Current Drug Targets

Skin cancer is a significant health concern, affecting millions of individuals globally on an annual basis. According to data from the World Health Organization, it stands as the most prevalent form of cancer within the white population. Current treatments for skin cancer typically involve a combination of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery. However, these methods often come with drawbacks, such as side effects and potential scarring. Therefore, there is a growing need for alternative treatments that can offer effective results with fewer adverse effects, driving ongoing research in skin cancer therapy...

Vitamins play a crucial role in cellular functions like cell cycling and proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. These also help in the induction of cell cycle arrest and/or apoptosis. They can inhibit normal prostatic epithelial cell growth and might be helpful for the prevention of prostate cancer (PCa). Many essential vitamins including the fat-soluble vitamins (vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, and vitamin K) and the water-soluble vitamins (vitamin B complexes and vitamin C) have a huge impact on the inhibition of growth and progression of PCa...

In recent years, mitochondria have gained significant interest in the field of biomedical research due to their impact on aging, human health, and other advanced findings in metabolic functions. The latest finding shows that metabolic interventions are a leading cause of several diseases, which has sparked interest in finding new therapeutic treatments. Apart from this, the unique inheritance of genetic material from mother to offspring can help scientists find ways to prevent mitochondrial inherited diseases...

β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) is a ketone body that serves as an alternative energy source for various tissues, including the brain, heart, and skeletal muscle. As a metabolic intermediate and signaling molecule, BHB plays a crucial role in modulating cellular and physiological processes. Notably, BHB supplementation offers a novel and promising strategy to induce nutritional ketosis without the need for strict dietary adherence or causing nutritional deficiencies. This review article provides an overview of BHB metabolism and explores its applications in age-related diseases...

Chronic inflammation mediated by microglia is a cause of some neuroinflammatory diseases. TLR4, a natural immune receptor on microglia, plays an important role in the occurrence of inflammation and the process of diseases. TLR4 can be activated by a variety of ligands to trigger inflammatory responses, including endogenous ligands HMGB1, S100A8/9, Heme, and Fetuin-A. As ligands derived from the body itself, they have the ability to bind directly to TLR4 and can be used as inducers of aseptic inflammation. In the past 20 years, targeting ligands rather than receptors has become an emerging therapeutic strategy for the treatment of diseases, so understanding the relationship between microglia, TLR4, TLR4 ligands, and corresponding diseases may have new implications for the treatment of diseases...

Acinetobacter baumannii is a globally disseminated Gram-negative bacterium that causes several types of serious nosocomial infections, the most worrisome being ventilator-associated pneumonia and bacteremia related to using venous catheters. Due to its great ability to form biofilms, combined with its survival for prolonged periods on abiotic surfaces and its potential to acquire and control the genes that determine antibiotic resistance, A. baumannii is at the top of the World Health Organization's priority list of pathogens in urgent need of new therapies...

An aneurysm is an abnormal enlargement or bulging of the wall of a blood vessel. Most often, aneurysms occur in large blood vessels - the aorta (Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm (TAA) and Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) and brain vessels (Intracranial Aneurysm (IA)). Despite the presence of significant differences in the pathogenesis of the development and progression of IA and TAA/AAA, there are also similarities. For instance, both have been shown to be strongly influenced by shear stress, inflammatory processes, and enzymatic destruction of the elastic lamellae and extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins of the vascular wall...

The global burden of neurological disorders is evident, yet there remains limited efficacious therapeutics for their treatment. There is a growing recognition of the role of inflammation in diseases of the central nervous system (CNS); among the numerous inflammatory mediators involved, prostaglandins play a crucial role. Prostaglandins are small lipid mediators derived from arachidonic acid via multi-enzymatic pathways. The actions of prostaglandins are varied, with each prostaglandin having a specific role in maintaining homeostasis...

Phytochemicals, the bioactive compounds in plants, possess therapeutic benefits, such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, and pharmacological activities. However, their clinical use is often hindered by poor bioavailability and stability. Phytosome technology enhances the absorption and efficacy of these compounds by integrating vesicular systems like liposomes, niosomes, transfersomes, and ethosomes. Phytosomes offer diverse biological benefits, including cardiovascular protection through improved endothelial function and oxidative stress reduction...

BACKGROUND: Nitazoxanide not only exhibits a broad spectrum of activities against various pathogens infecting animals and humans but also induces cellular autophagy. Currently, the pattern of action and subcellular targets of nitazoxanide-induced cellular autophagy are still unclear. METHODS: To identify potential targets of nitazoxanide in mammalian cells, we developed an af-finity chromatography system using tizoxanide, a deacetyl derivative of nitazoxanide, as a ligand...

