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Most monoclonal antibodies so far have been developed for treating cancer or immune disorders, but opportunities for the development of monoclonal antibodies to target infectious diseases seem to be increasing. Reichert and Dewitz analyse trends in the development of anti-infective monoclonal antibodies and discuss factors that influence their success.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
