Erratum to: UPLC versus HPLC on Drug Analysis: Advantageous,Applications and Their Validation Parameters

Liquid chromatography (LC) is a separation technique used in many different areas to aid the identification and quantification of substances in various matrices. LC techniques with various detection modes have been widely used for the sensitive and selective determination of trace amounts of pharmaceutical active compounds in biological samples and their dosage forms. A completely new system design with advanced technology has been developed, called ultra high performance liquid chromatography, which has evolved from high performance liquid chromatography. The application of LC methods to drug analysis introduces a powerful tool for therapeutic drug monitoring as well as for clinical research. The advantages of short turnaround time, method reliability, method sensitivity, and drug specificity justify the use of LC techniques for various groups of the drug active compounds. This review describes some of the principles of ultra high performance liquid chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography, validation of these methods, system suitability tests for the methods, and application of methods to pharmaceutical analysis in the last 3 years.

     

UPLC versus HPLC on Drug Analysis: Advantageous, Applications and Their Validation Parameters

Liquid chromatography (LC) is a separation technique used in many different areas to aid the identification and quantification of substances in various matrices. LC techniques with various detection modes have been widely used for the sensitive and selective determination of trace amounts of pharmaceutical active compounds in biological samples and their dosage forms. A completely new system design with advanced technology has been developed, called ultra high performance liquid chromatography, which has evolved from high performance liquid chromatography. The application of LC methods to drug analysis introduces a powerful tool for therapeutic drug monitoring as well as for clinical research. The advantages of short turnaround time, method reliability, method sensitivity, and drug specificity justify the use of LC techniques for various groups of the drug active compounds. This review describes some of the principles of ultra high performance liquid chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography, validation of these methods, system suitability tests for the methods, and application of methods to pharmaceutical analysis in the last 3 years.     

碳纳米管在药物载体领域的进展

基于其独特的结构、电子及机械性能,碳纳米管自被发现以来就是极具吸引力的材料,被广泛研究。在药物化学领域,碳纳米管成为载运治疗药物实现靶向治疗、控制释放等的热点,研究日益深入。本文概述了近年来碳纳米管在药物载体领域的研究进展情况,评述了其未来发展趋势,认为深入考察修饰碳纳米管的毒性,探索其载药释药机制,并逐步应用于临床,...     

Functional proteomics: application of mass spectrometry to the study of enzymology in complex mixtures

This review covers recent developments in mass spectrometry-based applications dealing with functional proteomics with special emphasis on enzymology. The introduction of mass spectrometry into this research field has led to an enormous increase in knowledge in recent years. A major challenge is the identification of “biologically active substances” in complex mixtures. These biologically active substances are, on the one hand, potential regulators of enzymes. Elucidation of function and identity of those regulators may be accomplished by different strategies, which are discussed in this review. The most promising approach thereby seems to be the one-step procedure, because it enables identification of the functionality and identity of biologically active substances in parallel and thus avoids misinterpretation. On the other hand, besides the detection of regulators, the identification of endogenous substrates for known enzymes is an emerging research field, but in this case studies are quite rare. Moreover, the term biologically active substances may also encompass proteins with diverse biological functions. Elucidation of the functionality of those—so far unknown—proteins in complex mixtures is another branch of functional proteomics and those investigations will also be discussed in this review.     

General Ligand Affinity Chromatography in Enzyme Purification Ligands,Affinity Chromatography,Enzyme Purification

Recent developments in enzyme purification have revolutionized isolation techniques and at the same time provided a more profitable manner in which to obtain them. These developments are primarily concerned with the preparation and usability of imobilized ligands for the selective isolation and purification of biologically active substance^1–5, particularly enzymes. This technique is based on the unique principle that the biological macromolecule is able to be adsorbed to the immobilized ligand, specifically and reversibly, unlike the traditional methods by which proteins are separated by their dffferences in physicochemical properties. Numerous proteins have been purified since this technique was first applied by Campbell et al.⁶ for the purification and isolation of antibodies. From these preliminary efforts it is apparent that further development of thfs method would greatly facilitate our understanding and utilizattion of enzymes.     

