Main description:

Presents the Therapeutic Potential for Caspase Inhibitors: Present and Future

Caspases represent one of the most specific protease families described to date. These extremely important enzymes are crucial to the destruction of aberrant cells - the body's self-protection mechanism for warding off the growth of abnormal cells, many of which can promote cancer. Design of Caspase Inhibitors as Potential Clinical Agents introduces cutting-edge evidence regarding caspases' role in pro-inflammatory responses. New research now shows that the inhibition of caspase function is a critical component for the treatment of many diseases, including:

Arthritic and neurological disorders

Lung disease

Hereditary fever syndromes

Inflammatory bowel and skin diseases

Sepsis

Liver fibrosis

Outlines Efforts to Develop Molecule Inhibitors for Caspase Activity Transformation

Under the editorial guidance of authoritative inflammatory disease, small molecule discovery, and apoptosis researchers, the book organizes the wide array of caspase literature into one convenient resource. It also summarizes the relative difficulty of transitioning a caspase small molecule inhibitor from the lab to the clinic and suggests approaches to circumvent this difficulty. Taking a novel, yet core approach to disease treatment, this seminal work sets the stage to combat a slew of debilitating diseases through groundbreaking drug development.

Contents:

Mammalian Caspase Activation Pathways in Apoptosis and Inflammation. Role of Caspases in Inflammation-Driven Diseases. Role of Caspases in Apoptotic-Driven Indications. Kinetics and Catalytic Activity of Caspases. Nonpeptide Small Molecule Inhibitors of Caspases. Identification of Inflammatory Caspase Inhibitors. Identification of Apoptotic Caspase Inhibitors. Discovery of a First-in-Class Apoptotic Caspase Inhibitor. Emricasan (PF-03491390/IDN-6556). Novel Approaches to Caspase Inhibitor Discovery. Therapeutic Potential for Caspase Inhibitors: Present and Future. Index.