Title: Thymidine Phosphorylase Inhibitors: Recent Developments and Potential Therapeutic Applications
VOLUME: 5 ISSUE: 12
Author(s):Maria-Jesus Perez-Perez, Eva-Maria Priego, Ana-Isabel Hernandez, Maria-Jose Camarasa, Jan Balzarini and Sandra Liekens
Affiliation:Instituto de Quimica Medica (CSIC), Juan de la Cierva 3, 28006 Madrid, Spain.
Keywords:Thymidine Phosphorylase, PD-ECGF, angiogenesis, nucleoside metabolism, anticancer drugs, Thymidine Phosphorylase Inhibitors, Inhibitor Design
Abstract: Thymidine Phosphorylase (TPase) catalyses the reversible phosphorolysis of pyrimidine 2- deoxynucleosides to 2-deoxyribose-1-phosphate and their respective pyrimidine bases, including the phosphorolysis of nucleoside analogues with important antiviral or anticancer properties. Moreover, TPase, identified also as the angiogenic platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor (PD-ECGF), stimulates endothelial cell migration in vitro and angiogenesis in vivo and plays an important role in tumour progression and metastasis. Here we have summarized the most recent approaches in the search for novel TPase inhibitors together with the potential therapeutic applications of such inhibitors.
