Current Drug Targets - Volume 26, Issue 7, 2025

Acne vulgaris is the 8^th most commonly prevailing skin disorder worldwide. Its pervasiveness has been predominant in juveniles, especially males, during adolescence and in females during adulthood. The lifestyle and nutrition adopted have been significantly reported to impact the occurrence and frequency of acne. It typically occurs over the regions of the forehead, upper chest, and back of the body, which are regions with high proportions of active sebaceous follicles. The market today is flooded with the pool of anti-acne medications (oral, topical/systemic) that contain either a single therapeutic agent or a blend targeting multiple pathological pathways. However, the clinical applicability of these preparations is limited due to formulation stability, drug penetrability, and targeting, the incidence of secondary effects, antibiotic resistance, etc. Moreover, the effectiveness of the former therapies varies as per the type and severity of acne. Therefore, it is necessary to extensively research skin physiology under normal and diseased conditions so that newer, safer, and more effective medications can be devised. Moreover, their safety and efficacy should be validated by employing various acne models, and their comparative profiling should be done with standard marketed anti-acne preparations. Acne models assist to uncover the complex disease pathogenesis and identify the potential targets for therapeutic interventions. This review is an attempt to highlight varied in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo testing procedures done to assess drug efficacy, track disease progression, and compare test substances with existing treatments. By presenting a unified approach to acne modeling, this review will assist researchers in selecting the most appropriate model for their specific research goals, helping them to generate valuable and reproducible data to support the development of effective acne therapies.

Despite their hazardous nature, snake venoms hold immense potential for the development of novel therapies. This summary delves into the key aspects of snake venom research, focusing on their significance as targets for neutralization, their utility as novel drugs, the application of in silico studies, and future prospects with nanotechnology.

Significance of Snake Venom: Snake venom harbors a rich diversity of toxic proteins with a wide range of biological activities. Its importance lies in the possibility of neutralizing its detrimental effects and exploring its therapeutic potential for diverse ailments.

Venom Neutralization: The development of more effective and specific antivenoms is crucial for treating snakebites, particularly in regions with a high prevalence of accidents. Molecular-level venom studies are essential for identifying novel targets for the development of more efficacious antivenoms.

Venom as a Source of Novel Drugs: Proteins present in snake venom exhibit diverse pharmacological activities, including antithrombotic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antimicrobial properties. Investigating these proteins can lead to the development of novel medications for various diseases.

In silico Studies: Bioinformatics tools and molecular modelling can aid in the discovery of novel molecular targets in snake venom, accelerating the process of developing new drugs and therapies.

Nanotechnology for Drug Delivery: Nanotechnology offers new possibilities for developing more efficient and targeted drug delivery systems, enhancing the safety and effectiveness of snake venom-based treatments.

Snake venom research represents a promising area of inquiry with immense potential for the development of novel drugs and therapies. The integration of traditional and innovative techniques, such as in silico studies and nanotechnology, can accelerate this process and contribute to the advancement of public health.

A range of heterocyclic compounds, including Isatin (oneH-indole-2, 3-dione) and its by-products, have been shown to represent potential unit blocks in the synthesis of potential medicinal agents. Numerous studies have been carried out on isatin, its synthesis, biological uses, and its chemical composition since when it was discovered. Functionally, these isatin-containing heterocycles have demonstrated antibacterial, antidiabetic, antiviral, antitubercular, and anticancer properties, among many others. In vitro and In vivo efficaciousness of several Isatin moieties has been assessed in recent years based on their antimicrobial qualities. Isatin has shown great promise as a flexible heterocycle in the realm of drug development in recent years. Many viruses have caused extensive epidemics during the last 50 years, which have had detrimental effects on social, economic, and health conditions. The current unprecedented SARS-CoV-2 epidemic necessitates intensive research into the development of potent antiviral medications. It has been shown that Isatin, a flexible heterocycle, has a great deal of potential for drug development. Appropriately functionalized Isatin compounds have shown noteworthy and extensive antiviral activities throughout the last fifty years. The goal of this study is to gather all known data on Isatin derivatives' antiviral activity, emphasizing their structure-activity correlations as well as research on mechanistic and molecular modelling. We think that the scientific community will find this review to be a useful tool in the development of more efficient and powerful antiviral treatments based on Isatin scaffolds.

Proteases, once thought to degrade proteins solely, are also recognized as key signaling molecules central to numerous physiological processes, including bone remodeling. Dysregulated protease contributes to various pathological diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, inflammation, osteoporosis, and neurological disorders. Protease targeting is now quite far along; some small molecules are already on the market, and others are in development. Despite drugs having been successfully developed to inhibit well-defined proteases, including angiotensin-converting enzyme and HIV protease, designing selective inhibitors for the newly identified protease targets is still difficult owing to problems like poor target selectivity. This review covers principles guiding the discovery of protease drugs with focus on recent approaches, including the use of allosteric sites. In bone remodeling, proteases are involved in the regulation of cell surface properties and extracellular matrix in the degradation process that is fundamental to bone mineral density and quality. In particular, cathepsins, dipeptidyl peptidases, and caspases have become attractive targets for the therapy of osteoporosis. Selective inhibitors are different from other drugs in the way that they selectively inhibit bone resorption processes and do not bear on osteoblast survival factors or bone formation. However, some inhibitors proved to be effective in increasing bone density in osteoporotic patients, but due to side effects, they were withdrawn, highlighting the necessity of selective inhibitors. Newer generations of selective allosteric inhibitors aiming at protease activity would be safer and give an unexplored therapeutic angle to tackle osteoporosis without interfering with other physiological processes.