Mini Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 9, Issue 12, 2009

8-Azapurine nucleus is a bioisoster of the purine nucleus. Variously substituted 8-azapurines have been synthesised and studied for their interactions with many enzymes and receptors and for their antitumor and antiviral activity. In this paper the main results of the studies made in these last years on this topic are reported.

The diltiazem binding site of L-type calcium channels is the least characterized to date. In this paper, we present some of the available chemotypes that bind to the benzothiazepine binding site: natural compounds, compounds synthesized by varying the benzothiazepine scaffold, and compounds discovered by means of computational approaches.

α-N-Heterocyclic thiosemicarbazones, (N)-TSCs, are potent inhibitors of ribonucleotide reductase (RR). This enzyme plays a critical role in DNA synthesis and repair, and is a well-recognized target for cancer chemotherapeutic agents. In this review the structural features of (N)-TSCs, required for maximum antitumour activity have been explored. Special attention is given to the mechanisms of action and structure-activity relationships.

Mutilins derivatives, which were successfully developed in veterinary medicines such as tiamulin and valnemulin, have regained interest as promising antibacterial agents with potential for human use in the past few years. In 2007, Retapamulin, as the first in a new class of topical antibacterial in the nearly two decades, was approved for use in human skin infections. This review provides a developed process of mutilins derivatives from veterinary to human-used antibiotics and emphasizes the structure activity relationship (SAR) and antibacterial mechanism of mutilins derivatives. Moreover, the semi-synthetic strategy of water-soluble mutilins derivatives and related novel derivatives during 2006-2008 will also be reviewed.

The endocannabinoid system is critical in the regulation of emotion and stress responsiveness. Despite the promising therapeutic value of its pharmacological modulation, deficient and excessive endocannabinoid signalling should be avoided. This mini-review will provide an up-to-date revision on this topic, emphasizing the relevance of a normative endocannabinoid system for emotional homeostasis.

Many readers may have only a vague idea about vitamin D. This is made complicated, in part, because it is also expressed with suffixes such as vitamin D2 or vitamin D3. Otherwise the prefix of “active” is also occasionally used. Vitamin D is often referred to as an important nutrient for calcium intake, especially for growing children and the elderly. On the other hand, it serves as a therapeutic drug for osteoporosis and psoriasis. Recent studies have suggested an association with a number of diseases such as cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. The author has been involved in the research and development of vitamin D applications for over 25 years, and has often witnessed even world-class experts confuse the two roles - vitamin and hormone - of “substance” D. Assuming some readers are not familiar with vitamin D, D hormone or osteoporosis, an outline of vitamin D and D hormone is delineated with a particular focus on the treatment of osteoporosis. Furthermore, development of alfacalcidol as the first prodrug of D hormone (calcitriol) and eldecalcitol as a characteristic new D hormone derivative and basic relationship between calcemic activity and effect on bone in vitamin D (cholecalciferol), D hormone (calcitriol/alfacalcidol), and a new D hormone derivative (eldecalcitol) are introduced.

Currently, statins are in lime light due to their pleiotropic effects. One of their pleiotropic effects is on glucose metabolism. Various clinical and preclinical studies were designed to evaluate statins' effect on glucose metabolism. This review describes preclinical and clinical evidences of statins' action on glucose metabolism.

The role that the tridecapeptide neurotensin (NT) plays in the modulation of the aminoacidergic transmission is analyzed in different rat brain regions. NT exerts its effects through the activation of different receptor subtypes, NTR1, NTR2 and NTR3. The contribution of NTR1 receptor in modulating and reinforcing glutamate signalling will be shown including the involvement of interactions between NT and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. Extracellular accumulation of glutamate and the excessive activation of glutamate receptors, in particular NMDA receptors, is known to represent an important factor in the induction of glutamate-mediated neuronal damage occurring in Parkinson's disease and in pathologic events such as hypoxia and ischemia. An enhancing action of NT on glutamate-induced neurodegenerative effects is shown and NTR1 receptor antagonists could therefore become novel pharmaceutics in the treatment of neurodegenerative disease.

Integrins are a large family of dimeric receptors composed by α and β subunits that, once bound to extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, regulate a variety of cellular processes such as cell motility, migration, and proliferation. The integrins transduce signals from inside-out and outside-in the cell, thus representing the cellular link to the external environment. For these properties, integrin activation has been involved in pathological processes like tumor growth and metastasis formation. Recent advances in the elucidation of the crystallographic structures of the αvβ3 and αIIβ3 integrins are promoting studies focused to the search of small molecule antagonists that can block the integrin binding to ECM and inhibit the biological effects exerted by these receptors. In this review we will focus on small molecule antagonists of αvβ3 and αvβ5 integrin as tools for cancer therapy while other integrins will only be briefly mentioned. Cilengitide (cyclic peptidic αvβ3 and αvβ5 antagonist) is currently in clinical trials for anti cancer therapy. Combination of integrin αvβ3 antagonists and other traditional therapeutic approaches may represent a future strategy to inhibit tumor growth and metastasis spreading.

Malaria is a global health problem that needs attention of drug discovery scientists to investigate novel compounds with high drug efficacy, safety and low cost to counter the malaria parasites that are resistant to existing drug molecules. This is an overview of past to present status of antimalarial drugs including newly researched candidates and also the alternative approaches for the complete control of malaria.