碳纳米管在药物和基因转运领域的研究进展

当前,国内外的许多研究小组都致力于开发出新型有效的药物和基因转运系统,用于改善多种治疗因子的药理学作用并降低其毒性。在纳米材料这一类中,碳纳米管（Carbon Nanotubes, CNTs）正逐步引起人们的关注。功能化的CNTs的两个关键优势在于它具有很强的细胞穿透能力和较低的细胞毒性,使其在药物和基因转运领域中的应用成为可能。CNTs可通过形成稳定的共价键或形成以非共价键为基础的超分子结合物来运载肽类、蛋白质、核酸和药物等活性分子,并将其运送至特定的组织、器官中以表达特殊的生物学功能。针对这一研究热点,本文综述了近几年国内外关于碳纳米管在药物和基因转运领域中的应用进展,并探讨了其毒性,以期为这一领域中的研究工作者提供参考。     

毛细管电泳用于药物分析的研究进展

药物分析是毛细管电泳（CE）的重要应用领域,所有CE分离模式与检测方法都在各种药物及其不同形式样品的分离分析中显示出特色和应用能力。该文从药品分析领域中的小分子药物（包括手性药物）及其有关物质、中药与天然产物、体内药物分析、生物制品药物分析等几个方面,综述了近几年CE在这些传统药物分析领域应用的研究进展。限于篇幅,未包括现代药物分析研究比较活跃的理化常数测定、亲和毛细管电泳与结合常数研究（药物与受体间的相互作用等）、临床生物标志物分析、代谢组学和微流控芯片CE分析等方面的内容。根据目前传统药物分析领域的发展,该文关注到近期CE在顺应药物分析的法规需求、电容耦合非接触电导检测（CE-C⁴ D）、改进检测灵敏度与精密度、CE-十二烷基硫酸钠（SDS）毛细管电泳、全柱成像毛细管等电聚焦（icIEF）、抗体分析等方面的新进展。该文结合文献,讨论了目前传统药物分析领域的需求,以及CE在其中的地位、挑战和机遇。对目前CE主要作为互补分析方法在化学药和中药分析中的应用研究提出了一些针对性的建议,期待CE在生物制品分析中的特色和能力得到进一步的发挥,同时提出CE-MS和对CE分析重复性改进等新进展可能对未来CE应用领域的大幅度扩展。该综述主要涉及近3年（2017年1月到2020年2月）及部分2016年的相关文献。     

Kernel-based data fusion improves the drug-protein interaction prediction

Proteins are involved in almost every action of every organism by interacting with other small molecules including drugs. Computationally predicting the drug-protein interactions is particularly important in speeding up the process of developing novel drugs. To borrow the information from existing drug-protein interactions, we need to define the similarity among proteins and the similarity among drugs. Usually these similarities are defined based on one single data source and many methods have been proposed. However, the availability of many genomic and chemogenomic data sources allows us to integrate these useful data sources to improve the predictions. Thus a great challenge is how to integrate these heterogeneous data sources. Here, we propose a kernel-based method to predict drug-protein interactions by integrating multiple types of data. Specially, we collect drug pharmacological and therapeutic effects, drug chemical structures, and protein genomic information to characterize the drug-target interactions, then integrate them by a kernel function within a support vector machine (SVM)-based predictor. With this data fusion technology, we establish the drug-protein interactions from a collections of data sources. Our new method is validated on four classes of drug target proteins, including enzymes, ion channels (ICs), G-protein couple receptors (GPCRs), and nuclear receptors (NRs). We find that every single data source is predictive and integration of different data sources allows the improvement of accuracy, i.e., data integration can uncover more experimentally observed drug-target interactions upon the same levels of false positive rate than single data source based methods. The functional annotation analysis indicates that our new predictions are worthy of future experimental validation. In conclusion, our new method can efficiently integrate diverse data sources, and will promote the further research in drug discovery.     

Polymeric Micelles for Multidrug Delivery and Combination Therapy

The use of conventional therapy based on a single therapeutic agent is not optimal to treat human diseases. The concept called “combination therapy”, based on simultaneous administration of multiple therapeutics is recognized as a more efficient solution. Interestingly, this concept has been in use since ancient times in traditional herbal remedies with drug combinations, despite mechanisms of these therapeutics not fully comprehended by scientists. This idea has been recently re‐enacted in modern scenarios with the introduction of polymeric micelles loaded with several drugs as multidrug nanocarriers. This Concept article presents current research and developments on the application of polymeric micelles for multidrug delivery and combination therapy. The principles of micelle formation, their structure, and the developments and concept of multidrug delivery are introduced, followed by discussion on recent advances of multidrug delivery concepts directed towards targeted drug delivery and cancer, gene, and RNA therapies. The advantages of various polymeric micelles designed for different applications, and new developments combined with diagnostics and imaging are elucidated. A compilation work from our group based on multidrug‐loaded micelles as carriers in drug‐releasing implants for local delivery systems based on titania nanotubes is summarized. Finally, an overview of recent developments and prospective outlook for future trends in this field is given.     

