ganciclovir and Neoplasms

ATPases Associated with Diverse Cellular Activity (AAA ATPase) are essential enzymes found in all organisms. They are involved in various processes such as DNA replication, protein degradation, membrane fusion, microtubule serving, peroxisome biogenesis, signal transduction, and the regulation of gene expression. Due to the importance of AAA ATPases, several researchers identified and developed small-molecule inhibitors against these enzymes. We discuss six AAA ATPases that are potential drug targets and have well-developed inhibitors. We compare available structures that suggest significant differences of the ATP binding pockets among the AAA ATPases with or without ligand. The distances from ADP to the His20 in the His-Ser-His motif and the Arg finger (Arg353 or Arg378) in both RUVBL1/2 complex structures bound with or without ADP have significant differences, suggesting dramatically different interactions of the binding site with ADP. Taken together, the inhibitors of six well-studied AAA ATPases and their structural information suggest further development of specific AAA ATPase inhibitors due to difference in their structures. Future chemical biology coupled with proteomic approaches could be employed to develop variant specific, complex specific, and pathway specific inhibitors or activators for AAA ATPase proteins.

Topics: ATPases Associated with Diverse Cellular Activities; Binding Sites; Carbazoles; Humans; Molecular Dynamics Simulation; Neoplasms; Pyrazoles; Pyrimidines; Quinazolines; Small Molecule Libraries; Zearalenone

The AAA+ ATPase, p97, also referred to as VCP, plays an essential role in cellular homeostasis by regulating endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD), mitochondrial-associated degradation (MAD), chromatin-associated degradation, autophagy, and endosomal trafficking. Mutations in p97 have been linked to a number of neurodegenerative diseases, and overexpression of wild type p97 is observed in numerous cancers. Furthermore, p97 activity has been shown to be essential for the replication of certain viruses, including poliovirus, herpes simplex virus (HSV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), and influenza. Taken together, these observations highlight the potential for targeting p97 as a therapeutic approach in neurodegeneration, cancer, and certain infectious diseases. This Perspective reviews recent advances in the discovery of small molecule inhibitors of p97, their optimization and characterization, and therapeutic potential.

Topics: Acetanilides; Animals; Benzothiazoles; Drug Delivery Systems; Endoplasmic Reticulum; Humans; Neoplasms; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Protein Binding; Protein Structure, Secondary; Protein Structure, Tertiary; Valosin Containing Protein; Virus Diseases

The 4-aminoquinazoline core is an interesting pharmacophore and its applications in medicinal chemistry are wide spread. The core has been used for making many kinase inhibitors in past few years. Many researcher demonstrated 4-aminoquinazoline derivatives as specific kinase inhibitors, including tyrosine kinase and serine/theronine kinases. A number of anticancer drugs with 4-aminoquinazoline core are in the market, e.g. gefitinib, erlotinib, afatinib, lapatinib, decomitinib etc. 4-aminoquinazoline derivatives are applied for target specific treatment of lung, breast, colon, prostate cancers. In this review, we discussed the current development of 4-aminoquinazoline derivatives as kinase inhibitors and their uses as anticancer agents in recent years.

Topics: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Chemistry Techniques, Synthetic; Humans; Neoplasms; Protein Kinase Inhibitors; Quinazolines

The identification of self-renewing and multipotent neural stem cells (NSCs) in the mammalian brain holds promise for the treatment of neurological diseases and has yielded new insight into brain cancer. However, the complete repertoire of signaling pathways that governs the proliferation and self-renewal of NSCs, which we refer to as the 'ground state', remains largely uncharacterized. Although the candidate gene approach has uncovered vital pathways in NSC biology, so far only a few highly studied pathways have been investigated. Based on the intimate relationship between NSC self-renewal and neurosphere proliferation, we undertook a chemical genetic screen for inhibitors of neurosphere proliferation in order to probe the operational circuitry of the NSC. The screen recovered small molecules known to affect neurotransmission pathways previously thought to operate primarily in the mature central nervous system; these compounds also had potent inhibitory effects on cultures enriched for brain cancer stem cells. These results suggest that clinically approved neuromodulators may remodel the mature central nervous system and find application in the treatment of brain cancer.

Topics: Animals; Cell Survival; Cells, Cultured; Mice; Molecular Structure; Neoplasms; Neurons; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Sensitivity and Specificity; Stem Cells