Enzymes as Therapeutic Agents in Alzheimer’s Disease

Enzymes as Chemotherapeutic Agents

Nitric oxide mimetic molecules as therapeutic agents in Alzheimer's disease.

Nitric oxide is multifunctional messenger molecule in the brain, playing important roles including in learning and memory and in regulating the expression of trophic factors that may be reduced with aging. Small molecules that mimic the biological activity of NO, NO mimetics, will bypass cholinergic receptor activation and are anticipated to provide multiple pathways of treating and circumventi...

Proteolytic Enzymes as Therapeutic Targets

treat acquired immunodeficiency syndrome [AIDS]) and against the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) (to treat hypertension) are the only protease inhibitors approved by the FDA for therapeutic use (see Table 1). HIV-1 protease is an aspartic protease that is necessary for the processing of viral polypeptides late in the viral replicative cycle. Inhibition of this activity prevents formation of...

Mushrooms as therapeutic agents

Mushrooms have been known for their nutritional and culinary values and used as medicines and tonics by humans for ages. In modern terms, they can be considered as functional foods which can provide health benefits beyond the traditional nutrients. There are monographs that cover the medicinal and healing properties of some individual traditional mushrooms. There has been a recent upsurge of in...

Viruses as Therapeutic Agents

A relatively noncytopathic virus, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV),1 prevents the development of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) in nonobese insulin-dependent diabetes (NOD) mice (1, 2). Typically, >90% of NOD female mice, by 9 mo of age, develop hyperglycemia, hypoinsulinemia, and lymphocytic infiltrates in the islets of Langerhans, with a cell destruction . However, their ...