RESUMEN
Animal toxins present high selectivity and specificity for their molecular targets, and have long been considered as prototypes for developing novel drugs, with some successful cases. In this regard, the variety of molecules found in animal venoms, which can be capable of affecting vital physiological systems, have providing the development of studies focusing on turning those molecules (toxins) into therapeutics to treat several diseases, such as chronic pain, hypertension, thrombosis, cancer, and so on. However, some important issues have been responsible for disrupting the toxin-based drug discovery projects. In this review, we have briefly highlighted the development of drugs based on animal toxins, discussing some successful cases as well as the main causes of failure, pointing out the recent strategies applied to overcome the difficulties related to the translational process in this kind of development scenario.
Asunto(s)
Descubrimiento de Drogas , Péptidos , Toxinas Biológicas , Ponzoñas , Animales , Dolor Crónico/tratamiento farmacológico , Humanos , Hipertensión/tratamiento farmacológico , Terapia Molecular Dirigida , Neoplasias/tratamiento farmacológico , Péptidos/efectos adversos , Péptidos/química , Péptidos/farmacología , Péptidos/uso terapéutico , Trombosis/tratamiento farmacológico , Toxinas Biológicas/química , Toxinas Biológicas/farmacología , Ponzoñas/química , Ponzoñas/farmacologíaRESUMEN
Tuberculosis (TB) kills more youth and adults than any other infectious disease in the world today. The emergence of new strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistant to some or all current antituberculosis drugs is a serious and crescent problem. The resistance is often a corollary to HIV infection and drug-resistant TB is more difficult and more expensive to treat, besides to be more likely fatal. Thus, it is still necessary to search for new antimycobacterial agents. The identification of novel targets need the identification of biochemical pathways specific to mycobacteria and related organisms. Many unique metabolic processes occur during the biosynthesis of mycobacterial cell wall components. In this report, we examine one of these attractive targets for the rational design of new antituberculosis agents--the mycolic acids.