The purines: potent and versatile small molecule inhibitors and modulators of key biological targets

Bioorg Med Chem. 2006 Jun 15;14(12):3987-4006. doi: 10.1016/j.bmc.2005.12.060. Epub 2006 Feb 24.

Abstract

The goal of this review is to highlight the wide range of biological activities displayed by purines, with particular emphasis on new purine-based agents which find potential application as chemical-biology tools and/or therapeutic agents. The expanding interest in the biological properties of polyfunctionalized purine derivatives issues, in large part, from the development of rapid high-throughput screening essays for new protein targets, and the corresponding development of efficient synthetic methodology adapted to the construction of highly diverse purine libraries. Purine-based compounds have found new applications as inducers of interferon and lineage-committed cell dedifferentiation, agonists and antagonists of adenosine receptors, ligands of corticotropin-releasing hormone receptors, and as inhibitors of HSP90, Src kinase, p38alpha MAP kinase, sulfotransferases, phosphodiesterases, and Cdks. The scope of application of purines in biology is most certainly far from being exhausted. Testing purine derivatives against the multitude of biological targets for which small molecule probes have not yet been found should thus be a natural reflex.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Antiviral Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Antiviral Agents / chemistry
  • Antiviral Agents / pharmacology*
  • Cell Differentiation / drug effects
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / chemical synthesis
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / chemistry
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / pharmacology*
  • Humans
  • Ligands
  • Molecular Structure
  • Purines / chemical synthesis
  • Purines / chemistry
  • Purines / pharmacology*
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Antiviral Agents
  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Ligands
  • Purines