title: Polycyclic compounds: ideal drug scaffolds for the design of multiple mechanism drugs?
abstract: Recently there has been a resurging interest in developing multi-functional drugs to treat diseases with complex pathological mechanisms. Such drug molecules simultaneously target multiple etiologies that have been found to be important modulators in specific diseases. This approach has significant promise and may be more effective than using one compound specific for one drug target or, by a polypharmaceutical approach, using a cocktail of two or more drugs. Polycyclic ring structures are useful as starting scaffolds in medicinal chemistry programs to develop multi-functional drugs, and may also be useful moieties added to existing structures to improve the pharmacokinetic properties of drugs currently used in the clinic or under development. This review attempts to provide a synopsis of current published research to exemplify the use of polycyclic compounds as starting molecules to develop multi-functional drugs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy, Rootstown, OH 44272, USA. cvanders@neoucom.edu
authors.forename: Cornelis J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Van der Schyf
authors.forename: Werner J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Geldenhuys
mesh_terms: D000218:Adamantane / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D015394:Molecular Structure; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011083:Polycyclic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D021281:Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D011083:Polycyclic Compounds; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D000218:Adamantane