The aim of these studies was to increase our understanding of the non-structural proteins 3 and 5B (NS3 and NS5B) from the hepatitis C virus (HCV), and thereby contribute to the development of new and better drugs against HCV. By studying NS3 with substitutions identified to be associated with resistance to NS3 inhibitors in clinical trials (R155Q, A156T and D168V) it was found that not all inhibitors were affected, indicating that cross-resistance can be avoided. Substitutions at position 526 and 528 in the helicase domain of this bifunctional enzyme were introduced and the effect on the protease was investigated. These substitutions affected protease inhibition, showing that the helicase can influence the protease. This interplay between the two domains is also involved in the discovered activation of the enzyme at low inhibitor concentrations. Being a case of "enzyme memory", the phenomenon stresses the importance of using full-length NS3 for enzymatic assays. Inhibitors with novel designs, with presumed increased stability in vivo, were developed and, even though they were found to be of low potency, provide alternative ideas of how to design an inhibitor. Detailed information about the interaction between NS3 and its protein cofactor NS4A or several protease inhibitors were determined using a direct binding assay. The rate constants of the inhibitor interactions were affected by NS4A and it was also possible to visualize time-dependent binding inhibitors. A good correlation between interaction data (Kd or koff) and inhibition data (Ki) or replicon data (EC50) was also seen. The same approach was used for studying the interactions between NS5B and several non-nucleoside inhibitors, providing information of the chemodynamics and giving insights into inhibitor design.   Taken together, all these studies have resulted in new information about, and new tools with which to study, NS3 and NS5B. This is of great importance in the struggle to find new and potent drugs, leading to a cure for HCV infection.

<p>The general aim of the present project was to increase the understanding of the in vivo dissolution of poorly soluble drugs and thereby improve possibility to predict in vivo solubility from substance properties. Increased understanding of the in vivo limitations of drug solubility could potentially also generate ideas for improved formulation principles for poorly soluble compounds and more relevant in vitro dissolution test methods used in formulation development.</p><p>The dynamic gastrointestinal secretory and enzymatic responses to a liquid meal were studied in human intestinal fluid (HIF) by in vivo perfusion of a nutritional drink. The main diversity found compared to simulated intestinal fluids was the presence of dietary lipids in fed human intestinal fluid. This difference was showed to be of importance in the solubility of low soluble drugs, since this parameter was underestimated in the simulated fluid. Thus suggesting that simulated intestinal fluids should be prepared with the addition of dietary lipids for better in vitro in vivo predictions. </p><p>Solubility and dissolution determinations in fasted and fed HIF showed that the solubility was higher in fed state fluid, probably owing to the higher concentration of lipids in this media. The higher solubility was correlated to both the lipophilicity and aqueous solubility of the drug. The dissolution rate also increased, but not to the same extent as the solubility. These findings need to be considered in the design of in vitro models and in the prediction of food effects on oral bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs.</p><p>In addition, an in vivo porcine perfusion study was performed to investigate importance of different mechanisms in food-drug interactions. The results showed that solubilisation might be a more important factor than P-gp inhibition for food-related effects on the intestinal absorption kinetics of Class II drugs. </p>

The general aim of the present project was to increase the understanding of the in vivo dissolution of poorly soluble drugs and thereby improve possibility to predict in vivo solubility from substance properties. Increased understanding of the in vivo limitations of drug solubility could potentially also generate ideas for improved formulation principles for poorly soluble compounds and more relevant in vitro dissolution test methods used in formulation development. The dynamic gastrointestinal secretory and enzymatic responses to a liquid meal were studied in human intestinal fluid (HIF) by in vivo perfusion of a nutritional drink. The main diversity found compared to simulated intestinal fluids was the presence of dietary lipids in fed human intestinal fluid. This difference was showed to be of importance in the solubility of low soluble drugs, since this parameter was underestimated in the simulated fluid. Thus suggesting that simulated intestinal fluids should be prepared with the addition of dietary lipids for better in vitro in vivo predictions. Solubility and dissolution determinations in fasted and fed HIF showed that the solubility was higher in fed state fluid, probably owing to the higher concentration of lipids in this media. The higher solubility was correlated to both the lipophilicity and aqueous solubility of the drug. The dissolution rate also increased, but not to the same extent as the solubility. These findings need to be considered in the design of in vitro models and in the prediction of food effects on oral bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs. In addition, an in vivo porcine perfusion study was performed to investigate importance of different mechanisms in food-drug interactions. The results showed that solubilisation might be a more important factor than P-gp inhibition for food-related effects on the intestinal absorption kinetics of Class II drugs.

