (WDR5), which plays an important role in various biological functions through epigenetic regulation, is aberrantly expressed in human cancers, and is an effective target for the discovery of anticancer drugs.MethodsIn this paper, QSAR modeling analysis, including comparative molecular field (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity index analysis field (CoMSIA), was first per Read More

BackgroundThe adenovirus vector has been widely studied for vaccines and gene therapies. During the production of the adenovirus vector, a high virus titer is desired to obtain enough virus. The adenovirus vector has been widely studied for the vaccinations and gene therapies, where a high virus titer is desired to obtain sufficient quantities of the virus. For an adenovirus vector-based vaccine, suppression of antigen expressio Read More

BackgroundDrug resistance poses a threat to global health given the disturbing rate at which microbiological illnesses are rising and the widespread use of antibiotics. While naturally occurring antibiotics reduce the likelihood of bacterial resistance, recognized drugs can develop the same properties when structurally modified. Metronidazole has been targeted to achieve this feat.ObjectiveThe purpose of this work is to ena Read More

IntroductionNovel sulfonamides containing pyrazole and 1,2,3-triazole were synthesized, and their inhibitory effects on six common pathogenic bacteria and COX-2 were investigated to screen new sulfonamides antimicrobial agents and COX-2 inhibitors with better effects.MethodsThe compounds with bacteriostatic effect were screened by using the ring of inhibition method and MTT chromogenic method, and the mec Read More

BackgroundTemperature-sensitive (thermo-sensitive) formulations are a novel drug delivery dosage form that shows bio-inspired behavior in various applications. The structure and properties of a thermosensitive polymer are critical in designing an intelligent biometric polymer that contains lipopeptide biosurfactants.ObjectiveIn this study, thermo-sensitive hydrogels with lipopeptide biosurfactants as a potential woun Read More

IntroductionHIV-1, the primary causative agent of AIDS, remains a formidable and lethal virus globally, claiming the lives of millions over the past four decades since its discovery. Recent research has underscored the potential of HIV-1 protease as a therapeutic target, offering a promising strategy for inhibiting viral replication within the body.MethodsIn light of this, we have curated an extensive database comprising 193 de Read More

BackgroundRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a self-inflammatory disease with increasing global morbidity and high disability. The Chinese herbal medicine Rhododendron molle G. Dons has been conventionally used to control RA without side effects for hundreds of years, but its effect and mechanism for anti-RA are still unclear.ObjectiveThe objective of this study is to study the potential effect and mechanism of R. molle ag Read More

BackgroundDexamethasone (DEX), delivered through newly developed self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery systems, which is administered to rabbit eyes, has been presented. The instrumental parameters of the multiple LC-MS/MS methods in the literature are modified according to rabbit vitreous liquid and current laboratory conditions.MethodsQuick optimization of the chromatographic and mass spectrometric parameter Read More

BackgroundRheum khorasanicum is a medicinal plant that belongs to the Polygonaceae family. This family is well-known for its anticancer activities.ObjectiveDue to the limited studies on the anticancer activity of R. khorasanicum, the present study aimed to evaluate the apoptotic effect of this medicinal plant on MDA-MB-231 cells as a model for an aggressive triple-negative breast cancer that has a lower treatment optio Read More

BackgroundOxidative stress plays a key role in the development of a wide range of diseases, including diabetes and cancer. Recent studies reported that the derivatives of triazole compounds have a potent antioxidant activity. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the hepatoprotective effect of a novel newly synthesized 5-mercapto-1,2,4-triazole based on nalidixic acid [1-ethyl-3-(5-mercapto-4-(p-tolyl)- Read More

ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess the combinational antidiabetic effect of catechin and metformin in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats.MethodsWistar rats were chosen and divided into five groups (n=6). STZ at the dose of 55 mg/kg was used intraperitoneally for the induction of diabetes. The combination of catechin (CTN) and metformin (MET) was administered to diabetic rats. The changes in fasting blood sugar Read More

BackgroundInflammation is an immunological reaction against an aggressor agent. NLRP3 inflammasome is a component of the immune system, which, when excessively activated, results in several inflammatory diseases, making it an attractive target for discovering anti-inflammatory drugs. Computer-Aided Drug Design (CADD) techniques are powerful tools used to search for new drugs in less time and financial cost. Recentl Read More

BackgroundLead-like drugs, which present molecular weight (MW) < 300 Da, occupy an important space in the pharmaceutical area. Most of these small molecules have ring systems, which are important for their physicochemical properties and biological activity. Previous studies have evaluated ring systems in historic drugs or drug candidates in clinical trials.ObjectiveThe purpose of this work was to analyze ring syste Read More

BackgroundOptimal glycemic control is crucial in type 2 diabetes treatment, with α-glucosidase inhibitors emerging as promising candidates. Avenanthramides, compounds found in oats, exhibit therapeutic potential, but their efficacy as α-glucosidase inhibitors requires thorough evaluation.ObjectiveThis study investigates the potential of avenanthramides and their derivatives as inhibitors of α-glucosidase for the t Read More

IntroductionBerberine is an important isoquinoline alkaloid that has various pharmacological properties. The comparison of the binding pocket similarity of berberine is regarded as the starting point for deciphering various activities.MethodsEight berberine protein crystals were clustered and studied by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate common features of berberine binding pockets.ResultsRoot Mean Sq Read More