In this ground-breaking practical reference, the family of aspartic acid proteases is described from a drug developer's perspective. The first part provides a general introduction to the family of aspartic acid proteases, their physiological functions, molecular structure and inhibition. Parts two to five present various case studies of successful protease inhibitor drug design and development, as well as current and potential uses of such inhibitors in pharmaceutical medicine, covering the major therapeutic targets HIV-1 protease, renin, beta-secretase, gamma-secretase,plasmepsins and fungal proteases. A ready reference aimed primarily at professionals in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as for anyone studying proteases and their function.

Chemokines are hormone-like signaling molecules secreted by cells to signal infection and guide the immune response. Following a decade of basic chemokine research, the pharmaceutical industry has now begun to exploit this crucial signaling pathway for the development of innovative drugs against AIDS, cancer, neural and autoimmune diseases. Here is the first reference focusing on these novel drug development opportunities. Opening with a general introduction on chemokine function and chemokine receptor biology, the second part covers the known implications of these signaling molecules in human diseases, such as cancer, neural disorders, and viral infection, including AIDS. The third part systematically surveys current drug development efforts at targeting individual chemokine receptors, as well as other chemokine interaction partners, including up-to-date reports from the pharmaceutical industry.

Platform Chemical Biorefinery: Future Green Chemistry provides information on three different aspects of platform chemical biorefinery. The book first presents a basic introduction to the industry beneficial for university students, then provides engineering details of existing or potential platform chemical biorefinery processes helpful to technical staff of biorefineries. Finally, the book presents a critical review of the entire platform chemical biorefinery process, including extensive global biorefinery practices and their potential environmental and market-related consequences. Platform chemicals are building blocks of different valuable chemicals. The book evaluates the possibility of renewable feedstock-based platform chemical production and the fundamental challenges associated with this objective. Thus, the book is a useful reference for both academic readers and industry technical workers. The book guides the research community working in the field of platform chemical biorefinery to develop new pathways and technologies in combination with their market value and desirability. - Offers comprehensive coverage of platform chemicals biorefineries, recent advances and technology developments, potential issues for preventing commercialization, and solutions - Discusses existing technologies for platform chemicals production, highlighting benefits as well their possible adverse effects on the environment and food security - Includes a global market analysis of platform chemicals and outlines industry opportunities - Serves as a useful reference for both academic readers and industry technical workers

In this new edition of a bestseller, all the contents have been brought upto-date by addressing current standards and best practices in the assessment and prediction of ADMET properties. Although the previous chapter layout has been retained, substantial revisions have been made, with new topics such as pro-drugs, active metabolites and transporters covered in detail in a manner useful to the Drug Discovery scientist. The authors discuss the parameters and processes important for the absorption, distribution and retention of drug compounds in the body, plus the potential problems created by their transformation into toxic byproducts. While aimed at all those dealing professionally with the development and application of pharmaceutical substances, the readily comprehensible style makes this book equally suitable for students of pharmacy and related subjects. Uniquely comprehensive, the book relates physicochemistry and chemical structure to pharmacokinetic properties and ultimately drug efficacy and safety.

Medicinal chemistry is both science and art. The science of medicinal chemistry offers mankind one of its best hopes for improving the quality of life. The art of medicinal chemistry continues to challenge its practitioners with the need for both intuition and experience to discover new drugs. Hence sharing the experience of drug research is uniquely beneficial to the field of medicinal chemistry. Drug research requires interdisciplinary team-work at the interface between chemistry, biology and medicine. Therefore, the topic-related series Topics in Medicinal Chemistry covers all relevant aspects of drug research, e.g. pathobiochemistry of diseases, identification and validation of (emerging) drug targets, structural biology, drugability of targets, drug design approaches, chemogenomics, synthetic chemistry including combinatorial methods, bioorganic chemistry, natural compounds, high-throughput screening, pharmacological in vitro and in vivo investigations, drug-receptor interactions on the molecular level, structure-activity relationships, drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, toxicology and pharmacogenomics. In general, special volumes are edited by well known guest editors

Tailored to the needs of medicinal and natural products chemists, the second edition of this unique handbook brings the contents up to speed, almost doubling the amount of chemical information with an additional volume. As in the predecessor, a short introductory section covers the theoretical background and evaluates currently available instrumentation and equipment. The main part of the book then goes on to systematically survey the complete range of published microwave-assisted synthesis methods from their beginnings in the 1990s to mid-2011, drawing on data from more than 5,000 reports and publications. Throughout, the focus is on those reactions, reagents and reaction conditions that work, and that are the most relevant for medicinal and natural products chemistry. A much expanded section is devoted to combinatorial, highthroughput and flow chemistry methods.

This topical reference and handbook addresses the chemistry, pharmacology, toxicology and the patentability of prodrugs, perfectly mirroring the integrated approach prevalent in today's drug design. It summarizes current experiences and strategies for the rational design of prodrugs, beginning at the early stages of the development process, as well as discussing organ- and site-selective prodrugs. Every company employing medicinal chemists will be interested in this practice-oriented overview of a key strategy in modern drug discovery and development.

Innovative and forward-looking, this volume focuses on recent achievements in this rapidly progressing field and looks at future potential for development. The first part provides a basic understanding of the factors governing protein-ligand interactions, followed by a comparison of key experimental methods (calorimetry, surface plasmon resonance, NMR) used in generating interaction data. The second half of the book is devoted to insilico methods of modeling and predicting molecular recognition and binding, ranging from first principles-based to approximate ones. Here, as elsewhere in the book, emphasis is placed on novel approaches and recent improvements to established methods. The final part looks at unresolved challenges, and the strategies to address them. With the content relevant for all drug classes and therapeutic fields, this is an inspiring and often-consulted guide to the complexity of protein-ligand interaction modeling and analysis for both novices and experts.

This is the first book to collect and summarize in one publication the efforts to use kinases or phosphatases for drug development against parasite infections. The editors and contributors comprise the Who is Who in the field, and they are comprehensive in covering every aspect of the topic, from basic research findings to translational approaches in drug development The result will be welcomed by everyone in academia and industry participating in the global effort to finally combat the major diseases caused by eukaryotic parasites. This is volume one of a two-volume treatise, the second being exclusively dedicated to efforts to combat malaria using the same approach.

Closing a gap in the scientifi c literature, this first comprehensive introduction to the topic is based on current best practice in one of the largest pharmaceutical companies worldwide. The first chapters trace the development of our understanding of drug metabolite toxicity, covering basic concepts and techniques in the process, while the second part details chemical toxicophores that are prone to reactive metabolite formation. This section also reviews the various drug-metabolizing enzymes that can participate in catalyzing reactive metabolite formation, including a discussion of the structure-toxicity relationships for drugs. Two chapters are dedicated to the currently hot topics of herbal constituents and IADRs. The next part covers current strategies and approaches to evaluate the reactive metabolite potential of new drug candidates, both by predictive and by bioanalytical methods. There then follows an in-depth analysis of the toxicological potential of the top 200 prescription drugs, illustrating the power and the limits of the toxicophore concept, backed by numerous case studies. Finally, a risk-benefi t approach to managing the toxicity risk of reactive metabolite-prone drugs is presented. Since the authors carefully develop the knowledge needed, from fundamental considerations to current industry standards, no degree in pharmacology is required to read this book, making it perfect for medicinal chemists without in-depth pharmacology training.