Drug transport across cells and cell membranes in the human body is crucial for the pharmacological effect of drugs. Active transport governed by transport proteins plays an important role in this process. A vast number of transport proteins with a wide tissue distribution have been identified during the last 15 years. Several important examples of their role in drug disposition and drug-drug interactions have been described to date. Investigation of drug-drug interactions at the transport protein level are therefore of increasing interest to the academic, industrial and regulatory research communities. The gene expression of transport proteins involved in drug transport was investigated in the jejunum, liver, kidney and colon to better understand their influence on the ADMET properties of drugs. In addition, the gene and protein expression of transport proteins in cell lines, widely used for predictions of drug transport and metabolism, was examined. The substrate and inhibitor heterogeneity of many transport proteins makes it difficult to foresee whether the transport proteins will cause drug-drug interactions. Therefore, in vitro assays for OCT1 and OATP1B1, among the highest expressed transport proteins in human liver, were developed to allow investigation of the inhibitory patterns of these proteins. These assays were used to investigate two data sets, consisting of 191 and 135 registered drugs and drug-like molecules for the inhibition of OCT1 and OATP1B1, respectively. Numerous new inhibitors of the transport proteins were identified in the data sets and the properties governing inhibition were determined. Further, antidepressant drugs and statins displayed strong inhibition of OCT1 and OATP1B1, respectively. The inhibition data was used to develop predictive in silico models for each of the two transport proteins. The highly polymorphic nature of some transport proteins has been shown to affect drug response and may lead to an increased risk of drug-drug interactions, and therefore, the OCT1 in vitro assay was used to study the effect of common genetic variants of OCT1 on drug inhibition and drug-drug interactions. The results indicated that OCT1 variants with reduced function were more susceptible to inhibition. Further, a drug-drug interaction of potential clinical significance in the genetic OCT1 variant M420del was proposed. In summary, gene expression of transport proteins was investigated in human tissues and cell lines. In vitro assays for two of the highest expressed liver transport proteins were used to identify previously unknown SLC transport protein inhibitors and to develop predictive in silico models, which may detect previously known drug-drug interactions and enable new ones to be identified at the transport protein level. In addition, the effect of genetic variation on inhibition of the OCT1 was investigated.

