Identification of the New Metabolite of Nebivolol Using Liquid Chromatography Coupled with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry and Chemometrics

In this study, the phase I hepatic metabolism pathway of a cardiovascular drug nebivolol was proposed on the basis of a human liver microsomes assay with the use of LC-HR-MS coupled with the chemometric method. Six biotransformation products were found with the assistance of chemometric analysis. Five of them were identified as the previously reported products of alicyclic hydroxylation and dihydroxylation, aromatic hydroxylation, as well as alicyclic oxidation of the parent compound. Moreover, one metabolite, not reported so far, was found to be a product of N-dealkylation of nebivolol—2-amino-1-(6-fluoro-3,4-dihydro-2H-1-benzopyran-2-yl)ethan-1-ol. The novel metabolite was submitted to an in silico toxicity analysis to assess its biological properties. The applied computational methods indicated a significantly elevated risk of its mutagenic activity, compared to the parent molecule. Several metabolites of the nebivolol described in the literature were not detected in this study, indicating their non-hepatic origin.     

Revisiting Proteasome Inhibitors: Molecular Underpinnings of Their Development,Mechanisms of Resistance and Strategies to Overcome Anti-Cancer Drug Resistance

Proteasome inhibitors have shown relevant clinical activity in several hematological malignancies, namely in multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma, improving patient outcomes such as survival and quality of life, when compared with other therapies. However, initial response to the therapy is a challenge as most patients show an innate resistance to proteasome inhibitors, and those that respond to the therapy usually develop late relapses suggesting the development of acquired resistance. The mechanisms of resistance to proteasome inhibition are still controversial and scarce in the literature. In this review, we discuss the development of proteasome inhibitors and the mechanisms of innate and acquired resistance to their activity—a major challenge in preclinical and clinical therapeutics. An improved understanding of these mechanisms is crucial to guiding the design of new and more effective drugs to tackle these devastating diseases. In addition, we provide a comprehensive overview of proteasome inhibitors used in combination with other chemotherapeutic agents, as this is a key strategy to combat resistance.     

3-甲基环状乙撑磷酸二酯醇解的反应途径的理论研究

采用密度泛函理论和MP2方法研究了3-甲基环状乙撑磷酸二酯(MEP)与甲醇的反应途径:(Ⅰ)CH3O-+MEP;(Ⅱ)CH3OH+MEP;(Ⅲ)CH3O-+HMEP(MEP的质子化形式);(Ⅳ)CH3OH+HMEP.在B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p)水平上优化了四条反应途径的反应物、中间体、过渡态及产物的几何构型,并在同水平上进行了自然电荷分析,然后在MP2/6-311++G(3df,2p)水平上计算了各驻点的单点能.采用极化连续介质模型(PCM)研究了各途径在苯、甲醇和水溶液中的溶剂化效应.计算结果表明,溶剂效应使途径(Ⅰ)的自由能垒降低,而使途径(Ⅱ)和(Ⅳ)的决速步骤的自由能垒升高.在气相和苯溶剂中途径(Ⅳ)是反应的优势途径,在甲醇和水溶剂中途径(Ⅰ)则成为最优.研究结果进一步表明实验条件下途径(Ⅱ)与(Ⅳ)对总醇解反应的贡献相当.     

Computational Drug Repurposing Based on a Recommendation System and Drug–Drug Functional Pathway Similarity

Drug repurposing identifies new clinical indications for existing drugs. It can be used to overcome common problems associated with cancers, such as heterogeneity and resistance to established therapies, by rapidly adapting known drugs for new treatment. In this study, we utilized a recommendation system learning model to prioritize candidate cancer drugs. We designed a drug–drug pathway functional similarity by integrating multiple genetic and epigenetic alterations such as gene expression, copy number variation (CNV), and DNA methylation. When compared with other similarities, such as SMILES chemical structures and drug targets based on the protein–protein interaction network, our approach provided better interpretable models capturing drug response mechanisms. Furthermore, our approach can achieve comparable accuracy when evaluated with other learning models based on large public datasets (CCLE and GDSC). A case study about the Erlotinib and OSI-906 (Linsitinib) indicated that they have a synergistic effect to reduce the growth rate of tumors, which is an alternative targeted therapy option for patients. Taken together, our computational method characterized drug response from the viewpoint of a multi-omics pathway and systematically predicted candidate cancer drugs with similar therapeutic effects.     

