Mini Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 10, Issue 2, 2010

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is mainly an auto-immune disease characterized by inflammation in joints. 1 in 50 people develop RA at some stage and at any age. This review summarizes the etiology, pathophysiology, risk factor, and treatment related to RA. The emphasis has been laid in particular on the new potential biological targets and the possible treatment as well as the current ongoing research status on RA.

The polyplexes which are formed between cationic polymers and DNA through electrostatic interactions and thus known as polycation/DNA complexes, are by far the most widely used non-viral gene delivery vectors. Many factors such as molecular weight, surface charge, charge density, hydrophilicity and the structure of cationic polymers affect gene transfection efficiency of cationic polymers. Therefore, optimiz Read More

Currently, polycationic nanoparticles (polycation) as nonviral vectors are promising to overcome the defects of traditional viral vectors. This review focuses on the recent progress and challenges to improve the transfection efficacy and circulation time of polyplexes (complexes between polycation and pDNA or oligonucleotides such as siRNA ) in vivo.

Aberrant Ret kinase activity has been implicated in multiple carcinomas and disorders. Many strategies have been implemented to identify Ret kinase inhibitors. This review details current efforts to discover novel small molecule Ret kinase inhibitiors. Furthermore, we compile a comprehensive list of Ret kinase inhibitors and describe clinical results of advanced assets with Ret inhibitory activity.

AIDS, the fatal disease, caused in human by the fast spreading human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), was detected in 1981. To check its rapid growth, affecting various parts of the world population, there are various FDA approved drugs, released in the market for treating AIDS. These belong to 5 different categories which differ in their mechanism of action. These are i) reverse transcriptase inhibitors, ii) protease inhibi Read More

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a severe health problem all over the world. However, there is still no satisfactory anti-HBV therapeutic strategy. Currently, promising alternative approaches toward the control of HBV infection include the development of structurally novel and more potent inhibitors obtained from natural products and structural modifications of synthetic molecules as seen in many cases. In this review, we Read More

Photo-sensitive liposomes have been studied for a few decades and various photo-sensitive triggers have been developed so far. This review offers an overview of the different photo-triggering mechanisms for controlled pulsatile content release from liposomes, which have the potential of finding clinical applications as intelligent drug delivery systems.