The identification of drug treatments that are useful in diverse therapeutic settings is a significant driving force in biomedical research [Macarron et al., 2011], [Poureetezadi et al., 2014], [Lamb, 2007]. Typical means for measuring the efficacy of a drug for a given clinical application include protein-protein interactions, cell death, mitochondrial respiration and cell growth as well as broader measurements of absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity (ADMET), specifically related the the drug or drugs being tested [Szakcs et al., 2008]. A wide array of methods are routinely employed to perform these screens, from ligand binding assays [Wagner et al., 2016] to high-throughput proteomics [Verheul, 2014]. One method that is currently underutilized in small-molecule drug screens and drug discovery is high-throughput transcriptome sequencing, such as RNA-Seq. Although RNA-Seq is routinely used to profile patterns of genetic changes following perturbations such as drug treatment [Young et al., 2014], it has not, to my knowledge, yet been used as the primary readout of a drug screen.

INTRODUCTION: Melanoma is the most deadly skin cancer with mortality dependent on the extent and location of metastases. Lymphatic metastasis occurs early in melanoma, and tumor-associated lymphatic vessel area correlates with melanoma progression. Recently, the discovery of checkpoint inhibitors has drastically changed the treatment strategy and survival rates in melanoma. Neuropilin-2 (NRP2) is a potential common target in melanoma cells, tumor-associated lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). NRP2 is a cell surface receptor with competing stimulatory ligands (VEGF-A/-C) and inhibitory ligands (SEMA3F/G). AIM: The goal of this study was to investigate the role of NRP2 in both melanoma cells and the melanoma microenvironment (LECs, TILs) and to examine the effect of semaphorin 3F (SEMA3F) on the tumor cells as well as an immune modulator. RESULTS: Mouse and human melanocytes expressed NRP2 but not other vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor tyrosine kinases in vitro and in vivo. NRP2 protein expression, as analyzed by immunohistochemistry, was upregulated in human metastatic melanoma sections. Treatment of melanoma cells in vitro with SEMA3F inhibited migration and phosphorylation of protein kinase B (AKT) but did not inhibit cell viability. SEMA3F also increased programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in melanoma. Syngeneic B16F10 melanoma did not grow in global NRP2 knockout (KO) mice but did grow in wild-type mice. In addition, mice inoculated with B16F10 were treated with SEMA3F or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) by mini-osmotic pumps. Resulting tumors were analyzed histologically for microvessel density and presence of TILs (number and subtype). CONCLUSIONS: Expression of NRP2 protein positively correlated with melanoma progression in human patient samples. NRP2 functions differently in melanoma tumor cells than in host stromal cells (endothelial cells [ECs], LECs). In melanoma, NRP2 is not a VEGF receptor but responds to the ligand, SEMA3F. Alternately, NRP2 appears to be an important VEGF-A/-C co-receptor in tumor-associated angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis, as demonstrated in the NRP2 transgenic mice studies. SEMA3F inhibited tumor cell migration but increased PD-L1 expression. Systemic treatment with purified SEMA3F protein in melanoma preclinical trials inhibited melanoma growth and microvessel density. Taken together, these results suggest that exploiting the NRP2/SEMA3F signaling axis may be a novel treatment strategy to be used in combination with existing immunotherapy in melanoma. / 2020-07-03T00:00:00Z

Tse, Ching Man. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 188-200). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgement --- p.vi / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Obtain information on drug targets --- p.3 / Chapter 1.2 --- Drug Design --- p.5 / Chapter 1.3 --- Interface for interaction --- p.9 / Chapter 1.4 --- Summary --- p.10 / Chapter 2 --- Background Study --- p.12 / Chapter 2.1 --- Protein Function Prediction --- p.16 / Chapter 2.2 --- Drug Design --- p.37 / Chapter 2.3 --- Visualisation and Interaction in Biomedic --- p.44 / Chapter 3 --- Overview --- p.48 / Chapter 3.1 --- Protein prediction using secondary structure analysis --- p.52 / Chapter 3.2 --- Knowledge-driven ligand design --- p.55 / Chapter 3.3 --- Interactive interface in virtual reality --- p.57 / Chapter 4 --- Protein Function Prediction --- p.60 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.61 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Motivation --- p.61 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Objective --- p.62 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Overview --- p.63 / Chapter 4.2 --- Methods and Design --- p.66 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Feature Cell --- p.68 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Heterogeneous Vector --- p.71 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Feature Cell Similarity --- p.75 / Chapter 4.2.4 --- Heterogeneous Vector Similarity --- p.79 / Chapter 4.3 --- Experiments --- p.85 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Data Preparation --- p.85 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Experimental Methods --- p.87 / Chapter 4.4 --- Results --- p.97 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Scalability --- p.97 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Cluster Quality --- p.99 / Chapter 4.4.3 --- Classification Quality --- p.102 / Chapter 4.5 --- Discussion --- p.103 / Chapter 4.6 --- Conclusion --- p.104 / Chapter 5 --- Drug Design --- p.106 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.107 / Chapter 5.1.1 --- Motivation --- p.107 / Chapter 5.1.2 --- Objective --- p.109 / Chapter 5.1.3 --- Overview --- p.109 / Chapter 5.2 --- Methods --- p.111 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Fragment Joining --- p.115 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Genetic Operators --- p.116 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- Post-Processing --- p.124 / Chapter 5.3 --- Experiments --- p.128 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Data Preparation --- p.129 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Experimental Methods --- p.132 / Chapter 5.4 --- Results --- p.134 / Chapter 5.4.1 --- Binding Pose --- p.134 / Chapter 5.4.2 --- Free Energy and Molecular Weight --- p.137 / Chapter 5.4.3 --- Execution Time --- p.138 / Chapter 5.4.4 --- Handling Phosphorus --- p.138 / Chapter 5.5 --- Discussions --- p.139 / Chapter 5.6 --- Conclusion --- p.140 / Chapter 6 --- Interface in Virtual Reality --- p.142 / Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction --- p.143 / Chapter 6.1.1 --- Motivation --- p.143 / Chapter 6.1.2 --- Objective --- p.145 / Chapter 6.1.3 --- Overview --- p.145 / Chapter 6.2 --- Methods and Design --- p.146 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- Hybrid Drug Synthesis --- p.147 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- Interactive Interface in Virtual Reality --- p.154 / Chapter 6.3 --- Experiments and Results --- p.171 / Chapter 6.3.1 --- Data Preparation --- p.171 / Chapter 6.3.2 --- Experimental Settings --- p.172 / Chapter 6.3.3 --- Results --- p.173 / Chapter 6.4 --- Discussions --- p.176 / Chapter 6.5 --- Conclusions --- p.179 / Chapter 7 --- Conclusion --- p.180 / A Glossary --- p.184 / Bibliography --- p.188

