Although the dopamine hypothesis has been the cornerstone of schizophrenia therapeutics, it is clear that dopamine-based approaches do not treat all aspects of the disease. Moreover, many schizophrenia patients fail to respond to current antipsychotics. Integrating chemistry, biology, and pharmacology, this book explores emerging directions in pharmaceutical research for drug targeting and disc...

Introduction Our most cherished sense, vision, begins with the process of phototransduction, a process performed by the highly specialized photoreceptor cells of the retina: the rods and cones (Rodieck, 1998). Rod photoreceptor cells are needed for night vision, as they are able to respond to very few photons, while cones are active under bright light conditions and are responsible for color vi...

1Department of Physiology, Center for Integrative Toxicology, 4171 Biomedical Physical Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA 2Institute for Chemical Carcinogenesis, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Medical University 195, Dongfeng Road West, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510182, China 3Department of Oncologic Sciences, Mitchell Cancer Institute, Universit...

Cutaneous melanoma is an aggressive cancer with a poor prognosis for patients with advanced disease. The identification of several key molecular pathways implicated in the pathogenesis of melanoma has led to the development of novel therapies for this devastating disease. In melanoma, both the Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK (MAPK) and the PI3K/AKT (AKT) signalling pathways are constitutively activated through...

The evolution of care in hemophilia is a remarkable story. Over the last 60 years, advances in protein purification, protein chemistry, donor screening, viral inactivation, gene sequencing, gene cloning, and recombinant protein production have dramatically enhanced the treatment and lives of patients with hemophilia. Recent efforts have produced enhanced half-life (EHL) clotting factors to bett...

Although the dopamine hypothesis has been the cornerstone of schizophrenia therapeutics, it is clear that dopamine-based approaches do not treat all aspects of the disease. Moreover, many schizophrenia patients fail to respond to current antipsychotics. Integrating chemistry, biology, and pharmacology, this book explores emerging directions in pharmaceutical research for drug targeting and disc...

As many as 10 million Americans have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and as a consequence experience disabling symptoms, high cost of care, and substantial mortality. Several new approaches are being investigated for possible benefit in managing (or even reversing) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This article reviews 4 new approaches that are either in or close to phase III trials:...

This article discusses the scientific rationale for the use of cytokine inhibitors, including ustekinumab, an inhibitor of the interleukin (IL)-12 and IL-23 pathways in psoriasis. Also addressed are the efficacy and safety data for this agent, as well as for several emerging therapies that target other cytokine pathways in psoriasis: the IL-17 inhibitors secukinumab, ixekizumab, and brodalumab,...

Despite decades of basic and clinical research, treatments to improve outcomes after traumatic brain injury (TBI) are limited. However, based on the recent recognition of the prevalence of mild TBI, and its potential link to neurodegenerative disease, many new and exciting secondary injury mechanisms have been identified and several new therapies are being evaluated targeting both classic and n...

Approximately 2.6 % of the US population visits a physician for treatment of spinal disorders annually (Fraser 2009 ) with costs of $7.1 billion from lost work days alone (Ricci et al. 2006 ) . “Herniation” of the intervertebral disc is one of the several spinal disorders that contribute to this very high incidence, with potential to cause signi fi cant pain, neurological de fi cit, and functio...