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.     

Quinazoline Derivatives Designed as Efflux Pump Inhibitors: Molecular Modeling and Spectroscopic Studies

Multidrug resistance of bacteria is a worrying concern in the therapeutic field and an alternative method to combat it is designing new efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs). This article presents a molecular study of two quinazoline derivatives, labelled BG1189 and BG1190, proposed as EPIs. In silico approach investigates the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic profile of BG1189 and BG1190 quinazolines. Molecular docking and predicted ADMET features suggest that BG1189 and BG1190 may represent attractive candidates as antimicrobial drugs. UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy was employed to study the time stability of quinazoline solutions in water or in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), in constant environmental conditions, and to determine the influence of usual storage temperature, normal room lighting and laser radiation (photostability) on samples stability. The effects of irradiation on BG1189 and BG1190 molecules were also assessed through Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. FTIR spectra showed that laser radiation breaks some chemical bonds affecting the substituents and the quinazoline radical of the compounds.     

Studies on metabolites and metabolic pathways of bulleyaconitine A in rat liver microsomes using LC‐MSn combined with specific inhibitors

Bulleyaconitine A (BLA) from Aconitum bulleyanum plants is usually used as anti‐inflammatory drug in some Asian countries. It has a variety of bioactivities, and at the same time some toxicities. Since the bioactivities and toxicities of BLA are closely related to its metabolism, the metabolites and the metabolic pathways of BLA in rat liver microsomes were investigated by HPLC–MSⁿ. In this research, the 12 metabolites of BLA were identified according to the results of HPLC‐MSⁿ data and the relevant literature. The results showed that there are multiple metabolites of BLA in rat liver microsomes, including demethylation, deacetylation, dehydrogenation deacetylation and hydroxylation. The major metabolic pathways of BLA in rat liver microsomes were clarified by HPLC‐MS combined with specific inhibitors of CYP450 isoforms. As a result, CYP3A and 2C were found to be the principal CYP isoforms contributing to the metabolism of BLA. Moreover, CYP2D6 and 2E1 are also more important CYP isoforms for the metabolism of BLA. While CYP1A2 only affected the formation rate of M11, its effect on the metabolism of BLA is very small. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Twining Poly(polyoxometalate) Chains into Nanoropes

Organic polymers and inorganic clusters belong to two different disciplines and have completely different properties and structures. When a cluster is attached to the backbone of a polymer as a pendant, the resultant hybrid polymers (polyclusters) exhibit unique behaviours totally different from those of conventional polymers owing to the nanoscale size of the cluster and its particular interactions. Herein, the aggregation of a poly(polyoxometalate)—a polynorbornene backbone with inorganic polyoxometalate cluster pendants—upon addition of a non-solvent to its dilute solution is reported. A three-dimensional network of tangled and snake-like nanothreads was observed. Direct visualisation of individual nanoscale clusters enabled identification of single chains within the nanothreads. These observations suggest that during the process of aggregation, the hybrid polymer forms curved or extended chains as a consequence of an armouring effect in which the collapsed cluster pendants wrap around the backbone. The collapse occurs because they become less soluble in the solvent/non-solvent mixture. The extended chains then become entwined and form nanoropes consisting of multiple chains wound around each other. This study provides a deeper understanding of the nature of polyclusters and should also prove useful for their future development and application.     

分子聚集理论在医药学研究中的应用

本文利用聚集型状态方程，克拉贝龙方程以及临界条件推出聚集活性参量方程．分析结果表明，医药的药理活性是可以用聚集活性参量予以定量表征．本文给出了某些医药的主要的药物成分，如氧化亚氮 乙醚、氯仿和水杨酸甲酯等嘛醉剂），一氧化氮（硝酸甘油）、乙醇胺（医药活性剂）和多巴胺（神经递质）的生物活性数据．实践经验表明，这些化学品分别在生命体的心血管系统、神经系统和免疫系统中起着重要的药理功能作用．这表明，本文研究的内容在医药学研究领域有其重要意义．     

Synthesis of an iminosugar based peptidomimetic analogue

The synthesis of an 1-deoxymannojirimycin based analogue of a known HIV-protease inhibitor is described. The strategies employed for introduction of the pharmacophore groups onto the azasugar scaffold were based on regioselective reactions of the hydroxyl groups of the natural product and of d-fructopyranoside derivatives.     

Dependence of the kinetics of the anionic polymerization of methyl methacrylate on the concentration in active centers

Studies on the anionic polymerization of methyl methacrylate in tetrahydrofuran and in the presence of sparteine have revealed a beneficial effect due to this additive, resulting in a decrease in the extent of termination. Better control of the definition of the polymers formed can thus be achieved in the presence of this additive. On the other hand, macromolecular engineering requires a range of active species concentrations lower than 10^?3 mol L^?1 and particularly the synthesis of polymers of high molar masses. For a better understanding of the mechanism of chain growth under such concentration conditions, the kinetics of polymerization have been investigated with a technique based on adiabatic calorimetry. Sparteine has been found to lack sufficient cation‐binding power to prevent the propagating enolate ion pairs from aggregating. The rate constant of propagation of nonaggregated species has been estimated, as well as the aggregation constant of equilibrium. For very low initiator concentrations, termination reactions have been shown to profoundly alter the control of the polymerization and to prevent a quantitative monomer conversion. Theoretical maximal conversions have been calculated from kinetic data and compare well with the experimental values. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 4964–4975, 2004     

Production,Purification and Characterization of the Hen Egg-White Lysozyme Inhibitor from Enterobacter cloacae M-1002

Three hen egg-white lysozyme inhibitor producing strains, Enterobacter cloacae M-1002, E. sakazakii M-1204, and Erwinia rhapontici H-55, were isolated from the soils of Taiwan. E. cloacae M-1002 appeared to be a promising inhibitor producing strain. One inhibitor was isolated from the culture broth of this strain. Maximum lysozyme inhibitory activity was obtained when the bacterium was grown aerobically in a medium consisting of 0.75% glucose, 0.25% beef extract, 1.0% polypeptone, and 0.25% sodium L-glutamate (pH 70) at 37 °C after 36–48 hrs. A hen egg-white lysozyme inhibitor was isolated from the culture broth of this strain. The inhibitor was purified from the culture supernatant of E. cloacae M-1002 by ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B column chromatography and Fractogel TSK HW-55 (S) gel chromatography. Molecular weight of the purified lysozyme inhibitor was estimated to be 18, 000–20, 000 by SDS-PAGE and HPLC, and was composed of 71% amino acid and 23% total sugar. Serine, glycine, and alanine in a 3:2:1 molar ratio were the major amino acids, calculated to be 32.8, 20.3, and 11.4% (mol%), respectively. Glucose and mannose were the major sugar components of the inhibitor. The inhibitor was stable at pH 5 to 8 and was stable under 50 °C. Only hen egg-white lysozyme was inhibited by the purified inhibitor but not the other tested enzymes such as lysozyme of celery, turnip; lytic enzyme of Pseudomonas aeruginosa M-1001; chitinase/lysozyme of P. aeruginosa K-187; or cellulase and xylanase of Streptomyces actuosus A-151 and Aspergillus sp. G-393. The inhibition of lysozyme to the bacterial cell lytic activity by the purified inhibitor was 100%.     

Iterative variable aggregation and disaggregation in IP: An application

This paper, using the Unconstrained Shape Matrix Optimization Problem as a test bed, we investigate various aspects of variable aggregation and disaggregation for a class of integer programs that contains binary expansion. We present theoretical and numerical results, and propose an iterative algorithm for exact solutions.