Bien qu'il concerne que 10% des cancers de la peau, le mélanome cutané est à l'origine de 80% de la mortalité due à ce type de cancer. L'objectif de mon travail de thèse était de mesurer l'efficacité cytotoxique de nouveaux complexes de platine (les NHC-Pt) dans le mélanome cutané métastatique, mais également de décrire leurs mécanismes d'action. Ces complexes pouvant être radiomarqués, nous avons vérifié l'hypothèse selon laquelle les propriétés chimiotoxiques du platine peuvent être combinées aux propriétés radiotoxiques d'électrons de faible énergie émis par l'iode 123. Enfin, ce radiomarquage a permis une première approche de la biodistribution des composés NHC-Pt. J'ai montré que le composé NHC-Pt-I2, avait un effet cytotoxique important dans des lignées de mélanome métastatiques BRAF mutés et wild-type ainsi que dans des lignées de mélanome rendues résistantes au vemurafenib, un inhibiteur de BRAF. L'obtention de cet effet après une exposition très courte (1h) des cellules, témoigne de la rapidité de déclenchement des processus cytotoxiques cellulaires, contrairement à ce qui a été observé avec le cisplatine et la dacarbazine. Les études de pharmacocinétique ont permis de rapporter l'importance de l'effet cytotoxique obtenu avec un traitement d'1h sur les cellules à une accumulation cellulaire du composé NHC-Pt-I2 importante. Cette accumulation était supérieure (95 fois) à celle du cisplatine, et permettait une induction massive de dommages à l'ADN. Les études mécanistiques ont montré que les composés NHC-Pt induisaient l'apoptose des cellules d'une part via la voie Bcl-xL, et d'autre part via une autre voie dépendante des pan-caspases non identifiée à l'heure actuelle. Le radiomarquage par l'iode-123 du composé NHC-Pt-Br2 a permis d'étudier sa biodistribution in vivo chez la souris. Le composé NHC-Pt-Br-123I présente une distribution rapide et importante vers le compartiment sanguin, une accumulation très faible dans les principaux organes, et une légère accumulation tumorale. En revanche, l'étude de la synergie des effets cytotoxiques du Pt par l'effet des électrons de faible énergie émis par l'I123 a été limitée par le très faible rendement de marquage de composés radiomarqués obtenu. Les résultats obtenus durant ce projet de thèse ont permis de révéler le potentiel important des composés NHC-Pt comme outil thérapeutique du mélanome cutané métastatique / Although only 10% of skin cancers are due to cutaneous melanoma, but it’s still responsible for 80% of the mortality caused by this type of cancer. The aim of my thesis was evaluating the cytotoxicity of new platinum complexes (NHC-Pt) in metastatic cutaneous melanoma and investigating their mechanisms of action. These complexes can be radiolabeled. We studied if chemotoxicity of platinum combined by radiotoxicity of low energy electrons emitted by 123 Iodine (123I) can lead to a higher cytotoxicity. This radiolabelling also permitted us to study the biodistribution of the NHC-Pt compounds. We have shown that the compound NHC-Pt-I2, not only had a significant cytotoxic effect on mutated and wild-type BRAF metastatic melanoma cell lines but also on melanoma cell lines resistant to vemurafenib which is a BRAF inhibitor. Getting results in a very short cell exposure time (1h), showed a rapid onset of cellular cytotoxicity, and it’s contrary to what was observed in cisplatin and dacarbazine. We also showed that cytotoxic effect obtained by 1h treatment of cells was due to higher cellular accumulation of the NHC-Pt-I2. This higher accumulation was about 95 times more than that of cisplatin and allowed much more DNA damage induction. Our Mechanistic studies showed that NHC-Pt compounds induce cell apoptosis via the Bcl-xL pathway and also there is another pathway dependent on pancaspases which is still unidentified. The radiolabelling with 123I of the NHC-Pt-Br2 enabled the in vivo study of its biodistribution in mice. The NHC-Pt-Br-123I compound had a fast and important distribution to the blood compartment, and a very slight accumulation in the main organs, and also in tumors. On the other hand, the study of amplification of Pt cytotoxicity by the effect of 123I was limited by very low labelling efficiency of radiolabelled compounds. The reason of this low efficacy may be the special commercial saline solutions of 123I that we used. The results achieved during this thesis project revealed the important potential of NHC-Pt compounds as a therapeutic tool for metastatic cutaneous melanoma

