Current Drug Targets - Cardiovascular & Hematological Disorders - Volume 2, Issue 1, 2002

Ca2+ is an important secondary messenger and any alteration to intracellular Ca2+ signaling pathways or components of these pathways can have a profound physiological effect on any cell, particularly cardiomyocytes. Early approaches to investigate heart disease focused on many muscle proteins, however recent findings indicate that molecules considered as “non-muscle” proteins may be equally important players in etiol Read More

In patients with acute coronary syndromes, inhibition of platelet aggregation with parenteral αIIb / βIII antagonists has proven effective at preventing nonfatal myocardial infarction and repeat percutaneous coronary interventions. Paradoxically, the efficacy observed for acute indications and parenteral agents has not extended to oral agents and chronic prevention of secondary thrombotic events, despite robu Read More

Proteolytic degradation of fibrin (fibrinolysis) is mediated by plasminogen and its activators, tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA1) and urokinase (uPA). Fibrinolysis is critical for preventing thrombus growth and restoring blood flow following thrombotic vascular occlusion. Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), a member of the serine protease inhibitor (serpin) superfamily, is the principal inhibitor of tPA and uPA in the fibrinolyt Read More

Chagas' disease affects about 18 million people and 25% of the population of Latin America is at risk of acquiring Chagas' disease. The chemotherapy of Chagas'disease is still an open field and remains as an unsolved problem. Nifurtimox and benznidazole are currently used to treat this disease, however, both drugs have high toxicity and are mutagenic with the result that the patients frequently fail to follow treatme Read More