Validation of an analytical method to quantify the permeation and penetration of flurbiprofen into human pharynx tissue

The aim of this investigation was to develop receiver and extraction fluids, and subsequently validate an analytical method to quantify the permeation and penetration of flurbiprofen into human pharynx tissue using a Franz diffusion cell. The solubility and stability of flurbiprofen in a suitable receiver fluid, and a suitable extraction method and fluid to recover and quantitate flurbiprofen from human pharynx tissue, were investigated using high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The potential interference of human pharynx tissue in the receiver fluid was also investigated. The HPLC analytical method was successfully validated according to current guidelines. The final receiver fluid demonstrated sufficient solubility and stability, and the extraction method and fluid resulted in >95% recovery of flurbiprofen following exposure to human pharynx tissue. The lower limit of quantitation of flurbiprofen was 0.045 μg/mL in both the receiver and extraction fluids. There was no interference of the human pharynx tissue with the HPLC method. This investigation validated an analytical method for quantitating flurbiprofen, and determined a suitable receiver fluid and extraction method and fluid, which can be used to investigate the permeation and penetration of flurbiprofen through human pharynx tissue using the Franz diffusion cell method.     

A new lot sizing and scheduling heuristic for multi-site biopharmaceutical production

Biopharmaceutical manufacturing requires high investments and long-term production planning. For large biopharmaceutical companies, planning typically involves multiple products and several production facilities. Production is usually done in batches with a substantial set-up cost and time for switching between products. The goal is to satisfy demand while minimising manufacturing, set-up and inventory costs. The resulting production planning problem is thus a variant of the capacitated lot-sizing and scheduling problem, and a complex combinatorial optimisation problem. Inspired by genetic algorithm approaches to job shop scheduling, this paper proposes a tailored construction heuristic that schedules demands of multiple products sequentially across several facilities to build a multi-year production plan (solution). The sequence in which the construction heuristic schedules the different demands is optimised by a genetic algorithm. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach on a biopharmaceutical lot sizing problem and compare it with a mathematical programming model from the literature. We show that the genetic algorithm can outperform the mathematical programming model for certain scenarios because the discretisation of time in mathematical programming artificially restricts the solution space.     

Chip-based nLC-TOF-MS is a highly stable technology for large-scale high-throughput analyses

Many studies focused on the discovery of novel biomarkers for the diagnosis and treatment of disease states are facilitated by mass spectrometry-based technology. HPLC coupled to mass spectrometry is widely used; miniaturization of this technique using nano-liquid chromatography (LC)-mass spectrometry (MS) usually results in better sensitivity, but is associated with limited repeatability. The recent introduction of chip-based technology has significantly improved the stability of nano-LC-MS, but no substantial studies to verify this have been performed. To evaluate the temporal repeatability of chip-based nano-LC-MS analyses, N-glycans released from a serum sample were repeatedly analyzed using nLC-PGC-chip-TOF-MS on three non-consecutive days. With an average inter-day coefficient of variation of 4 %, determined on log₁₀-transformed integrals, the repeatability of the system is very high. Overall, chip-based nano-LC-MS appears to be a highly stable technology, which is suitable for the profiling of large numbers of clinical samples for biomarker discovery.     

Adaptation of a load-inject valve for a flow injection chemiluminescence system enabling dual-reagent injection enhances understanding of environmental Fenton chemistry

Environmental Fenton chemistry has been poorly constrained within the marine environment at a multi-component level. A simple, unique, reconfiguration of a flow-injection analytical system combined with luminol chemiluminescence allows quasi-simultaneously the measurement, using a single load-inject valve and a single photon multiplier tube, of reduced iron, Fe(II), and hydrogen peroxide. The system enables rapid, every 22 s, measurements with good accuracy at environmentally relevant concentrations, less than 5% relative standard deviations on both a 5 nM Fe(II) standard and a 60 nM hydrogen peroxide standard. Limits of detection were as low as 40 pM Fe(II) and 100 pM hydrogen peroxide. The system showed excellent capability by measuring from within an organic rich seawater the photochemically induced production of Fe(II) and hydrogen peroxide and their subsequent cycling and Fenton like interactions.     

Interaction of Fluorescently Labeled Triethyleneglycol and Peptide Derivatives with β‐Cyclodextrin

A triethyleneglycol (TEG) chain, a linear peptide, and a cyclic peptide labeled with 7‐methoxycoumarin‐3‐carboxylic acid (MC) and 7‐diethylaminocoumarin‐3‐carboxylic acid (DAC) were used to thoroughly study Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) in inclusion complexes. ¹H NMR evidence was given for the formation of a 1:1 inclusion complex between β‐cyclodextrin (β‐CD) and the fluorophore moieties of model compounds. The binding constant was 20 times higher for DAC than for MC derivatives. Molecular modeling provided additional information. The UV/Vis absorption and fluorescence properties were studied and the energy transfer process was quantified. Fluorescence quenching was particularly strong for the peptide derivatives. The presence of β‐CDs reduced the FRET efficiency slightly. Dye‐labeled peptide derivatives can thus be used to form inclusion complexes with β‐CDs and retain most of their FRET properties. This paves the way for their subsequent use in analytical devices that are designed to measure the activity of matrix metalloproteinases.     