药物筛选新技术及其应用进展

药物筛选是应用适当的筛选方法和筛选技术从海量化合物中筛选出具有药理活性的化合物的方法,是提高研发效率、缩短周期、减少成本、降低风险、使新药研发能够持续进行的关键。药物筛选新技术的开发已成为医药科学研究的重要内容。该文就近年来发展的药物筛选新技术及其应用进行了简要综述。     

Bioactive Peptides and Proteins from Centipede Venoms

Venoms are a complex cocktail of biologically active molecules, including peptides, proteins, polyamide, and enzymes widely produced by venomous organisms. Through long-term evolution, venomous animals have evolved highly specific and diversified peptides and proteins targeting key physiological elements, including the nervous, blood, and muscular systems. Centipedes are typical venomous arthropods that rely on their toxins primarily for predation and defense. Although centipede bites are frequently reported, the composition and effect of centipede venoms are far from known. With the development of molecular biology and structural biology, the research on centipede venoms, especially peptides and proteins, has been deepened. Therefore, we summarize partial progress on the exploration of the bioactive peptides and proteins in centipede venoms and their potential value in pharmacological research and new drug development.     

In silico carborane docking to proteins and potential drug targets

The presence of boron atoms has made carboranes, C(2)B(10)H(12), attractive candidates for boron neutron capture therapy. Because of their chemistry and possible conjugation with proteins, they can also be used to enhance interactions between pharmaceuticals and their targets and to increase the in vivo stability and bioavailability of compounds that are normally metabolized rapidly. Carboranes are isosteric to a rotating phenyl group, which they can substitute successfully in biologically active systems. A reverse ligand-protein docking approach was used in this work to identify binding proteins for carboranes. The screening was carried out on the drug target database PDTD that contains 1207 entries covering 841 known potential drug targets with structures taken from the Protein Data Bank. First, for validation, the protocol was applied to three crystal structures of proteins in which carborane derivatives are present. Then, the model was applied to systems for which the protein structure is available, but the binding site of carborane has not been reported. These systems were used for further validation of the protocol, while simultaneously providing new insight into the interactions between cage and protein. Finally, the screening was carried out on the database to reveal potential carborane binding targets of interest for biological and pharmacological activity. Carboranes are predicted to bind well to protease and metalloprotease enzymes. Other carborane pharmaceutical targets are also discussed, together with possible protein carriers.     

Organoboron Compounds: Effective Antibacterial and Antiparasitic Agents

The unique electron deficiency and coordination property of boron led to a wide range of applications in chemistry, energy research, materials science and the life sciences. The use of boron-containing compounds as pharmaceutical agents has a long history, and recent developments have produced encouraging strides. Boron agents have been used for both radiotherapy and chemotherapy. In radiotherapy, boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) has been investigated to treat various types of tumors, such as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) of brain, head and neck tumors, etc. Boron agents playing essential roles in such treatments and other well-established areas have been discussed elsewhere. Organoboron compounds used to treat various diseases besides tumor treatments through BNCT technology have also marked an important milestone. Following the clinical introduction of bortezomib as an anti-cancer agent, benzoxaborole drugs, tavaborole and crisaborole, have been approved for clinical use in the treatments of onychomycosis and atopic dermatitis. Some heterocyclic organoboron compounds represent potentially promising candidates for anti-infective drugs. This review highlights the clinical applications and perspectives of organoboron compounds with the natural boron atoms in disease treatments without neutron irradiation. The main topic focuses on the therapeutic applications of organoboron compounds in the diseases of tuberculosis and antifungal activity, malaria, neglected tropical diseases and cryptosporidiosis and toxoplasmosis.     

