Anti-fibrosis attributes: UHPLC-MS/MS-based pharmacokinetics profiling of a novel autotaxin inhibitor with excellent in vivo efficacy in rat

3,4-Difluorobenzyl(1-ethyl-5-(4-((4-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl)-methyl)thiazol-2-yl)-1H-indol-3-yl)carbamate (NAI59), a small molecule with outstanding therapeutic effectiveness to anti-pulmonary fibrosis, was developed as an autotaxin inhibitor candidate compound. To evaluate the pharmacokinetics and plasma protein binding of NAI59, a UPLC–MS/MS method was developed to quantify NAI59 in plasma and phosphate-buffered saline. The calibration curve linearity ranged from 9.95 to 1990.00 ng/mL in plasma. The accuracy was −6.8 to 5.9%, and the intra- and inter-day precision was within 15%. The matrix effect and recovery, as well as dilution integrity, were within the criteria. The chromatographic and mass spectrometric conditions were also feasible to determine phosphate-buffered saline samples, and it has been proved that this method exhibits good precision and accuracy in the range of 9.95–497.50 ng/mL in phosphate-buffered saline. This study is the first to determine the pharmacokinetics, absolute bioavailability, and plasma protein binding of NAI59 in rats using this established method. Therefore, the pharmacokinetic profiles of NAI59 showed a dose-dependent relationship after oral administration, and the absolute bioavailability in rats was 6.3%. In addition, the results of protein binding showed that the combining capacity of NAI59 with plasma protein attained 90% and increased with the increase in drug concentration.     

Unconventional Secondary Structure Mimics: Ladder-Rungs

Secondary structures tend to be recognizable because they have repeating structural motifs, but mimicry of these does not have to follow such well-defined patterns. Bioinformatics studies to match side-chain orientations of a novel hydantoin triazole chemotype ( 1 ) to protein-protein interfaces revealed it tends to align well across parallel and antiparallel sheets, like rungs on a ladder. One set of these overlays was observed for the protein-protein interaction uPA⋅uPAR. Consequently, chemotype 1 was made with appropriate side-chains to mimic uPA at this interface. Biophysical assays indicate these compounds did in fact bind uPAR, and elicit cellular responses that affected invasion, migration, and wound healing.     

Functional Binding Surface of a β‐Hairpin VEGF Receptor Targeting Peptide Determined by NMR Spectroscopy in Living Cells

In this study, the functional interaction of HPLW peptide with VEGFR2 (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor 2) was determined by using fast ¹⁵N‐edited NMR spectroscopic experiments. To this aim, ¹⁵N uniformly labelled HPLW has been added to Porcine Aortic Endothelial Cells. The acquisition of isotope‐edited NMR spectroscopic experiments, including ¹⁵N relaxation measurements, allowed a precise characterization of the in‐cell HPLW epitope recognized by VEGFR2.     

A Biosilification Fusion Protein for a ‘Self‐immobilising’ Sarcosine Oxidase Amperometric Enzyme Biosensor

Monomeric sarcosine oxidase (mSOx) fusion with the silaffin peptide, R5, designed previously for easy protein production in low resource areas, was used in a biosilification process to form an enzyme layer electrode biosensor. mSOx is a low activity enzyme (10–20 U/mg) requiring high amounts of enzyme to obtain an amperometric biosensor signal, in the clinically useful range <1 mM sarcosine, especially since the K_m is >10 mM. An amperometric biosensor model was fitted to experimental data to investigate dynamic range. mSOx constructs were designed with 6H (6×histidine) and R5 (silaffin) peptide tags and compared with native mSOx. Glutaraldehyde (GA) cross‐linked proteins retained ～5 % activity for mSOx and mSOx‐6H and only 0.5 % for mSOx‐R5. In contrast R5 catalysed biosilification on (3‐mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane (MPTMS) and tetramethyl orthosilicate (TMOS) particles created a ‘self‐immobilisation’ matrix retaining 40 % and 76 % activity respectively. The TMOS matrix produced a thick layer (>500 μm) on a glassy carbon electrode with a mediated current due to sarcosine in the clinical range for sarcosinemia (0–1 mM). The mSOx‐R5 fusion protein was also used to catalyse biosilification in the presence of creatinase and creatininase, entrapping all three enzymes. A mediated GC enzyme linked current was obtained with dynamic range available for creatinine determination of 0.1–2 mM for an enzyme layer ～800 nm.     

