Science at the interface of chemistry and biology: Discoveries of α-glucosidase inhibitors and antiglycation agents*
Atta-ur-Rahman, M. Iqbal Choudhary, Fatima Z. Basha, Ghulam Abbas, Shamsun Nahar Khan, and S. Adnan Ali Shah
H. E. J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi-75270, Pakistan
Abstract: Diseases are manifestations of complex biological processes in living systems. Through the applications of molecular biology and genetics, many diseases are now understood at the molecular level. This has provided researchers opportunities to develop lead molecules with the capacity of blocking a particular disease mechanism. Diabetes is a complex metabolic disorder, characterized by hyperglycemia. The first objective of antidiabetic chemotherapy is to achieve normal glycemic index. Recently, major discoveries have been made to understand how the disease progresses and manifests its complications. We have used this growing understanding to work toward discovery of effective α-glucosidase inhibitors and antiglycation agents of natural and synthetic origins. Reliable bench-top biochemical assays were employed, and several new molecular entities were studied with reference to their structure-activity relationships.
Keywords: diabetes; Cunninghamella elegans; Gibberella fujikuroi; tibolone; antiglycation agent; cytotoxicity.
*Invited contribution to a collection of papers for the IUPAC project 2005-042-1-300 "Chemistry for Biology". Other contributions to the project are published in this issue, pp. 2179-2366.