Disease-associated carbohydrate-recognising proteins and structure-based inhibitor design.
The role of carbohydrate-related pathways in a wide range of clinically significant diseases has provided great impetus for researchers to characterise key proteins as targets for drug discovery. Carbohydrate-recognising proteins essential in the lifecycles of high health impact pathogens and diseases such as diabetes, cancer, autoimmunity, inflammation and in-born errors of metabolism continue to stimulate much interest in both structure elucidation and structure-based drug design. For example, advances in structure-based inhibitor design against the mycobacterial enzyme UDP-galactopyranose mutase offer new hope in next generation anti-tuberculosis chemotherapeutics. The appearance of H5N1 avian influenza virus has re-stimulated much research on influenza virus haemagglutinin and sialidase. These latest developments on influenza virus sialidase have provided new opportunity for the development of Group 1-specific anti-influenza drugs. The role of siglecs and galectins in a range of disease processes such as inflammation, apoptosis and cancer progression has also inspired significant structure-based inhibitor design research.
von Itzstein
Mark
M
Institute for Glycomics, Gold Coast Campus, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia. m.vonitzstein@griffith.edu.au
D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000188:drug therapy; D015195:Drug Design; D018432:Drug Resistance, Multiple; D006388:Hemagglutinins / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D019751:Intramolecular Transferases; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D009439:Neuraminidase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects; D014344:Trypanocidal Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000187:drug effects
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000935:Antifungal Agents; D000998:Antiviral Agents; D006388:Hemagglutinins; D014344:Trypanocidal Agents; D009439:Neuraminidase; D019751:Intramolecular Transferases; C098051:UDP-galactopyranose mutase