Mini Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 15, Issue 6, 2015

It is estimated that a typical myocardial infarction results in the loss of approximately one billion functional cardiomyocytes, which are replaced by a non-contractile fibrous scar, eventually leading to heart failure. The currently available surgical, drug, and device-based therapies cannot reverse the loss of functional myocardium, which is the fundamental cause of the problem. As a result of this lack of an available medical solutio Read More

MicroRNAs are a class of non-coding RNA molecules that have been reported to play a crucial role in cell signaling via post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. There is increasing evidence showing that this class of RNA is involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascuular diseases, including atherosclerosis. More recently, it has been demonstrated that microRNAs can function to protect against the develop Read More

Hepatocellular carcinoma is a leading unnatural death worldwide, and it causes second most common cancer related death. Hepatocellular carcinoma development is distinct from other types of cancer, which is usually based on hepatic cirrhosis resulted from various etiologies including viral hepatitis, non-alcoholic liver diseases and alcohol abuse. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of small, non-coding sequences with app Read More

MicroRNAs are short noncoding 18-25 nucleotide long RNA which bind and inhibit mRNA. Currently, there are over 1000 known human microRNAs, and microRNAs control over 50% of mammalian protein coding genes. MicroRNAs can be overexpressed or repressed in different diseases and inhibition or replacement of microRNAs is a promising area of study for therapeutics. Here we review the current knowledge of microRN Read More

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a novel class of endogenous, short, non-coding, posttranscriptional RNAs, which play important roles in regulating lots of important biological functions. Evidences show that altered expression of miRNAs are involved in pathological hypertrophy and cardiac failure, making it possible to target miRNAs as a novel therapy. In this review, we focus on very recent progresses in the regulation of miRNAs in Read More

Discovery of novel drugs that are able to prevent angiogenesis is a fast growing branch of cancer research. Current approaches to cancer chemotherapy include the use of alkylating agents, antimetabolites, antitumor antibiotics, platinum analogs and drugs derived from natural compounds. However, most of the currently used chemotherapeutic drugs have adverse side effects on normal healthy cells. In addition Read More

Telomeric diseases are a group of rare progeroid genetic syndromes, presenting premature aging phenotypes, characterized for defects on telomere maintenance. In humans, telomeres are heterochromatic structures consisting of long TTAGGG repeats located at the chromosomal ends, which shorten progressively after each DNA replication because of the ‘end replication problem’. Critically short telomeres activat Read More

Viruses cause many diseases in humans from the rather innocent common cold to more serious or chronic, life-threatening infections. The long-term sideeffects, sometimes low effectiveness of standard pharmacotherapy and the emergence of drug resistance require a search for new alternative or complementary antiviral therapeutic approaches. One new approach to inactivate microorganisms is photodynamic antim Read More