Medicinal chemistry therapeutic agents

The use of computational methods for the calculation of molecular properties has been a perennial goal of chemists. In recent years, the field of computational chemistry has become a firmly established discipline. Computational chemists have made impressive contributions to almost every aspect of chemistry, ranging from structural organic and inorganic chemistry to the prediction of polymer properties and the design of medicinally important therapeutic agents. While many computer-based methods are robust and widely utilized, the continued development and refinement of software and the underlying theory remains an active area of research.1,2... 

Cytokines, eg, interferons, interleukins, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and certain growth factors, could have antitumor activity directiy, or may modulate cellular mechanisms of antitumor activity (2). Cytokines may be used to influence the proliferation and differentiation of T-ceUs, B-ceUs, macrophage—monocyte, myeloid, or other hematopoietic cells. Alternatively, the induction of interferon release may represent an important approach for synthetic—medicinal chemistry, to search for effective antiinflammatory and antifibrotic agents. Inducers of interferon release may also be useful for lepromatous leprosy and chronic granulomatous disease. The potential cytokine and cytokine-related therapeutic approaches to treatment of disease are summarized in Table 4. A combination of cytokines is a feasible modaUty for treatment of immunologically related diseases however, there are dangers inherent in such an approach, as shown by the induction of lethal disserninated intravascular coagulation in mice adrninistered TNF-a and IFN-y. 

Hsin, L.-W., Dersch, C.M., Baumann, M.H. et al. (2002) Development of long-acting dopamine transporter ligands as potential cocaine-abuse therapeutic agents chiral hydroxyl-containing derivatives of l-[2-[bis (4-fluorophenyl)methoxy]ethyl]-4-(3-phenylpropyl)piperazine and l-[2-(diphenylmethoxy)ethyl]-4-(3-phe-nylpropyl)piperazine. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 45 (6), 1321-1329. 

Rosini, M., Bolognesi, M.L., Giardina, D., Minarini, A., Tumiatti, V. and Melchiorre, C. (2007) Recent advances in alphal-adrenoreceptor antagonists as pharmacological tools and therapeutic agents. Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry, 7, 147-162. 

M. E. Wolff, Burger s Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Discovery, Volume 2 Therapeutic Agents, 5th ed. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. New York, 1996 pp 1-670. 

The potential utility of peptides as therapeutic agents with clinical applications is limited as a consequence of intrinsic peptide properties such as metabolic instability or poor transmembrane mobility. Hence, the design and synthesis of meta-bolically stable peptide analogs that can either mimic or block the bioactivity of natural peptides or enzymes is an important area of medicinal chemistry research. Numerous structural modifications to peptides have been examined in pursuit of molecules with more desirable properties [1-3]. These modified structures, peptidomimetics, are nonpeptide molecules that imitate the desired properties of the natural substances. 

Historically, terpenes have enjoyed a role as symptom-relieving therapeutics. Camphor and carvone (spearmint oil) have been used as soothing agents in the past history of pharmaceutical compounds. More recently, the role of terpenes in biochemistry has been more fully appreciated. P-Carotene, for example, may be cleaved into two units of vitamin A. Other terpenes, such as geraniol, are now recognized as pheromones (a chemical secreted by one individual of a given species in order to elicit a response in another individual of the same species). Pheromones are of interest in medicinal chemistry for a variety of indications for instance, attractant pheromones can be used for the control of insects known to spread human disease. 

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