Verdict on clinical trials registries? Good, but must do better | PDF (609 KB)

p175 | doi:10.1038/nrd1992

Academia given a helping hand in drug development | PDF (111 KB)

p177 | doi:10.1038/nrd1993

Neurological disorders: Making steps in stroke therapy | PDF (134 KB)

p187 | doi:10.1038/nrd2002

Gene therapy: Directed evolution of designer vectors | PDF (203 KB)

p188 | doi:10.1038/nrd1999

Immunomodulators: Reversing exhaustion | PDF (203 KB)

p188 | doi:10.1038/nrd2000

Protein–protein interactions: Muscling in on p53 | PDF (163 KB)

p189 | doi:10.1038/nrd1998

Drug metabolism: Crystals clarify metabolism | PDF (226 KB)

p190 | doi:10.1038/nrd2001

Evolving knowledge and therapy of inflammatory bowel disease

Joshua R. Korzenik & Daniel K. Podolsky

p197 | doi:10.1038/nrd1986

For many patients with irritable bowel disease, including Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, existing therapies are unsatisfactory. Podolsky and Korzenik review progress in the development of new irritable bowel disease drugs including monoclonal antibodies and other biologics, and probiotic and prebiotic strategies.

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Lab-on-a-chip: microfluidics in drug discovery

Petra S. Dittrich & Andreas Manz

p210 | doi:10.1038/nrd1985

Advances in microfluidics could prove invaluable both by enhancing existing biological assays and for the design of sophisticated new screens. Dittrich and Manz review current and future applications of scaled-down science and look at the impact of lab-on-a-chip technology on drug discovery.

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Targeting multidrug resistance in cancer

Gergely Szakács, Jill K. Paterson, Joseph A. Ludwig, Catherine Booth-Genthe & Michael M. Gottesman

p219 | doi:10.1038/nrd1984

Gottesman and colleagues review the most common mechanism of resistance to anticancer drugs — drug efflux from cancer cells mediated by ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters — and discuss various approaches to combating multidrug resistant cancer, including the development of drugs that inhibit, engage, evade or exploit efflux by ABC transporters.

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An APRIL to remember: novel TNF ligands as therapeutic targets

Stacey R. Dillon, Jane A. Gross, Stephen M. Ansell & Anne J. Novak

p235 | doi:10.1038/nrd1982

Two of the newest members of the tumour-necrosis factor family, BLyS and APRIL, are crucial in B-cell development and survival, and are implicated in autoimmune diseases and cancer. Dillon and colleagues review APRIL biology, and compare potential therapeutics that target APRIL and/or BLyS.

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Adenosine receptors as therapeutic targets

Kenneth A. Jacobson & Zhan-Guo Gao

p247 | doi:10.1038/nrd1983

Adenosine receptors have been implicated in the aetiology of various cardiovascular, inflammatory and neurological diseases. Jacobson and Gao review the development and therapeutic promise of agonists and antagonists with high selectivity for each of the four adenosine receptor subtypes.

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• PDF (969 KB)