Cost-effectiveness of ibrutinib as first-line therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia in older adults without deletion 17p.

Ibrutinib is a novel oral therapy that has shown significant efficacy as initial treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). It is a high-cost continuous therapy differing from other regimens that are given for much shorter courses. Our objective was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of ibrutinib for first-line treatment of CLL in patients older than age 65 years without a 17p deletion.

Leukotriene B antagonism ameliorates experimental lymphedema.

Acquired lymphedema is a cancer sequela and a global health problem currently lacking pharmacologic therapy. We have previously demonstrated that ketoprofen, an anti-inflammatory agent with dual 5-lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase inhibitory properties, effectively reverses histopathology in experimental lymphedema. We show that the therapeutic benefit of ketoprofen is specifically attributable to its inhibition of the 5-lipoxygenase metabolite leukotriene B (LTB).

Reengineering Cro protein functional specificity with an evolutionary code.

Cro proteins from different lambdoid bacteriophages are extremely variable in their target consensus DNA sequences and constitute an excellent model for evolution of transcription factor specificity. We experimentally tested a bioinformatically derived evolutionary code relating switches between pairs of amino acids at three recognition helix sites in Cro proteins to switches between pairs of nucleotide bases in the cognate consensus DNA half-sites. We generated all eight possible code variants of bacteriophage λ Cro and used electrophoretic mobility shift assays to compare binding of each variant to its own putative cognate site and to the wild-type cognate site; we also tested the wild-type protein against all eight DNA sites.

Mutations in the β-tubulin binding site for peloruside A confer resistance by targeting a cleft significant in side chain binding.

Peloruside A is a microtubule-stabilizing macrolide that binds to beta tubulin at a site distinct from the taxol site. The site was previously identified by H-D exchange mapping and molecular docking as a region close to the outer surface of the microtubule and confined in a cavity surrounded by a continuous loop of protein folded so as to center on Y340. We have isolated a series of peloruside A-resistant lines of the human ovarian carcinoma cell line A2780(1A9) to better characterize this binding site and the consequences of altering residues in it.

Measurement of ligand binding to tubulin by sulfhydryl reactivity.

Ligand binding can induce shifts in protein conformation. In the case of tubulin, these drug-induced confirmational changes can prevent or stabilize microtubule polymerization. 5',5'-Dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoate) (DTNB) reacts with free and accessible sulfhydryls and stoichiometrically produces a detectable product, which allows an exact measurement of reacted thiols.

Total synthesis and biological evaluation of tubulysin U, tubulysin V, and their analogues.

A stereoselective total synthesis of the cytotoxic natural products tubulysin U, tubulysin V, and its unnatural epimer epi-tubulysin V, is reported. Simplified analogues containing N,N-dimethyl-D-alanine as a replacement for the N-terminal N-Me-pipecolinic acid residue of the tubulysins are also disclosed. Biological evaluation of these natural products and analogues provided key information with regard to structural and stereochemical requirements for antiproliferative activity and tubulin polymerization inhibition.

Evaluating the 3C-like protease activity of SARS-Coronavirus: recommendations for standardized assays for drug discovery.

Although the initial outbreaks of the deadly coronavirus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV) were controlled by public health measures, the development of vaccines and antiviral agents for SARS-CoV is essential for improving control and treatment of future outbreaks. One potential target for SARS-CoV antiviral drug development is the 3C-like protease (3CLpro). This enzyme is an attractive target since it is essential for viral replication, and since there are now a number of high resolution X-ray structures of SARS-CoV 3CLpro available making structure-based drug-design possible.