The aims of this volume are to highlight the tremendous pharmacological potential of protein kinase and protein phosphatase inhibitors, to provide a thorough overview of the most remarkable achievements in the field and to illustrate how beneficial these studies can be for the advancement of both basic knowledge on biological regulation and deregulation and for the clinical treatment of a wide spectrum of diseases. This goal is attained by contributions of leader investigators in the field, who address the issue from different angles.

Protein Kinase Inhibitors for the Treatment of Disease: The Promise and the Problems

General Aspects of PKs Inhibition
New Design Strategies for Ligands That Target Protein Kinase-Mediated Protein-Protein Interactions
Pharmacological Potential and Inhibitors of Individual Classes of Protein Kinases
The Paullones: A Family of Pharmacological Inhibitors of Cyclin-Dependent Kinases and Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3
Pharmacological Potential of p38 MAPK Inhibitors
Inhibitors of PKA and Related Protein Kinases
Inhibitors of Protein Kinase CK2: Structural Aspects
Aminoglycoside Kinases and Antibiotic Resistance
Pharmacological Potential and Inhibitors of Individual Classes of Protein Phosphatases
Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases as Therapeutic Targets
Structure-Based Design of Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Inhibitors
Biological Validation of the CD45 Tyrosine Phosphatase as a Pharmaceutical Target
Serine/Threonine Protein Phosphatase Inhibitors with Antitumor Activity
Inhibitors in Clinical Use or Advanced Clinical Trials
Clinical Immunosuppression using the Calcineurin-Inhibitors Ciclosporin and Tacrolimus
Targeted Therapy with Imatinib: An Exception or a Rule?
Clinical Aspects of Imatinib Therapy
Isoquinolinesulfonamide: A Specific Inhibitor of Rho-Kinase and the Clinical Aspect of Anti-Rho-Kinase Therapy
Discovery and Development of Iressa: The First in a New Class of Drugs Targeted at the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Tyrosine Kinase.