In vivo studies of hepatobiliary disposition are challenging. The hepatobiliary system is complex, as its physiological localization, complex cellular structure with numerous transporters and enzymes, and the interindividual variability in protein expression and biliary flow will all affect the in vivo disposition of a drug under investigation. The research included in this thesis has focused on the involvement of hepatic transport proteins in the hepatobiliary disposition of rosuvastatin. The impact that several transport inhibitors had on the pharmacokinetics of rosuvastatin was investigated in healthy volunteers and in pigs. The effects were considerable, following inhibition of sinusoidal transport proteins by cyclosporine and rifampicin. These inhibitors significantly reduced the hepatic extraction of rosuvastatin by 50 and 35%, respectively, and the plasma exposure increased by factors of 9.1 and 6.3, respectively. Drug-drug interactions (DDI) resulting in markedly higher plasma exposures are important from a drug safety perspective as increased extrahepatic exposure of statins is associated with an increased risk of severe side-effects, such as myopathy which in rare cases could develop into rhabdomyolysis. The DDI caused by cyclosporine and rifampicin can probably be attributed to inhibition of hepatic uptake transporters. In contrast, inhibition of canalicular transporters by imatinib did not significantly affect the pharmacokinetics of rosuvastatin, which suggests that the intracellular concentration of the inhibitor in the hepatocyte was insufficient to affect the transport of rosuvastatin, or that imatinib is not a sufficiently potent inhibitor in vivo. Furthermore, gemfibrozil administered as a single dose into the jejunum in healthy volunteers and pigs did not affect the plasma or biliary pharmacokinetics of rosuvastatin. The previously reported DDI in humans upon repeated dosing with gemfibrozil might be explained by the accumulation of metabolites able to affect the disposition of rosuvastatin. The investigations presented in this thesis conclude that transport proteins are of considerable importance for the hepatobiliary disposition of rosuvastatin in vivo. The Loc-I-Gut catheter can be applied for the investigation of biliary accumulation and to determine bile specific metabolites, however it has limitations when conducting quantitative measurements. In the porcine model, hepatic bile can be collected for up to six hours and enables the determination of the hepatic extraction in vivo.

The elimination of drugs from the body is in many cases performed by the liver. Much could be gained if an accurate prediction of this process could be made early in the development of new drugs. However, for the elimination to occur, the drug molecule needs first to get inside the liver cell. Disposition is the expression used to encapsulate both elimination and distribution. This thesis presents novel approaches and models based on simple in vitro systems for the investigation of processes involved in the hepatic drug disposition. An approach to the estimation of enzyme kinetics based on substrate depletion data from cell fractions was thoroughly evaluated through experiments and simulations. The results that it provided were confirmed to be accurate and robust. In addition, a new experimental setup suitable for a screening environment, i.e., for a reduced number of samples, was generated through optimal experimental design. The optimization suggested that sampling at late time points over a wide range of concentration was the most advantageous. A model, based on data from primary hepatocytes in suspension, for the investigation of cellular disposition of metabolized drugs was developed. Information on the relative importance of metabolism and membrane protein related distribution was obtained by analysis of changes in the kinetics by specific inhibition of the various processes. The model was evaluated by comparing the results to those obtained from an in vivo study analyzed with an especially constructed mechanistic PBPK model. These investigations showed that the suggested model produced good predictions of the relative importance of metabolism and carrier mediated membrane transport for hepatic disposition. In conclusion, new approaches for the investigation of processes involved in hepatic disposition were developed. These methods were shown to be robust and increased the output of information from already commonly implemented in vitro systems.

