Viewpoints:

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

Luigia Santella

NAADP: A New Second Messenger Comes of Age
Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 70-72. [Summary] [Full Text] [PDF]  

Antony Galione and Ole H. Petersen

The NAADP Receptor: New Receptors or New Regulation?
Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 73-79. [Summary] [Full Text] [PDF]  

Leslie Z. Benet

There Are No Useful CYP3A Probes that Quantitatively Predict the In Vivo Kinetics of Other CYP3A Substrates and No Expectation that One Will Be Found
Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 79-83. [Summary] [Full Text] [PDF]  

R E V I E W S:

Terrance D. Barrett, David J. Triggle, Michael J.A. Walker, and Donald H. Maurice

Mechanism of Tissue-Selective Drug Action in the Cardiovascular System
Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 84-93. [Summary] [Full Text] [PDF]  

The premise of rational drug design is that detailed structural knowledge of a targeted macromolecule can guide the synthesis of small-molecule drugs—a premise that is sometimes undermined by physiological realities that preclude target "drugability." Some pharmacologists, on the other hand, are moving towards the rational exploitation of physiological and pathophysiological conditions per se, in order to achieve therapeutic success with small-molecule drugs. In the cardiovascular system, for example, ionic properties arising from myocardial ischemia may provide the precise conditions in which channel blockers can prevent ventricular fibrillation, and the signaling milieu created by innervation of the human penile vasculature may be key to drugs that selectively ameliorate erectile dysfunction.

Marc W. Fariss, Catherine B. Chan, Manisha Patel, Bennett Van Houten, and Sten Orrenius

ROLE of MITOCHONDRIA in TOXIC OXIDATIVE STRESS
Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 94-111. [Summary] [Full Text] [PDF]  

Considerable experimental and clinical evidence supports the importance of mitochondria and mitochondrial oxidative damage as a critical target and event, respectively, responsible for toxic oxidative stress and numerous common diseases. This is supported, in part, by the demonstration of the dramatic protection of cells against toxic oxidative stress following the enrichment of mitochondrial membranes with vitamin E. Several oxidative events implicated in toxic oxidative stress include alterations in mitochondrial lipids (e.g., cardiolipin), mitochondrial DNA, and mitochondrial proteins (e.g., aconitase and uncoupling protein 2). Compelling information is provided to support the importance of these four different mitochondrial targets in toxic oxidative stress and related diseases.

Harm J. Knot, Ismail Laher, Eric A. Sobie, Silvia Guatimosim, Leticia Gomez-Viquez, Hali Hartmann, Long-Sheng Song, W.J. Lederer, Wolfgang F. Graier, Roland Malli, Maud Frieden, and Ole H. Petersen

Twenty Years of Calcium Imaging: Cell Physiology to Dye For
Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 112-127. [Summary] [Full Text] [PDF]  

With the use of fluorescent imaging over the past two decades, Ca²⁺ has proven to be an unexpectedly versatile signaling molecule. Ca²⁺ concentrations within numerous spatial domains are finely modulated to generate selective signals in a variety of cellular contexts, and the timed regulation of Ca²⁺ concentration adds another dimension to signaling. Ca²⁺ transients, sparks, waves, and oscillations describe signaling at the global/cellular as well as subsellular levels; these terms not only bespeak the biological elegance of signaling processes, but also reflect the creativity of the biologists who find ways to explore the versatility of Ca²⁺ signaling.

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

Reflections:

Science in the cultural context

Stanley Scheindlin

THE DUPLICITOUS NATURE OF INORGANIC ARSENIC
Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 60-64. [Full Text] [PDF]  

CrossTalk:

Interviews with people in the world of pharmacology

Eric Kandel: the Future of Memory
Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 65-69. [Summary] [Full Text] [PDF]  

Beyond the Bench:

Representations of pharmacology and science in the media

Joan Cmarik

Cloud About Mercury
Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 128-129. [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: 130. [Full Text] [PDF]  

Outliers:

Cartoon

Mol. Interv. 2005 5: 136. [Full Text] [PDF]  

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