Novel Tetrazole Derivatives Targeting Tubulin Endowed with Antiproliferative Activity against Glioblastoma Cells.

Increasing awareness of the structure of microtubules has made tubulin a relevant target for the research of novel chemotherapies. Furthermore, the particularly high sensitivity of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cells to microtubule disruption could open new doors in the search for new anti-GBM treatments. However, the difficulties in developing potent anti-tubulin drugs endowed with improved pharmacokinetic properties necessitates the expansion of medicinal chemistry campaigns.

Ion Channels as Potential Tools for the Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Treatment of HPV-Associated Cancers.

The human papilloma virus (HPV) group comprises approximately 200 genetic types that have a special affinity for epithelial tissues and can vary from producing benign symptoms to developing into complicated pathologies, such as cancer. The HPV replicative cycle affects various cellular and molecular processes, including DNA insertions and methylation and relevant pathways related to pRb and p53, as well as ion channel expression or function. Ion channels are responsible for the flow of ions across cell membranes and play very important roles in human physiology, including the regulation of ion homeostasis, electrical excitability, and cell signaling.

Ion Channels and Personalized Medicine in Gynecological Cancers.

Targeted therapy against cancer plays a key role in delivering safer and more efficient treatments. In the last decades, ion channels have been studied for their participation in oncogenic processes because their aberrant expression and/or function have been associated with different types of malignancies, including ovarian, cervical, and endometrial cancer. The altered expression or function of several ion channels have been associated with tumor aggressiveness, increased proliferation, migration, invasion, and metastasis of cancer cells and with poor prognosis in gynecological cancer patients.

Astemizole-based anticancer therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and Eag1 channels as potential early-stage markers of HCC.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has very poor prognosis. Astemizole has gained great interest as a potential anticancer drug because it targets several proteins involved in cancer including the Eag1 (ether à-go-go-1) potassium channel that is overexpressed in human HCC. Eag1 channels are regulated by cancer etiological factors and have been proposed as early tumor markers.