Viewpoints:

Dispatches from the Frontlines of Research - edited by John W. Nelson

Harald Wajant

Targeting the FLICE Inhibitory Protein (FLIP) in Cancer Therapy
Mol. Interv. 2003 3: 124-127. [Summary] [Full Text] [PDF]  

Stéphanie Dutertre and Claude Prigent

Aurora-A Overexpression Leads to Override of the Microtubule-Kinetochore Attachment Checkpoint
Mol. Interv. 2003 3: 127-130. [Summary] [Full Text] [PDF]  

Sandro Yong, Xiaoli Tian, and Qing Wang

LQT4 Gene: The "Missing" Ankyrin
Mol. Interv. 2003 3: 131-136. [Summary] [Full Text] [PDF]  

R E V I E W S:

Scott E. Counts, Sylvia E. Perez, Stephen D. Ginsberg, Sonsoles de Lacalle, and Elliott J. Mufson

Galanin in Alzheimer Disease
Mol. Interv. 2003 3: 137-156. [Summary] [Full Text] [PDF]  

What is galanin, a neuropeptide, doing in the brains of Alzheimer patients? In normal brains, galanin is relatively prominent in certain cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain, and these cells are both dependent on the peptide for their survival in early development and likely regulated by the peptide into adulthood. Moreover, the supply of galanin to these cholinergic neurons, which are involved in cognitive functions, is increased in Alzheimer disease, raising the suspicion that increased expression of the neuropeptide serves a protective role. On the other hand, the experimental overexpression of galanin in animals has been associated with neuronal loss and cognitive impairment. The development of therapies that might exploit the role(s) of galanin in Alzheimer disease will necessitate a better understanding of the neuroscience of both the neuropeptide and the disease.

Zijian Xie and Ting Cai

Na⁺-K⁺–ATPase-Mediated Signal Transduction: From Protein Interaction to Cellular Function
Mol. Interv. 2003 3: 157-168. [Summary] [Full Text] [PDF]  

Many people consider the age of modern pharmacology to have begun with Withering’s use of Digitalis to inhibit, albeit unknowingly to him, Na+-K+-ATPase activity in the heart and thereby increase myocardial contractility. But only recently has recognition of the ion-pumping properties of the ubiquitous membrane-bound ATPase been complemented by a regard for the protein’s function as a signaling molecule in a wider context of signal transduction. The Na+-K+-ATPase has been implicated in a number of protein-protein interactions that ultimately regulate cell function, and the intracellular reaction cascades that are dependent on the protein that is often thought of exclusively as a "sodium pump" are proving to be extensive and varied.

D E P A R T M E N T S:

Speaking of Pharmacology:

Harry Smith

Turnabout and Fair Play
Mol. Interv. 2003 3: 116. [Full Text] [PDF]  

CrossTalk:

Interviews with people in the world of pharmacology

Richard Weinshilboum: Pharmacogenetics: The Future is Here!
Mol. Interv. 2003 3: 118-122. [Summary] [Full Text] [PDF]  

Beyond the Bench:

Representations of pharmacology and science in the media

John Nelson

"Dry Drinking" the Devil’s Weed
Mol. Interv. 2003 3: 169-170. [Full Text] [PDF]  

Net Results:

Sites of interest on the World Wide Web

Sites of interest on the World Wide Web—edited by David Siderovski
Mol. Interv. 2003 3: 171. [Full Text] [PDF]  

Outliers:

Cartoon

Mol. Interv. 2003 3: 176. [Full Text] [PDF]  

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