Transition‐Metal‐Free Trifluoromethylthiolation of N‐Heteroarenes

A general and efficient methodology for the direct transition metal free trifluoromethylthiolation of a broad range of biologically relevant N‐heteroarenes is reported employing abundant sodium chloride as the catalyst. This method is operationally simple, exhibits high functional group tolerance, and does not require protecting groups.     

Anticancer SAR establishment and novel accruing signal transduction model of drug action using biscoumarin scaffold

In this paper, we have established methylenebis (4-hydroxy-2H-chromen-2-one) as a promising anticancer scaffold with kinesin spindle protein (KSP) inhibitory activity under malignant condition. A series of biscoumarin derivatives (MN1 to MN30) with different substituent were synthesized, and their anticancer activity was explored. Six biscoumarin derivatives that were found active were further selected to formulate organic nanoparticles (ONPs). Anticancer activity of both the forms (viz conventional and ONPs) was compared. MN30 was found most potent whereby MN10 showed good anticancer activity in both, i.e., conventional and ONP form; the structural activity relationship (SAR) study has been established. Computational investigation revealed biscoumarin scaffold as a suitable pharmacophore to bind against KSP protein. Molecular dynamics simulation studies revealed protein-ligand stability and dynamic behavior of biscoumarin-KSP complex. Finally, accruing signal transduction model was formulated to explain the observed MTT trend of conventional and ONP form. The model seems useful towards solving population specific varied results of chemotherapeutic agents. According to the model, MN10 and MN30 derivatives have good pharmacodynamics inertia and therefore, both the molecules were able to provide dose-dependent cytotoxic results.     

Thermodynamic study of transthyretin association (wild‐type and senile forms) with heparan sulfate proteoglycan: pH effect and implication of the reactive histidine residue

The tetramer destabilization of transthyretin into monomers and its fibrillation are phenomena leading to amyloid deposition. Heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) has been found in all amyloid deposits. A chromatographic approach was developed to compare binding parameters between wild‐type transthyretin (wtTTR) and an amyloidogenic transthyretin (sTTR). Results showed a greater affinity of sTTR for HSPG at pH 7.4 compared with wtTTR owing to the monomeric form of sTTR. Analysis of the thermodynamic parameters showed that van der Waals interactions were involved at the complex interface for both transthyretin forms. For sTTR, results from the plot representing the number of protons exchanged vs pH showed that the binding mechanism was pH‐dependent with a critical value at a pH 6.5. This observation was due to the protonation of a histidine residue as an imidazolium cation, which was not accessible when TTR was in its tetrameric structure. At pH >6.5, dehydration at the binding interface and several contacts between nonpolar groups of sTTR and HSPG were also coupled to binding for an optimal hydrogen‐bond network. At pH <6.5, the protonation of the His residue from sTTR monomer when pH decreased broke the hydrogen‐bond network, leading to its destabilization and thus producing slight conformational changes in the sTTR monomer structure. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于扩展分形和CFAR特征融合的SAR图像目标识别

研究了多信息融合技术在SAR图像目标识别中的应用。将扩展分形特征(Extended Fractal)与双参数恒虚警特征(Double Parameter CFAR)形成的多信息进行融合处理。运用Dempster-Shafer证据理论，在决策层对SAR图像中的像素进行识别分类。实验结果表明通过融合对像素分类的准确性明显好于单特征的检测结果，减少了虚警概率，提高了系统的识别能力。     

可重构制造系统重组过程中设备选择模型的研究

根据生产任务选择加工设备进行制造资源重组是实现可重构制造系统的关键问题之一，由于设备的选择涉及到多种因素，既有定量指标，又有定性指标，传统的依靠人工经验的方法显得力不从心。本文首先结合实际情况，提出了一套设备选择评价体系，通过对模糊判断矩阵采用最小对数二乘法确定各评价因素的权重系数，针对定性指标和定量指标采用不同的方法确定其性能指标值，通过模糊积分对评判指标进行综合评判，最后进行了实例研究。所提出的方法有效地简化了决策过程，为可重构制造系统设备选择提供了一套行之有效的方法。