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New recommendations to change the diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's disease and recent advances in biomarker development may allow earlier diagnosis of this disease, potentially providing key tools for drug development.
Bethan Hughes investigates how the Chinese government's efforts to boost innovation have resulted in drug discovery research collaborations between Chinese academic institutions and multinational pharmaceutical companies.
The permeation of a drug across a biological membrane is one of the most important determinants of the pharmacokinetics of a drug. Here, the authors discuss the contribution of passive transport and carrier-mediated transport to the total permeation of a drug, focusing onin vitro and in vivoresults, as well as highlighting the implications for drug discovery.
Advances in nanoparticle engineering, and in understanding of the importance of nanoparticle characteristics such as size, shape and surface properties for biological interactions, are creating new opportunities for the development of nanoparticles for therapeutic applications such as targeted drug delivery. Petros and DeSimone review the impact of nanoparticle characteristics on their biological properties and recent progress in the rational design of nanoparticle therapeutics, discussing the challenges to realizing their potential.
All available antidepressants act through monoaminergic mechanisms, and there is considerable interest in novel approaches that might improve treatment. One such strategy focuses on melatonin, a key regulator of circadian rhythms, which are perturbed in depression. This article describes the history of agomelatine, which possesses both melatonergic agonist and 5-hydroxytryptamine 2C antagonist properties. It was granted marketing authorization in Europe in 2009, thereby becoming the first approved antidepressant to incorporate a non-monoaminergic mechanism of action.
Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1), which helps orchestrate key events in the cell cycle, has been preclinically validated as an anticancer target, whereas it seems that the closely related kinases PLK2 and PLK3 might act as tumour suppressors. Strebhardt reviews recent insights into the biology of PLKs, with emphasis on their role in malignant transformation, and examines progress in the development of small-molecule PLK1 inhibitors as anticancer drugs.
