Anticancer drugs, specific agents

The renaissance of the Biginelli MCR can be attributed to the obtained pyrimidine derivatives, which show remarkable pharmacological activity. A broad range of effects, including antiviral, antitumor, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory as well as antihypertensive activities has been ascribed to these partly reduced pyrimidine derivatives [96], such as 9-117 and 9-118 (antihypertensive agents) [97] and 9-119 (ala-adrenoceptor-selective antagonist) [98] (Scheme 9.24). Recently, the scope of this pharmacophore has been further increased by the identification of the 4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-pyrimidin-2-thione derivative 9-120 known as monastrol [98], a novel cell-permeable lead molecule for the development of new anticancer drugs. Monastrol appears specifically to affect cell division (mitosis) by a new mechanism,... 

Anticancer drugs act on cells in active proliferation and may interfere with a specific phase of the cell cycle or act independently from it. Some of these drugs are naturally occurring compounds, identified in plants or microorganisms, some are synthetic chemicals. Among the major classes of chemotherapeutics include antimetabolites, alkylating agents, inhibitors of the... 

Information on cell and population kinetics of cancer cells explains, in part, the limited effectiveness of most available anticancer drugs. A schematic summary of cell cycle kinetics is presented in Figure 54-2. This information is relevant to the mode of action, indications, and scheduling of cell cycle-specific (CCS) and cell cycle-nonspecific (CCNS) drugs. Agents falling into these two major classes are summarized in Table 54-1. 

Next, some typical examples will be presented of how a DNA-electrochemical biosensor is appropriate to investigate the DNA damage caused by different types of substances, such as the antioxidant agent quercetin (Scheme 20.1), an anticancer drug adriamycin (Scheme 20.2) and nitric oxide. In all cases, the dsDNA damage is detected by changes in the electrochemical behaviour of the immobilized dsDNA, specifically through modifications of the purinic base oxidation peak current [3,5,40]. 

The experiments reviewed in Section 13.1 demonstrated in detail that LCM can be labeled with lipophilic fluorescent dye and still retain their tumor-targeting properties. Furthermore, these lipophilic-dye-labeled LCM were shown to become internalized by tumor cells both in vitro and in vivo. This tumor-targeting ability of dye-labeled LCM, and their in vivo persistence at the tumor site and/or within the tumor cell for many minutes, suggested a potential use of LCM as a targeted drug-delivery agent or vehicle (ref. 532). Thus, a search was started for lipophilic anticancer drugs (preferably already FDA-approved for clinical use) that could be incorporated into the LCM and carried specifically to the tumor site. 

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