The Warburg effect (or aerobic glycolysis), which was first described in 1926 by Otto Heinrich Warburg, consists of the change in glucose metabolism in cancer cells. In normal cells, glucose metabolism finalizes in the mitochondria through oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) in the presence of oxygen. However, the Warburg effect describes a change in the glucose metabolism in cancer cells, consuming excess glucose and converting it into lactate independently of the presence of oxygen. During this process, a wide variety of enzymes can modify their expression and activity to contribute to the mechanism of deregulated cancer metabolism. Therefore, the modulation of enzymes regulating aerobic glycolysis is a strategy for cancer treatment. Although numerous enzymes play a role in regulating aerobic glycolysis, hexokinase 2 (HK2), pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK), pyruvate kinase (PK), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) are worth mentioning. Numerous modulators of these enzymes have been described in recent years. This review aims to present and group, according to their chemical structure, the most recent emerging molecules targeting the above-mentioned enzymes involved in the Warburg effect in view of the future development of cancer treatments.

Organodichalcogenides have been explored due to their therapeutic properties. They have been demonstrated to be active against several diseases such as cancer, bacteria, viruses, parasites, or neurological diseases. Among the different classes of dichalcogenides, disulfide derivatives have been widely studied, and many studies cover their therapeutical use. For this reason, this review includes the latest studies of diselenides and ditellurides derivatives with biological applications. With this aim, several bioactive small molecules containing the diselenide or ditelluride bond in their structure have been discussed. Furthermore, it should be highlighted that, in recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the development of nanomaterials for drug delivery due to their therapeutic advantages. In this context, diselenide and ditelluride-containing nanocarriers have emerged as novel approaches. The information compiled in this review includes small molecules and more complex materials containing diselenide or ditelluride bonds in their structure for different therapeutical applications, which could be helpful for the further development of novel drugs for the treatment of different diseases.

Commercial cyclodextrins (CDs) are commonly used to form inclusion complexes (ICs) with different molecules in order to enhance their water solubility, stability, and bioavailability. Nowadays, there is strong, convincing evidence of the anticancer effect of selenium (Se)-containing compounds. However, pharmaceutical limitations, such as an unpleasant taste or poor aqueous solubility, impede their further evaluation and clinical use. In this work, we study the enhancement of solubility with CD complexes for a set of different nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) derivatives with Se as selenoester or diacyl diselenide chemical forms, with demonstrated antitumoral activity. The CD complexes were analyzed via nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic techniques. In order to obtain additional data that could help explain the experimental results obtained, 3D models of the theoretical CD-compound complexes were constructed using molecular modeling techniques. Among all the compounds, I.3e and II.5 showed a remarkable increase in their water solubility, which could be ascribed to the formation of the most stable interactions with the CDs used, in agreement with the in silico studies performed. Thus, the preliminary results obtained in this work led us to confirm the selection of β and γ-CD as the most suitable for overcoming the pharmaceutical drawbacks of these Se derivatives.