An important sensation that warns of potential harm to a specific area of the body is pain. The prevalence of pain-related conditions globally is a significant and growing public health issue. Chronic pain affects an estimated 1.5 billion people worldwide, with prevalence rates varying by region and demographic factors. Along with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, pain is among the most frequent medical diseases. Opioid analgesics are the mainstay of current pain therapies, which are ineffective...

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder caused by high glucose levels, leading to serious threats such as diabetic neuropathy and cardiovascular diseases. One of the most reliable measures for controlling postprandial hyperglycemia is to reduce the glucose level by inhibiting enzymes in the digestive system, such as Alpha-Glucosidase and Alpha-Amylase. Here, we have investigated the use of inhibitors to inhibit carbohydrate metabolism in order to restrict glucose levels in diabetic patients. Acarbose, Voglibose, and Miglitol are three inhibitors approved by the FDA that efficiently inhibit these two enzymes and thereby minimising hyperglycemia but are al-so significantly helpful in reducing the risk of cardiovascular effects...

The main epidemiological and clinical data on colorectal cancer, as well as the features of molecular pathology, are discussed in the literature review. Efforts are being putto identify promising targets, particularly small non-coding nucleotide sequences, which can lead to new treatments for this disease. The discovery of significant mutations that contribute to the development of colorectal tumors is a major step in the advancement of molecular oncology, as these mutations give rise to heterogeneous tumors that differ in their origin...

BACKGROUND: Cancer involves uncontrolled cell growth due to genetic mutations. Tumors can form when CDK6, a gene essential for controlling cell growth, isn't working correctly. Researchers are investigating drugs that inhibit CDK6; some of them appear promising. Nevertheless, CDK6 is advantageous and harmful to cancer because it controls other cellular processes. By inhibiting CDK6 and CDK4, CDK4/6 inhibitors offer a novel therapeutic strategy that stops cell proliferation. The study investigates the function of CDK6 in cancer, the difficulties in targeting CDK6, and possible remedies...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the presence of amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques and tau-containing neurofibrillary tangles, leading to cognitive and physical decline. Representing the majority of dementia cases, AD poses a significant burden on healthcare systems globally, with onset typically occurring after the age of 65. While most cases are sporadic, about 10% exhibit autosomal forms associated with specific gene mutations. Neurofibrillary tangles and Aβ plaques formed by misfolded tau proteins and Aβ peptides contribute to neuronal damage and cognitive impairment...

Quercetin is a natural flavonoid with various pharmacological actions such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer, antiviral, antidiabetic, cardioprotective, neuroprotective, and antiviral activities. Looking at these enormous potentials, researchers have explored how they can be used to manage numerous cancers. It's been studied for cancer management due to its anti-angiogenesis, anti-metastatic, and antiproliferative mechanisms. Despite having these proven pharmacological activities, the clinical use of quercetin is limited due to its first-- pass metabolism, poor solubility, and bioavailability...

Neglected diseases are a group of infectious diseases, many of them parasitic, that mainly affect the poorest populations with limited access to health services, especially those living in remote rural areas and slums. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), neglected diseases put the lives of more than 200 million people at risk, and treatment is made difficult by the occurrence of resistance to existing medications, as well as the high level of toxicity. In this way, the potential of multitarget compounds is highlighted, defined as compounds designed to modulate multiple targets of relevance to disease, with the overall goal of enhancing efficacy and/or improving safety...

Breast cancer is a pervasive global health issue that disproportionately impacts the female population. Over the past few years, there has been considerable interest in nanotechnology due to its potential utility in creating drug-delivery systems designed to combat this illness. The primary aim of these devices is to enhance the delivery of targeted medications, optimise the specific cells that receive the drugs, tackle treatment resistance in malignant cells, and introduce novel strategies for preventing and controlling diseases...

Mitochondria are an essential intracellular organelle for medication targeting and delivery since they seem to create energy and conduct many other cellular tasks, and mitochondrial dysfunctions and malfunctions lead to many illnesses. Many initiatives have been taken to detect, diagnose, and image mitochondrial abnormalities, and to transport and accumulate medicines precisely to mitochondria, all because of special mitochondrial aspects of the pathophysiology of cancer. In addition to the negative membrane potential and paradoxical mitochondrial dynamics, they include high temperatures, high levels of reactive oxygen species, high levels of glutathione, and high temperatures...

Multi-target drug treatment has become popular as a substitute for traditional monotherapy. Monotherapy can lead to resistance and side effects. Multi-target drug discovery is gaining importance as data on bioactivity becomes more abundant. The design of multi-target drugs is expected to be an important development in the pharmaceutical industry in the near future. This review presents multi-target compounds against trypanosomatid parasites (Trypanosoma cruzi, T. brucei, and Leishmania sp.) and tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), which mainly affect populations in socioeconomically unfavorable conditions...