Green approaches for the synthesis of nucleotides,their conjugates and analogues

Abstract

We have developed original one-pot and protecting group-free approaches, which are also user-friendly and reliable, to synthesize nucleotides and derivatives starting from nucleoside 5’-monophosphates. Both methods present convenient set-up, i.e., non-dry solvents and reagents, substrates in their sodium or acid form, and commercially available and cheap phosphorus reagents as sodium and potassium salts.     

An Investigation of Photo‐ and Pressure‐Induced Effects in a Pair of Isostructural Two‐Dimensional Spin‐Crossover Framework Materials

Two new isostructural iron(II) spin‐crossover (SCO) framework (SCOF) materials of the type [Fe(dpms)₂(NCX)₂] (dpms=4,4′‐dipyridylmethyl sulfide; X=S ( SCOF‐6(S) ), X=Se ( SCOF‐6(Se) )) have been synthesized. The 2D framework materials consist of undulating and interpenetrated rhomboid (4,4) nets. SCOF‐6(S) displays an incomplete SCO transition with only approximately 30 % conversion of high‐spin (HS) to low‐spin iron(II) sites over the temperature range 300–4 K (T_1/2=75 K). In contrast, the NCSe^? analogue, SCOF‐6(Se) , displays a complete SCO transition (T_1/2=135 K). Photomagnetic characterizations reveal quantitative light‐ induced excited spin‐state trapping (LIESST) of metastable HS iron(II) sites at 10 K. The temperature at which the photoinduced stored information is erased is 58 and 50 K for SCOF‐6(S) and SCOF‐6(Se) , respectively. Variable‐pressure magnetic measurements were performed on SCOF‐6(S) , revealing that with increasing pressure both the T_1/2 value and the extent of spin conversion are increased; with pressures exceeding 5.2 kbar a complete thermal transition is achieved. This study confirms that kinetic trapping effects are responsible for hindering a complete thermally induced spin transition in SCOF‐6(S) at ambient pressure due to an interplay between close T_1/2 and T(LIESST) values.     

Fabrication and characterization of TEOS-based silica aerogels prepared using rapid supercritical extraction

Silica aerogels were prepared using the precursor tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) via a rapid supercritical extraction (RSCE) method. Multiple consistent batches of monolithic TEOS-based aerogels were fabricated via an 8-h RSCE process. Fabricating TEOS-based aerogels with an RSCE method offers some distinct advantages. One advantage is the relative simplicity of the RSCE approach: liquid precursors are mixed and poured into a metal mold in a hydraulic hot-press, where gelation, aging and extraction of liquid from the pores occur. The precursor recipe employs TEOS, ethanol, water, oxalic acid to catalyze hydrolysis, and ammonia to catalyze the subsequent polycondensation reactions. Another advantage is that reaction of TEOS to form sol gels yields ethanol as a byproduct. A process that releases ethanol, rather than methanol (as in tetramethylorthosilicate (TMOS)-based aerogels) may be more appealing for commercial applications, involving scale-up of the process. The significantly lower cost of TEOS, compared to TMOS, is a considerable advantage. The TEOS-based RSCE aerogels are mesoporous and optically translucent, have bulk densities of 0.099(±0.003) g/cm³ and surface areas of 460(±10) m²/g. Signals observed in infrared and Raman spectra of the aerogels are consistent with Si–O framework bonds. Using scanning electron microscopy imaging, the surface morphology of the aerogel samples was imaged at magnifications up to 150 kX.     

Inclusion complexes of a nucleotide analogue with hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin

Bis(tbutyl-S-acyl-2-thioethyl)-AraCMP (UA911) is a mononucleotide prodrug developed to overcome some of the cellular resistance to cytotoxic deoxynucleosides analogues. Its use for in vivo studies is limited due to its poor solubility in water. Thus, 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) was proposed to solubilize UA911 in water, in order to obtain concentrations needed for in vivo experiments. A molar ratio of HP-β-CD: UA911 of 3:1 was sufficient to obtain complete solubilization of the prodrug. The corresponding inclusion complex was characterized by differential scanning calorimetry and ¹H NMR spectroscopy study provided a definitive proof of the formation of the inclusion complex. The complex retained its cytotoxic activity as shown by in vitro cell survival assays on murine leukemia cells, and was evaluated in vivo. HP-β-CD is therefore suitable for the preparation of adequate solutions for the study of the antitumoral activity of nucleotide prodrugs such as UA911.