Global Cancer Statistics 2022: The Trends Projection Analysis

Cancer is one of the most fatal diseases of recent times that causes several deaths every year. The disease variations in different parts of the world, the impact of available medical facilities, and other socio-economic factors have impacted the proper management of this disease. The comparative statistical data of cancer types like breast, prostate, colon, lung, lymph, blood, brain, and kidney cancers can be used to design treatment strategies and therapeutics development. With the advancement of science, several drugs besides diagnostic methods have emerged to control respective cancer and have assisted in curing this disease to some extent. The comparative statistics analysis for cancer about current prevalence is included here to bring a clear framework for the efforts towards future drug development to manage this disease. The availability of new diagnostics and therapeutics and advanced medical facilities in clinics impact cancer statistics. An evaluation of current trends and statistics of cancer pathology vis-à-vis theranostics (diagnostics as well as therapeutics) progress with possible application in clinical settings constitutes the core part of the discussion in this review

Development of Cytarabine Prodrugs and Delivery Systems for Leukemia Treatment

Importance of the field: Cytarabine is a polar nucleoside drug used for the treatment of myeloid leukemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The drug has a short plasma half-life, low stability, and limited bioavailability. Overdosing of patients with continuous infusions may lead to side effects. Thus, various prodrug strategies and delivery systems have been extensively explored to enhance the half-life, stability, and delivery of cytarabine. Among the recent cytarabine prodrugs, amino acid conjugate ValCytarabine and fatty acid derivative CP-4055 (in phase 3 trials) have been investigated for the treatment of leukemia and solid tumors, respectively. Alternatively, delivery systems of cytarabine have emerged for the treatment of different cancers. The liposomal-cytarabine formulation (DepoCyt®) has been approved for the treatment of lymphomatous meningitis. Areas covered in this review: Various prodrug strategies evaluated for cytarabine are discussed. Then, the review summarizes the drug delivery systems that have been used for more effective cancer therapy. What reader will gain: This review provides in-depth discussion of the prodrug strategy and delivery systems of cytarabine derivatives for the treatment of cancer. The design of cytarabine prodrugs and delivery systems provide insights for designing the next generation of more effective anticancer agents with enhanced delivery and stability. Take home message: Strategies on designing cytarabine prodrug and delivery formulations showed great promise in developing effective anticancer agents with better therapeutic profile. Similar studies with other anticancer nucleosides can be an alternative approach to gaining access to more effective anticancer agents

The Role of Peptides in Combatting HIV Infection: Applications and Insights

Peptide-based inhibitors represent a promising approach for the treatment of HIV-1, offering a range of potential advantages, including specificity, low toxicity, and the ability to target various stages of the viral lifecycle. This review outlines the current state of research on peptide-based anti-HIV therapies, highlighting key advancements and identifying future research directions. Over the past few years, there has been significant progress in developing synthetic peptide-based drugs that target various stages of the viral life cycle, including entry and replication. These approaches aim to create effective anti-HIV therapies. Additionally, peptides have proven valuable in the development of anti-HIV vaccines. In the quest for effective HIV vaccines, discovering potent antigens and designing suitable vaccine strategies are crucial for overcoming challenges such as low immunogenicity, safety concerns, and increased viral load. Innovative strategies for vaccine development through peptide research are, therefore, a key focus area for achieving effective HIV prevention. This review aims to explore the strategies for designing peptides with anti-HIV activity and to highlight their role in advancing both therapeutic and preventive measures against HIV

\u3cem\u3eN\u3c/em\u3e-Myristoylglutamic acid derivative of 3′-fluoro-3′-deoxythymidine as an organogel

Designing microbicidal gels of anti-HIV drugs for local application to prevent HIV infection is a subject of major interest. 3′-Fluoro-3′-deoxythymidine (FLT), a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI), was conjugated with a N-myristoylglutamate scaffold. The conjugate showed gelation at 1% (w/w) in different organic solvents, such as toluene, dichloromethane, and chloroform. The gels were opaque and stable at room temperature. The results indicate that myristoyl glutamate derivative of FLT can form an organogel. The gel could have potential application as a topical anti-HIV microbicidal agent

The First Total Synthesis of (±)-4-methoxydecanoic Acid: A Novel Antifungal Fatty Acid

The hitherto unknown (±)-4-methoxydecanoic acid was synthesized in six steps and in 25% overall yield starting from commercially available 4-penten-1-ol. The title compound demonstrated 17-fold higher antifungal activity (MIC = 1.5 mM) against Candida albicans ATCC 60193 and Cryptococcus neoformans ATCC 66031 when compared to unsubstituted n-decanoic acid. Our results demonstrate that mid-chain methoxylation appears to be a viable strategy for increasing the fungitoxicity of fatty acids

