Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 23, Issue 27, 2016

Mesenchymal stem cells are spindle-like plastic adherent multipotent cells that can differentiate into multiple specialized cell types including osteoblasts, chondrocytes and adipocytes. They were isolated from many tissues and organs and they contribute to the maintenance and regeneration of several tissues. Besides their ability of self-renewal, they have recently been shown to have a clinical/therapeutic potential particularly for their immunomodulatory properties. Indeed recent studies suggested a potential application of MSCs for the treatment of experimental autoimmune disorders. It was demonstrated that their effects are in part mediated by the release of soluble factors or extracellular vesicles, including exosomes and microvesicles, stimulating or inhibiting target cells. This review will describe the secretome of MSCs, pointing the attention on the components relevant for their immunodulatory activities.

Disruption of binding of two or more molecules to a protein surface is a common basis of inhibition of many biological activities. Smallmolecule inhibitors, antibodies, proteins, and peptidomimetics have been examined as ways to antagonize receptor activity. The peptide α-helix plays a crucial role in the function of many proteins. Hence, much effort has been invested in mimicking α-helices at the binding interface of two proteins to competitively inhibit their interactions. Peptide stapling involves choosing two amino acids on the same face of a native peptide sequence for substitution with non-native amino acids whose side chains can be “stapled” together. The focus of this review is to survey the prevalence in literature of stapled peptides and small-molecule antagonists of interactions of selected mammalian cancer targets, such as β-catenin, BH3-only members of the Bcl-2 family of proteins, eIF4E/G, estrogen receptor complexes, EZH2, Mdm2, Notch, p110α, and survivin. The increasing interest in protein targets currently considered to be “undruggable” with greater selectivity for existing targets, with the goal of overcoming the omnipresent problem of resistance, could be served well by utilizing information about protein–protein interactions to develop both small-molecule and stapled peptide inhibitors.

Pancreatic β-cell dysfunction and insulin resistance are the main characteristics of type 2 diabetes. Chronic exposure of β-cells to hyperglycemia leads to the deterioration of β-cell function. Such phenomena are well known as pancreatic β-cell glucose toxicity. MafA, a strong transactivator of insulin gene, is particularly important for the maintenance of mature β-cell function, but its expression level is significantly reduced under diabetic conditions which is likely associated with β-cell failure. Reduction of incretin receptor expression level in β-cells in diabetes is also likely associated with β-cell failure. On the other hand, incretin-related drugs and sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are promising diabetes therapy based on the mechanism for pancreatic β-cell glucose toxicity. Indeed, it was shown that incretin-related drugs exerted protective effects on β-cells through the augmentation of IRS-2 expression especially in the presence of pioglitazone. It was also shown that incretin-related drug and/or pioglitazone exerted more protective effects on β-cells at the early stage of diabetes compared to the advanced stage. SGLT2 inhibitors, new hypoglycemic agents, also exert beneficial effects for the protection of pancreatic β-cells as well as for the reduction of insulin resistance in various insulin target tissues. Taken together, it is important to select appropriate therapy based on the molecular mechanism for glucose toxicity.

During the last years, non-invasive or minimally invasive diagnostic tools in cancer diagnostics have become more important. Many fluorescence spectroscopic methodologies have been established for nearly all different kinds of cancer. The reason therefore is its high sensitivity, low amount of sample required, short testing time, and the suitability for in situ testing. The potential influence factors for cancer diagnostics and the subsequent suitability of the method to different applications are well described. Near-Infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is based on differences of endogenous chromophores between cancer and normal tissues using either oxyhaemoglobin or deoxy-haemoglobin, lipid or water bands, or a combination of two or more of these diagnostic markers. These marker bands are known to provide the fundamental for the diagnosis of several cancers and the spectroscopic setup can be applied for the analysis of cells, urine and tissue. For the preparation of this review the literature published during the last fifteen years has been taken into consideration. It will provide an overview on the importance of the fluorescence and NIRS tools in cancer analysis giving hints about how these techniques can play a crucial role in cancer diagnosis, treatment decisions and therapy. The two techniques, fluorescence and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) are faced to each other and individual advantages and/or drawbacks are discussed. Finally, it will be taken into consideration; how the synergistic combination of different approaches can give additional information related to development and progression stages of cancer.

Pyranoflavonoids are mainly distributed in Leguminosae, Moraceae. As a potent drug candidate, pyranoflavonoids have attracted much attention in late years due to their impressive pharmaceutical activities. The structure characteristics, plant resources and pharmaceutical activities of pyranoflavonoids are reviewed in this paper. The fragmentation in mass spectrometry is also discussed for quick identification of these chemicals. Due to the low abundance of this flavonoid sub-class in plants, it is required to find an efficient way to synthesize them. Therefore, an overview of chemical synthesis and biological synthesis is presented in this paper. The information given in this paper will be helpful to know pyranoflavonoids and to be utilized in medicines and nutraceuticals.