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ball State University, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Nov. 30, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 74-80).

M. Tech. Pharmaceutical Sciences. / Investigates the potential of A. ferox and A. vera gel and whole leaf extract materials alone or in combination with Carbopol® 971P NF and HPMC as excipients in a multi-unit controlled release matrix type system.

M. Tech. Pharmaceutical Sciences. / Aims to design, evaluate and optimize an extended release matrix tablet of Nicotinic acid using natural polymers to match the in-vitro dissolution profile of Niaspan.

Innovation is not always enough. In the beginning of the 2000s established pharmaceutical firms had developed several drugs, yet these new products were far too few. Patents of many blockbuster drugs were to soon expire and substantial profit would then be lost. A potential solution emerged: implementing new biomarker technologies in drug development. Biomarkers are required for knowledge creation about the drug effect on underlying causes of a disease. The problem is this: although academia, industry, and policy makers have deemed biomarkers as necessary for successful drug development, pharmaceutical firms have not used them in actual drug development projects.  Since the 1990s, established pharmaceutical firms have invested financially and restructured organizationally in order to implement biomarkers. Still, cases show that more than 50% of project termination in Clinical Phase 2 (the bottle neck of drug development) can be attributed to the lack of implementing biomarkers.   Challenges of established firms transforming in the face of technology change is a commonly studied phenomenon within innovation management literature. Several explanations have attempted to determine why established firms fail in following technology change. However, most of this literature has been based upon an empirical context where technology change is conceptualized as an innovation of the dominant product design in the industry. Consequently, the challenge is to develop or adapt a discontinuous product innovation. Conversely, implementing biomarkers is a case of technology change that impacts R&amp;D. Since drugs lose their value when the patent protection expires, the established pharmaceutical firms need to continuously develop new block buster drugs – not just one product. More research is needed to fill this gap in the literature in order to develop an understanding of the established firm challenge in implementing biomarkers. This thesis builds upon a longitudinal case study of AstraZeneca. Using multiple data sources, the findings show that the dominant architecture of the drug development process during the 2000s impeded the implementation of biomarkers. AstraZeneca required an “architectural process innovation” in order to complete this implementation. The company’s process-based management structures distorted it from recognizing the need for process change. This thesis has three contributions: First, it describes the process change and the firm’s managerial challenges associated with biomarker implementation; Second, it contributes to the literature on the established firm challenge by developing an understanding of the phenomenon of architectural process innovation; Third, it develops a process-based framework for studying technology change that affects R&amp;D. / <p>QC 20151106</p>

The problem of finding targeted medicine is a central problem in chemotherapy. From this point of view the ubiquitin-proteasome system is a highly promising object in the pharmaceutical approach. Proteasome plays a critical role in cellular protein degradation, cell cycle and apoptosis regulation. Proteasome inhibitors are substances blocking the actions of proteasome. Cancer cells are more sensitive to inhibition of the ubiquitin-proteasome system than normal cells. Therefore proteasome inhibitors have the potential to be successfully used in the cancer treatment. The study aimed to test various substances to identify possible proteasome inhibitors with the IncuCyteTM FLR image system and fluorometric microculture cytotoxicity assay. Using the IncuCyte FLR method allows for detecting changes in the molecular processes of living cells. To make proteasome inhibition visible the model cell line MelJuSoUbG76V-YFP is used which helps to detect alterations in proteasome activity by means of the yellow fluorescent protein enrichment in cells as a response to proteasome inhibition. Fluorometric microculture cytotoxicity assay is a method for the determination of cytotoxicity in human tumor cells. The study showed that substance #25 possessed a proteasome inhibitory capacity in a dose-dependent manner as demonstrated with the IncuCyte FLR image system. According to the fluorometric microculture cytotoxicity assay, substance #1 was the most stable and toxic. Substances #2 and #185 had selective toxicity against cancer cells and lower effects against normal cells. Combining IncuCyte FLR and fluorometric microculture cytotoxicity assay allows finding substances which act as proteasome inhibitors with high toxic effect.