Viewpoints:

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

Evan D. Kharasch, Kenneth E. Thummel, and Paul B. Watkins

CYP3A Probes Can Quantitatively Predict the In Vivo Kinetics of Other CYP3A Substrates and Can Accurately Assess CYP3A Induction and Inhibition
Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 151-153. [Summary] [Full Text] [PDF]  

Mark A. Simmons

Functional Selectivity, Ligand-Directed Trafficking, Conformation-Specific Agonism: What’s In A Name?
Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 154-157. [Summary] [Full Text] [PDF]  

Ahmed Hasbi, Brian F. O’Dowd, and Susan R. George

A G Protein–Coupled Receptor For Estrogen: The End Of The Search?
Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 158-161. [Summary] [Full Text] [PDF]  

R E V I E W S:

Xuyang Peng, Billy Chen, Chee Chew Lim, and Douglas B. Sawyer

The Cardiotoxicology of Anthracycline Chemotherapeutics: TRANSLATING MOLECULAR MECHANISM INTO PREVENTATIVE MEDICINE
Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 163-171. [Summary] [Full Text] [PDF]  

The anthracycline antibiotics are among the most widely used agents in treating cancer, but they tend to compromise the integrity of cardiac muscle structure and function, and risk of cardiotoxicity over time may outweigh their anticancer benefits. Intriguingly, pharmacological studies aimed at improving the chemotherapeutic efficacy of the anthracyclines have yielded important insights into the molecular workings of the cardiomyocyte. The appreciation of neuregulin/erbB signaling in cardiac tissues not only poises researchers to develop novel drug therapies, but also exhorts clinicians to explore opportunities for physiologically modulating the health of cancer patients. The molecular signaling through which physical exercise improves cardiac functioning is indeed an unforeseen lesson of anthracycline research.

Jiyun Chen, Juhyun Kim, and James T. Dalton

Discovery and Therapeutic Promise of Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators
Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 173-188. [Summary] [Full Text] [PDF]  

Androgens are critical for male development and the maintenance of male secondary characteristics, including increased muscle and bone mass and spermatogenesis. The use of testosterone for hormone replacement therapy in aging men has been stymied because of unwanted effects of testosterone on the prostate and cardiovascular system. Fortunately, new research on nonsteroidal selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) has demonstrated their ability to stimulate or maintain muscle and bone mass but with decreased pharmacologic effects on the prostate. These compounds, as compared to androgens, have better oral bioavailability, flexibility of structural modification, androgen receptor specificity, tissue selectivity, and lack many steroid-related side effects. Other research suggests that SARMs may well prove to be effective agents in the developing field of male-directed contraception.

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

Speaking of Pharmacology:

Wolfgang Sadée

Pharmacogenomics: Harbinger for the Era of Personalized Medicine?
Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 140-143. [Full Text] [PDF]  

Reflections:

Science in the cultural context

Stata Norton

The Origins of Pharmacology in the 16th Century
Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 144-149. [Full Text] [PDF]  

Beyond the Bench:

Representations of pharmacology and science in the media

Dan Collinge

Lead to Gold: The Transmutation of Alchemy
Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 189-190. [Full Text] [PDF]  

Net Results:

Sites of interest on the World Wide Web

Sites of interest on the World Wide Web—edited by Rick Neubig and David Roman
Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 191. [Full Text] [PDF]  

Outliers:

Cartoon

Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 196. [Full Text] [PDF]  

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