Self-Assembly of Peptides to Nanostructures

The formation of well-ordered nanostructures through self-assembly of diverse organic and inorganic building blocks has drawn much attention owing to their potential applications in biology and chemistry. Among all organic building blocks, peptides are one of the most promising platforms due to their biocompatibility, chemical diversity, and resemblance with proteins. Inspired from the protein assembly in biological systems, various self-assembled peptide structures have been constructed using several amino acids and sequences. This review focuses on this emerging area, the recent advances in peptide self-assembly, and formation of different nanostructures, such as tubular, fibers, vesicles, spherical, and red coil structures. While different peptide nanostructures are discovered, potential applications will be explored in drug delivery, tissue engineering, wound healing, and surfactants

Synthesis of β-triphosphotriester pronucleotides

Dinucleoside phosphorochloridite were synthesized from phosphorus trichloride and three nucleoside analogues, 3-fluoro-2,3-dideoxythymidine (FLT), 2\u27,3\u27-dideoxy-5-fluoro-3\u27- thiacytidine (FTC), and 2\u27,3\u27-dideoxy-3\u27-thiacytidine (3TC), in a multistep synthesis. Polymerbound N-Boc p-acetoxybenzyl 5¢-O-2¢-deoxythymidine was reacted with dinucleoside phosphorochloridite in the presence of 2,6-lutidine, followed by the reaction with dodecyl alcohol and 5-(ethylthio)-1H-tetrazole, oxidation with tert-butyl hydroperoxide, and acidic cleavage, respectively, to afford the b-triphosphotriester derivatives containing three different nucleosides

Synthesis and antifungal properties of α-methoxy and α-hydroxyl substituted 4-thiatetradecanoic acids

4-Thiatetradecanoic acid exhibited weak antifungal activities against Candida albicans (ATCC 60193), Cryptococcus neoformans (ATCC 66031), and Aspergillus niger (ATCC 16404) (MIC = 4.8–12.7 mM). It has been demonstrated that α-methoxylation efficiently blocks β-oxidation and significantly improve the antifungal activities of fatty acids. We examined whether antifungal activity of 4-thiatetradecanoic acid can be improved by α-substitution. The unprecedented (±)-2-hydroxy-4-thiatetradecanoic acid was synthesized in four steps (20% overall yield), while the (±)-2-methoxy-4-thiatetradecanoic acid was synthesized in five steps (14% overall yield) starting from 1-decanethiol. The key step in the synthesis was the hydrolysis of a trimethylsilyloxynitrile. In general, the novel (±)-2-methoxy-4-thiatetradecanoic acid displayed significantly higher antifungal activities against C. albicans (ATCC 60193), C. neoformans (ATCC 66031), and A. niger (ATCC 16404) (MIC = 0.8–1.2 mM), when compared with 4-thiatetradecanoic acid. In the case of C. neoformans the (±)-2-hydroxy-4-thiatetradecanoic acid was more fungitoxic (MIC = 0.17 mM) than the α-methoxylated analog, but not as effective against A. niger (MIC = 5.5 mM). The enhanced fungitoxicity of the (±)-2-methoxy-4-thiatetradecanoic acid, as compared to decylthiopropionic acid, might be the result of a longer half-life in the cells due to a blocked β-oxidation pathway which results in more time to exert its toxic effects. Thus, these novel fatty acids may have applications as probes to study fatty acid metabolic routes in human cells

N-Myristoylglutamic Acid Derivative of 3′-Fluoro-3′- Deoxythymidine as an Organogel

Designing microbicidal gels of anti-HIV drugs for local application to prevent HIV infection is a subject of major interest. 3′-Fluoro-3′-deoxythymidine (FLT), a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI), was conjugated with a N-myristoylglutamate scaffold. The conjugate showed gelation at 1% (w/w) in different organic solvents, such as toluene, dichloromethane, and chloroform. The gels were opaque and stable at room temperature. The results indicate that myristoyl glutamate derivative of FLT can form an organogel. The gel could have potential application as a topical anti-HIV microbicidal agent

Cyclic Peptide Conjugate of Curcumin and Doxorubicin as an Anticancer Agent

The hydrophobicity of curcumin creates hurdle towards its use in the anticancer therapy. Herein, we synthesized a curcumin-doxorubicin conjugated cyclic peptide scaffold to improve the solubility of curcumin and create a conjugate containing two anticancer agents. A solid-phase Fmoc/tBu solid phase methodology was used to synthesize a cell-penetrating nuclear targeting peptide with free thiol and amine groups, which was coupled with the activated doxorubicin (Dox) and curcumin, affording Dox-peptide-curcumin conjugate (DPCC) (10). The antiproliferative activity of the conjugate was evaluated in human leukemia carcinoma cell (CCRF-CEM), human ovarian carcinoma cell (SKOV-3), and normal kidney cell line (LLCPK). Cyclic peptide-doxorubicin conjugate (7) and DPCC (10) did not inhibit the proliferation of normal kidney LLCPK cells after 72 h incubation, but were cytotoxic in CCRF-CEM (73% and 41%, respectively) and SKOV-3 (55% and 30%, respectively) cells under similar conditions, suggesting selectivity of these compounds towards cancer cells while Dox was cytotoxic (60- 79%) in all three cell lines under similar conditions