Solvent Selection for Insoluble Ligands, a Challenge for Biological Assay Development: A TNF-α/SPD304 Study.

Many active compounds may be excluded from biological assays due to their low aqueous solubility. In this study, a simple method for the determination of the solubility of compounds containing aromatic rings is proposed. In addition to DMSO, five organic solvents for screening experiments of TNF-α inhibitors were explored.

Optimization of TNF-α overexpression in Escherichia coli using response surface methodology: Purification of the protein and oligomerization studies.

Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) is responsible for many autoimmune disorders including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Chron's disease, stroke, and atherosclerosis. Thus, inhibition of TNF-α is a major challenge in drug discovery. However, a sufficient amount of purified protein is needed for the in vitro screening of potential TNF-α inhibitors.