Technologies
Anti-inflammatory
Clomethiazole (CMZ) is a sedative/
hypnotic, anticonvulsant, currently in clinical use for anxiety in the elderly
via its GABA-mimetic and anti-inflammatory actions. Besides acting as a GABAA potentiator,
CMZ was also proposed to inhibit the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase
pathway and decrease inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in
cortical glial cells.
Sepsis poses a significant health risk in the United States, with an estimated 750,000 severe cases annually. Studies estimate the overall hospital mortality rate for sepsis to be 14-29%, while another study found confirmed severe sepsis in 6.3% of intensive care unit patients, with an associated mortality of 56%. With an average cost of over $22,000 per case, the total annual costs due to severe sepsis were estimated to be $16.7 billion. Sepsis does not have a cure and currently only one drug has FDA approval for the treatment of severe sepsis.
Exotoxins and enterotoxins released by Staphyloccal aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes trigger massive release of inflammatory proteins (cytokines) by the immune system, which cause clinical problem
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a 30-mer peptide hormone secreted by intestinal L-cells that bind to GLP-1 receptor on the β-cell and stimulates insulin secretion in response to ingested carbohydrates and lipids. Native GLP-1 peptide, however, has limited applications as a therapeutic agent due to its rapid elimination in vivo. A number of GLP-1 analogs with longer half-lives have been synthesized and approved for treatment. The aqueous solubility of the peptide is low.
ALL OF THESE, ALL OF THESE, Urbana-Champaign, Cell Biology, Gene expression, regulation and signal transduction, Anti-inflammatory, Marker, Molecular Biology, Drug Design, Drug targets, Proteins, Immunotherapy, Drug delivery, Genomics/proteomics, Sythesis and Analysis, Research Tools and Reagants, Therapeutic
In cancer, the signaling cascade for programmed cell death, apoptosis, is often mutated leading to resistance from natural pro-death signals. PAC-1 and related compounds are small molecules capable of specifically killing cancer cells by inducing apoptosis. It does so by targeting an inactive apoptotic precursor, procaspase-3, that is up regulated in many cancer types. In vitro and in vivo studies have shown PAC-1 to be efficacious in reducing tumor cells at doses that show no toxicity in normal counterparts.