The incidence of cancer is increasing worldwide, affecting a vast majority of the human population, therefore, new different anticancer agents are being developed now and their safety still needs to be evaluated. Among them, pyridine based drugs are contributing a lot, as they are one of the imperative pharmacophores occurring synthetically as well as naturally in heterocyclic compounds, having a wide-range of therapeutic applications in the area of drug discovery that offers many chances for further improvement in antitumor agents via acting onto numerous receptors of extreme prominence. Many pyridine derivatives are reported to inhibit enzymes, receptors and many other targets for controlling and curing the global health issue of cancer. Nowadays in combination with other moieties, researchers are focusing on the development of pyridine-based new derivatives for cancer treatment. Therefore, this review sheds light on the recent therapeutic expansion of pyridine together with its molecular docking, structure-activity-relationship, availability in the market, a summary of recently patented and published research works that shall jointly help the scientists to produce effective drugs with the desired pharmacological activity.

Cytochrome P450s are a widespread and vast superfamily of hemeprotein monooxygenases that metabolize physiologically essential chemicals necessary for most species' survival, ranging from protists to plants to humans. They catalyze the synthesis of steroid hormones, cholesterol, bile acids, and arachidonate metabolites and the degradation of endogenous compounds, such as steroids, fatty acids, and other catabolizing compounds as an energy source and detoxifying xenobiotics, such as drugs, procarcinogens, and carcinogens. The human CYP17A1 is one of the cytochrome P450 genes located at the 10q chromosome. The gene expression occurs in the adrenals and gonads, with minor amounts in the brain, placenta, and heart. This P450c17 cytochrome gene is a critical steroidogenesis regulator which performs two distinct activities: 17 alpha-hydroxylase activity (converting pregnenolone to 17- hydroxypregnenolone and progesterone to 17-hydroxyprogesterone; these precursors are further processed to provide glucocorticoids and sex hormones) and 17, 20-lyase activity (which converts 17-hydroxypregnenolone to DHEA). Dozens of mutations within CYP17A1 are found to cause 17-alpha-hydroxylase and 17, 20-lyase deficiency. This condition affects the function of certain hormone-producing glands, resulting in high blood pressure levels (hypertension), abnormal sexual development, and other deficiency diseases. This review highlights the changes in CYP17A1 associated with gene-gene interaction, drug-gene interaction, chemical-gene interaction, and its biochemical reactions; they have some insights to correlate with the fascinating functional characteristics of this human steroidogenic gene. The findings of our theoretical results will be helpful to further the design of specific inhibitors of CYP17A1.

Cancer is a type of human cell degenerative disease that has afflicted a large number of people for years. Cancer is caused due to the abnormal proliferation of cells in any part of the body. Most of the prescribed anticancer drugs are synthetic in nature and have been reported with enormous adverse effects. The researchers are very much enthusiastic about the use of natural compounds and their derivatives, which have been reported with less toxicity. Natural compounds have emerged as promising synergistic compounds with potential anticancer effects. In vitro anticancer activity of natural compounds with special reference to camphor and menthol has been investigated against different cancer cell lines. It has been found that camphor and menthol derivatives have potential cytotoxic activity. The present literature review outlines the various methods for the synthesis of camphor and menthol derivatives, which have potential cytotoxic activity. It highlights various cancer cell lines, which are the target of these camphor and menthol derivatives as ligands, along with structure-activity studies.