Metabolism study and biological evaluation of bosentan derivatives

Metabolism study and biological evaluation of bosentan derivatives 

October 2016

Lepri S,Goracci L, Valeri A, Cruciani G.

Abstract

Bosentan, the first-in-class drug used in treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension, is principally metabolized by the cytochromes P450, and it is responsible for cytochromes induction and drug-drug interaction events with moderate to severe consequences. A strategy to reduce drug-drug interactions consists of increasing the metabolic stability of the perpetrator, and fluorinated analogues are often designed to block the major sites of metabolism. In this paper bosentan analogues were synthesized, and their metabolism and biological activity were evaluated. All synthesized compounds showed an improved metabolic stability towards CYP2C9, with one maintaining a moderate antagonist effect towards the ETA receptor.

 

Development, optimization and implementation of a centralized metabolic soft spot assay

Development, optimization and implementation of a centralized metabolic soft spot assay

April 2017

Paiva AA; Klakouski C; Li S; Johnson BM; Shu YZ; Josephs J; Zvyaga T; Zamora I; Shou WZ

Abstract

Aim: High clearance is a commonly encountered issue in drug discovery. Here we present a centralized metabolic soft spot identification assay with adequate capacity and turnaround time to support the metabolic optimization needs of an entire discovery organization. Methodology: An integrated quan/qual approach utilizing both an orthogonal sample-pooling methodology and software-assisted structure elucidation was developed to enable the assay. Major metabolic soft spots in liver microsomes (rodent and human) were generated in a batch mode, along with kinetics of parent disappearance and metabolite formation, typically within 1 week of incubation. Results & conclusion: A centralized metabolic soft spot identification assay has been developed and has successfully impacted discovery project teams in mitigating instability and establishing potential structure–metabolism relationships.

Metabolite Identification Using An Ion Mobility-Enhanced Data-Independent Acquisition Strategy and Automated Data Processing.  Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom

Metabolite Identification Using An Ion Mobility-Enhanced Data-Independent Acquisition Strategy and Automated Data Processing.  Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom

June 2020

 Radchenko T; Kochansky CJ; Cancilla M; Wrona MD; Mortishire-Smith RJ; Kirk J; Murray G; Fontaine F; Zamora I

Abstract

Rationale: Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry is an essential tool for efficient and reliable quantitative and qualitative analysis and underpins much of contemporary drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics. Data-independent acquisition methods such as MSE have reduced the potential to miss metabolites, but do not formally generate quadrupole-resolved product ion spectra. The addition of ion mobility separation to these approaches, for example, in High-Definition MSE (HDMSE ) has the potential to reduce the time needed to set up an experiment and maximize the chance that all metabolites present can be resolved and characterized. We compared High-Definition Data-Dependent Acquisition (HD-DDA), MSE and HDMSE approaches using automated software processing with Mass-MetaSite and WebMetabase.

Methods: Metabolite identification was performed on incubations of glucagon-like peptide-1 (7-37) (GLP-1) and verapamil hydrochloride. The HD-DDA, MSE and HDMSE experiments were conducted on a Waters ACQUITY UPLC I-Class LC system with a VION IMS quadrupole time-of-flight (QTOF) mass spectrometer operating under UNIFI control. All acquired data were processed using MassMetaSite able to read data from UNIFI 1.9.4. WebMetabase was used to review the detected chromatographic peaks and the spectral data interpretations.

Results: A comparison of outcomes obtained for MSE and HDMSE data demonstrated that the same structures were proposed for metabolites of both verapamil and GLP-1. The ratio of structurally matched to mismatched product ions found by MassMetaSite was slightly greater for HDMSE than for MSE , and HD-DDA, thus improving confidence in the structures proposed through the addition of ion mobility based data acquisitions. CONCLUSIONS: HDMSE data acquisition is an effective approach for the elucidation of metabolite structures for both small molecules and peptides, with excellent accuracy and quality, requiring minimal tailoring for the compound under investigation.

Understanding the Metabolism of Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs): The Next Step toward Pharmaceutical Applications

Understanding the Metabolism of Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs): The Next Step toward Pharmaceutical Applications

October 2020.

Goracci L, Desantis J, Valeri A, Castellani B, Eleuteri M, Cruciani G.J 

Abstract

Hetero-bifunctional PROteolysis TArgeting Chimeras (PROTACs) represent a new emerging class of small molecules designed to induce polyubiquitylation and proteasomal-dependent degradation of a target protein. Despite the increasing number of publications about the synthesis, biological evaluation, and mechanism of action of PROTACs, the characterization of the pharmacokinetic properties of this class of compounds is still minimal. Here, we report a study on the metabolism of a series of 40 PROTACs in cryopreserved human hepatocytes at multiple time points. Our results indicated that the metabolism of PROTACs could not be predicted from that of their constituent ligands. Their linkers’ chemical nature and length resulted in playing a major role in the PROTACs’ liability. A subset of compounds was also tested for metabolism by human cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) and human aldehyde oxidase (hAOX) for more in-depth data interpretation, and both enzymes resulted in active PROTAC metabolism.