The Use of the Statistical Entropy in Some New Approaches for the Description of Biosystems

Some problems of describing biological systems with the use of entropy as a measure of the complexity of these systems are considered. Entropy is studied both for the organism as a whole and for its parts down to the molecular level. Correlation of actions of various parts of the whole organism, intercellular interactions and control, as well as cooperativity on the microlevel lead to a more complex structure and lower statistical entropy. For a multicellular organism, entropy is much lower than entropy for the same mass of a colony of unicellular organisms. Cooperativity always reduces the entropy of the system; a simple example of ligand binding to a macromolecule carrying two reaction centers shows how entropy is consistent with the ambiguity of the result in the Bernoulli test scheme. Particular attention is paid to the qualitative and quantitative relationship between the entropy of the system and the cooperativity of ligand binding to macromolecules. A kinetic model of metabolism. corresponding to Schrödinger’s concept of the maintenance biosystems by “negentropy feeding”, is proposed. This model allows calculating the nonequilibrium local entropy and comparing it with the local equilibrium entropy inherent in non-living matter.     

Hes1调控 AKT-MDM2-p53-PTEN通路的一种物理机制

基于Hill动力学与Michaelis-Menten方程,建立理论模型研究发状分裂相关增强子1(hairy and enhancer of split 1,Hes1)调控蛋白激酶B (Protein Kinase B,AKT)-鼠双微体2 (Murine Double Minute2,MDM2)-抗癌基因p53(p53)-第10号染色体缺失的磷酸酶及张力蛋白同源的基因(Phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten,PTEN)通路的一种物理机制.研究发现,Hes1通过与PTEN结合抑制PTEN表达,并调控AKT信号.表明了Hes1蛋白的合成,以及Hes1与PTEN相互作用调控AKTMDM2-p53-PTEN通路信号,将会有效地控制细胞结果 . Hes1作为AKT-MDM2-p53-PTEN信号通路中上游调节的重要因素,还可以在一定程度上通过影响p53蛋白功能,改变p53对肿瘤的抑制性.理论结果可用于预测Notch通路信号异常诱导的致癌性,并进一步揭示了Notch信号通路影响细胞AKT-MDM2-p53-PTEN通路的激活...     

Aliphatic hydroxylation and epoxidation of capsaicin by cytochrome P450 CYP505X

Microbial cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs) are able to mimic the metabolism of human CYPs. One challenge is to identify the respective drug metabolites and to compare substrate specificities to those of the human enzymes. In this study, a class VIII self-sufficient CYP from Aspergillus fumigatus (CYP505X) and variants of this enzyme were heterologously expressed in E. coli. The substrate scope of the variants was determined using active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and (hetero)cyclic compounds. Capsaicin – the active compound in chili peppers – was oxidized most efficiently (4.36?μM/min) in a whole cell mediated biotransformation. The products were isolated, purified and their structures elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR. The two major metabolites showed modifications on the lipophilic side chain. Specifically, capsaicin was hydroxylated at position 8 to give (E)-8-hydroxy-N-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzyl)-8-methylnon-6-enamide and epoxidized at the double bond to give N-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzyl)-5-(3-isopropyloxiran-2-yl)-pentanamide.     

