Research into molecular targets for drug development in melanoma is starting to bear fruit. Of the drugs tested to date in patients with metastatic melanoma, those that have yielded the best results are V600E BRAF inhibitors in melanomas carrying the V600E mutation; c-kit tyrosine kinase activity inhibitors in melanomas carrying c-kit mutations; and anti-cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4...

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...

The Natural Killer Group 2D (NKG2D) receptor plays an important role in protecting the host from infections and cancer. By recognizing ligands induced on infected or tumor cells, NKG2D modulates lymphocyte activation and promotes immunity to eliminate ligand-expressing cells. Because these ligands are not widely expressed on healthy adult tissue, NKG2D ligands may present a useful target for im...