Computer-aided design and discovery of protein–protein interaction inhibitors as agents for anti-HIV therapy

Protein–protein interactions (PPI) are involved in most of the essential processes that occur in organisms. In recent years, PPI have become the object of increasing attention in drug discovery, particularly for anti-HIV drugs. Although the use of combinations of existing drugs, termed highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), has revolutionized the treatment of HIV/AIDS, problems with these agents, such as the rapid emergence of drug-resistant HIV-1 mutants and serious adverse effects, have highlighted the need for further discovery of new drugs and new targets. Numerous investigations have shown that PPI play a key role in the virus’s life cycle and that blocking or modulating them has a significant therapeutic potential. Here we summarize the recent progress in computer-aided design of PPI inhibitors, mainly focusing on the selection of the drug targets (HIV enzymes and virus entry machinery) and the utilization of peptides and small molecules to prevent a variety of protein–protein interactions (viral–viral or viral–host) that play a vital role in the progression of HIV infection.     

Development and application of high‐performance affinity beads: Toward chemical biology and drug discovery

In drug development research, the elucidation and understanding of the interactions between physiologically active substances and proteins that numerous genes produce is important. Currently, most commercially available drugs and physiologically active substances have been brought to market without knowledge of factors interacting with the drugs and the substances. Affinity purification is a useful and powerful technique employed to understand factors that are targeted by drugs and physiologically active substances. However, use of conventional matrices for affinity chromatography often causes a decrease in efficiency of affinity purification and, as a result, more practical matrices for affinity purification have been developed for application in drug discovery research. In this paper, we describe the development of high‐performance affinity beads (SG beads and FG beads) that enable one‐step affinity purification of drug targets and the elucidation of the mechanism of the action of the drugs. We also describe a chemical screening system using our affinity beads. We hope that utilization of the affinity beads will contribute to the progress of research in chemical biology. © 2009 The Japan Chemical Journal Forum and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Chem Rec 9: 66–85; 2009: Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ) DOI 10.1002/tcr.20170     

Investigation of innovative synthesis of biologically active compounds on the basis of newly developed reactions

Synthesis of biologically active compounds, including natural products and pharmaceutical agents, is an important and interesting research area since the large structural diversity and complexity of bioactive compounds make them an important source of leads and scaffolds in drug discovery and development. Many structurally and also biologically interesting compounds, including marine natural products, have been isolated from nature and have also been prepared on the basis of a computational design for the purpose of developing medicinal chemistry. In order to obtain a wide variety of derivatives of biologically active compounds from the viewpoint of medicinal chemistry, it is essential to establish efficient synthetic procedures for desired targets. Newly developed reactions should also be used for efficient synthesis of desired compounds. Thus, recent progress in the synthesis of biologically active compounds by focusing on the development of new reactions is summarized in this review article.     

Antitumor Activity and Potential Mechanism of Novel Fullerene Derivative Nanoparticles

The development of novel nanoparticles as a new generation therapeutic drug platform is an active field of chemistry and cancer research. In recent years, fullerene nanoparticles have received extensive attention due to their unique physical and chemical properties. Properly modified fullerene nanoparticles have excellent biocompatibility and significant anti-tumor activity, which makes them have broad application prospects in the field of cancer therapy. Therefore, understanding the anti-tumor mechanism of fullerene nanoparticles is of great significance for the design and development of anti-tumor drugs with low toxicity and high targeting. This review has focused on various anti-tumor mechanisms of fullerene derivatives and discusses their toxicity and their distribution in organisms. Finally, the review points out some urgent problems that need solution before fullerene derivatives as a new generation of anti-tumor nano-drug platform enter clinical research.     

Synthetic foldamers

Foldamers are artificial folded molecular architectures inspired by the structures and functions of biopolymers. This highlight focuses on important developments concerning foldamers produced by chemical synthesis and on the perspectives that these new self-organized molecular scaffolds offer. Progress in the field has led to synthetic objects that resemble small proteins in terms of size and complexity yet that may not contain any α-amino acids. Foldamers have introduced new tools and concepts to develop biologically active substances, synthetic receptors and novel materials.     

Ribosomally Synthesized and Post‐Translationally Modified Peptide Natural Products: New Insights into the Role of Leader and Core Peptides during Biosynthesis

Ribosomally synthesized and post‐translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) are a major class of natural products with a high degree of structural diversity and a wide variety of bioactivities. Understanding the biosynthetic machinery of these RiPPs will benefit the discovery and development of new molecules with potential pharmaceutical applications. In this Concept article, we discuss the features of the biosynthetic pathways to different RiPP classes, and propose mechanisms regarding recognition of the precursor peptide by the post‐translational modification enzymes. We propose that the leader peptides function as allosteric regulators that bind the active form of the biosynthetic enzymes in a conformational selection process. We also speculate how enzymes that generate polycyclic products of defined topologies may have been selected for during evolution.