Multiresistenta gramnegativa bakterier (MRGN) som Escherichia coli och Pseudomonas aeruginosa utgör ett globalt hälsoproblem och på grund av resistensutveckling hos bakterierna behövs nya behandlingsalternativ. Extended Spectrum β-Lactamase (ESBL) är vanligt förekommande hos MRGN och det finns olika typer av ESBL (exempelvis ESBLA och ESBLCARBA). Gemensamt är att det finns få behandlingsalternativ för ESBL-producerande MRGN. Syftet med studien var att undersöka effekten av potentiellt nya behandlingsalternativ mot MRGN i form av cykloserin och ceftazidim tillsammans med β-laktamasinhibitorn avibaktam. För att undersöka minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) för cykloserin (CYK) mot E. coli (n=26) användes en egenutvecklad buljongspädningsmetod. Isolat av P. aeruginosa med och utan karbapenemasproduktion (n=25) undersöktes avseende MIC för ceftazidim/avibaktam (CZA) med två kommersiella buljongspädningsmetoder.  För CYK låg medianen för E. coli-stammarnas MIC-värden vid 32 mg/L (16 – 64 mg/L) vilket ligger kring det epidemiologiska cut-off värdet för Mycobacterium tuberculosis (32 mg/L), för vilken CYK idag används som behandling.  För CZA låg medianen för P. aeruginosa-stammarnas MIC-värden vid 8 mg/L (&lt;1 - ≥8 mg/L), och 40% (2/5) av de karbapenemasproducerande isolaten var känsliga enligt kliniska brytpunkter (S≤8 mg/L). Sammanfattningsvis visar studien att CYK har MIC-värden mot non-ESBL- och ESBL-producerande E. coli i nivå med andra patogener där preparatet används. Studien visar också att CZA kan ha effekt mot isolat med nedsatt känslighet mot meropenem eller ESBLCARBA-producerande isolat av P. aeruginosa, men isolaten måste resistensbestämmas innan behandling sätts in. / Multiresistant gramnegative bacteria (MRGN) like Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, constitute a global health issue. Due to the resistance development among bacteria, new options for treatment are needed. Extended Spectrum β-Lactamase (ESBL) is common among MRGN, and there are different types of ESBLs (as ESBLA and ESBLCARBA). The increasing lack of treatment alternatives is mutual for the different ESBLs. The purpose of this study was to examine cycloserine and ceftazidime with the β-lactamase-inhibitor avibactam, two potentially new options for treatments effective against MRGN. To examine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for cycloserine (CYK) against E. coli (n=26) a in-house broth microdilution-method was used. Using two commercial broth microdilution-methods, isolates of P. aeruginosa with and without carbapenemaseproduction (n=23) were examined regarding MIC for ceftazidime/avibactam (CZA).  Regarding CYK, the median MIC-value of the E. coli-strains was 32 mg/L (16 - 64 mg/L), which is around the epidemiological cut-off-value (32 mg/L) for Mycobacterium tuberculosisfor which CYK is being used as treatment. The median of the MIC-values for CZA was 8 mg/L (&lt;1 - ≥8 mg/L) for all P. aeruginosa-strains and 40% (2/5) of the carbapenemaseproducing isolates were sensitive according to the clinical breakpoint (S≤8 mg/L). In summary, this study shows that CYK has MIC-values against non-ESBL- and ESBL-producing E. coli at the same level as other pathogens where CYK is being used. Further, CZA may have effect against the isolates with reduced susceptibility against meropenem and ESBLCARBA-producing P. aeruginosa, although the isolates need to be susceptibility-determined before treatment.

No description available.

The elucidation of regulatory mechanisms in higher organisms represents a front line problem in biochemical genetics. In Man the only material available for experimental studies of regulatory mechanisms is cells cultured in vitro. Enzymes which are differentiated into isozymes may have a complexgenetic background involving the action of more than one gene locus. The study of isozyme systems in cultured cells has developed into a valuable tool of increasing importance for the understanding of the genetic regulatorymechanisms in normal cells as well as in cancer cells. The purposes of this investigation were: 1. to elucidate the isozyme differentiation of amino acid naphthylamidasein cultured human cancer cells and normal cells. 2. to study the regulatory effects of steroid hormones especially hydrocortisoneon the levels of the different isozymes. / digitalisering@umu.se

The F1 part of F0F1-ATP synthase in the proteobacterium Rhodobacter blasticus contains five different proteins, but when the DNA was sequenced a sixth gene was found in the operon. The protein that corresponds to the sixth gene has been named Majastridin. When an amino acid BLAST search is performed with the Majastridin sequence, protein sequences have been found that are similar to Majastridin in other bacterial strains, and one of them is Streptococcus pneumonia. The hypothetical protein from Streptococcus pneumonia contains 242 amino acids and has a molecular weight around 30 kDa.   In this work the Majastridin-like protein from Streptococcus pneumonia was expressed in E. coli cells and purified with nickel affinity chromatography and size exclusion chromatography. The result was verified with SDS-PAGE and western blot. The purified protein was then crystallized with the hanging drop method, where crystals were formed and optimization was made. The protein was also used to produce antibodies.