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Needle-free liquid jet injectors have been used for over five decades for delivery of numerous vaccines and drugs such as insulin, growth hormones and anaesthetics. Mitragotri reviews jet injectors with respect to their clinical and emerging applications, mechanistic understanding and future prospects.
Recent advances in our understanding of the signalling pathways activated in inflammation have revealed several potential therapeutic targets. O'Neill reviews these pathways and speculates on the likelihood of drugs being developed that will limit inflammation without a deleterious impact on host defence.
The recent success of the B-cell-depleting antibody rituximab — originally developed as a lymphoma therapy — in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis has stimulated considerable interest in the potential of drugs that can modulate B-cell function to treat autoimmune disorders. Browning discusses the role of B cells in a range of such disorders and analyses approaches to therapeutic B-cell manipulation.
Telomerase is expressed by cancer cells where it contributes to tumour maintenance, but is absent from most normal cells. Strategies for targeting telomerase therefore provide new opportunities for targeted cancer therapy. Shay and Wright review the current status and future opportunities for telomerase therapeutics.
Mass spectrometry is emerging as a powerful analytical tool at various key stages in the drug discovery process. Hofstadler and Sannes-Lowery review the application of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry in the characterization of noncovalent complexes in drug discovery efforts against several classes of target.
The ubiquitin–proteasome pathway contains a large number of components that are possible drug targets for cancer and other diseases. Nalepaet al. review evidence linking components of this pathway to human disease and discuss potential strategies for therapeutic intervention.