Network Dynamics in Elemental Assimilation and Metabolism

Metabolism and physiology frequently follow non-linear rhythmic patterns which are reflected in concepts of homeostasis and circadian rhythms, yet few biomarkers are studied as dynamical systems. For instance, healthy human development depends on the assimilation and metabolism of essential elements, often accompanied by exposures to non-essential elements which may be toxic. In this study, we applied laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to reconstruct longitudinal exposure profiles of essential and non-essential elements throughout prenatal and early post-natal development. We applied cross-recurrence quantification analysis (CRQA) to characterize dynamics involved in elemental integration, and to construct a graph-theory based analysis of elemental metabolism. Our findings show how exposure to lead, a well-characterized toxicant, perturbs the metabolism of essential elements. In particular, our findings indicate that high levels of lead exposure dysregulate global aspects of metabolic network connectivity. For example, the magnitude of each element’s degree was increased in children exposed to high lead levels. Similarly, high lead exposure yielded discrete effects on specific essential elements, particularly zinc and magnesium, which showed reduced network metrics compared to other elements. In sum, this approach presents a new, systems-based perspective on the dynamics involved in elemental metabolism during critical periods of human development.     

Reaction mechanism of spinel CuFe2O4 with CO during chemical-looping combustion: An experimental and theoretical study

Spinel CuFe₂O₄ is a promising oxygen carrier due to its synergistic enhanced performance. A fundamental understanding of the reaction mechanism between oxygen carrier and fuels is important for a rational design of highly efficient oxygen carrier. The reaction mechanism of spinel CuFe₂O₄ with CO during chemical-looping combustion (CLC) was studied based on thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Two distinct reaction stages were clearly observed. CuFe₂O₄ was mainly transformed into Cu and Fe₃O₄ with a rapid reaction rate in the initial stage, and then product Fe₃O₄ was slowly reduced to FeO or even to Fe. The reactivity of CuFe₂O₄ is much higher than that of Fe₂O₃, which is ascribed to the existence of Cu. The enhanced oxygen evolution activity of CuFe₂O₄ at low temperature is validated by both the experimental and theoretical methods. Three types of surface oxygen coordinated with different metal atoms show different reactivity. Two kinds of reaction pathways are involved in CO oxidation over CuFe₂O₄. In the one-step reaction pathway, CO directly reacts with the oxygen bonding to two octahedral Cu and one octahedral Fe atoms to form a CO₂ molecule without an energy barrier, which corresponds to the surface oxygen consumption observed in TGA experiments. In the possible two-step reaction pathway, CO first adsorbs on the surface, and then reacts with the oxygen bound to one octahedral Cu and two octahedral Fe atoms to generate CO₂ by surmounting an energy barrier of 10.84 kJ/mol, which is the most kinetically and thermodynamically favorable pathway.     

Bioanalytical method development and validation of moxidectin in plasma by LC–MS/MS: Application to in vitro metabolism

Moxidectin (MOX) has recently been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of river blindness in select populations. It is also being evaluated as an alternative for the use of ivermectin, widespread resistance to which is becoming a global health issue. Moreover, MOX is becoming increasingly used as a prophylactic antiparasitic in the cattle industry. In this study, we developed and validated an LC–MS/MS method of MOX in human, monkey and mouse plasma. The separation was achieved on an ACE C₁₈ (50 × 3.0 mm, 3 μm) column with isocratic elution using 0.1% acetic acid and methanol–acetonitrile (1:1, v/v) as mobile phase. MOX was quantitated using MS/MS with an electrospray ionization source operating in negative multiple reaction monitoring mode. The multiple reaction monitoring precursor ion → product ion transitions for MOX and abamectin (IS) were m/z 638.40 → 236.30 and m/z 871.50 → 565.35 respectively. The MS/MS response was linear over the concentration range 0.1–1000 ng/mL in plasma with a correlation coefficient (r²) of 0.997 or better. The within‐ and between‐day precision (relative standard deviation, RSD) and accuracy were within the acceptable limits per US Food and Drug Administration guidelines. The method was successfully applied to an in vitro metabolic stability study of MOX.