Publications by authors named "Jacob Z Chen"

Article Synopsis
  • Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are crucial for regulating the cell cycle, and their alteration in cancer cells leads to uncontrolled growth, making CDK2 a promising target for anticancer drugs.
  • Researchers developed a series of selective small molecule inhibitors for CDK2, utilizing structure-based drug design to optimize potency and selectivity against other kinases like ERK2 and CDK4.
  • One specific compound showed impressive results, achieving a 112% tumor growth inhibition in mice with ovarian cancer (OVCAR3) when administered at a dosage of 50 mg/kg twice daily.
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Spray dried amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs) stand as one of the most effective formulation strategies to address issues of low aqueous solubility when developing new chemical entities.An emerging research topic focusing on the formation of amorphous nanoparticles or nanodroplets from ASD formulations has attracted attention recently. These ASD nanoparticlescan be highly beneficial and able to further increase oral bioavailability.

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Cyclodextrins are widely used pharmaceutical excipients, particularly for insoluble compounds dosed orally, such as the oral solution of itraconazole, which is frequently used in clinical drug-drug interaction studies to inhibit cytochrome P450 3A. Since cyclodextrins act by forming inclusion complexes with their coformulated drug, they could have an unintended consequence of affecting absorption if they form a strong complex with the potential victim drug in an itraconazole drug-drug interaction study. This observation was made in a drug-drug interaction study with the Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor fenebrutinib and itraconazole, in which, relative to the control group, the expected increase in fenebrutinib maximum plasma concentration (C ) was not observed in the itraconazole group, and a delay in time to reach maximum plasma concentration (T ) was observed in the itraconazole group.

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Oral administration is the preferred route for drug delivery and its success is highly dependent on a compound's ADME properties, of which, permeability plays a major role. Therefore, permeability enhancers are an attractive area of research in the pharmaceutical industry. Recent data suggest that sodium N-[8-(2-hydroxybenzoyl) amino] caprylate (SNAC) is an effective permeability enhancer, yet the pharmacokinetic (PK) and systemic effects of SNAC are poorly understood, specifically its oral bioavailability and systemic effects on distribution, which could influence the safety of certain drugs.

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Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is often associated with exaggerated B cell activation promoting plasma cell generation, immune-complex deposition in the kidney, renal infiltration of myeloid cells, and glomerular nephritis. Type-I IFNs amplify these autoimmune processes and promote severe disease. Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) inhibitors are considered novel therapies for SLE.

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Background: Significant under-prediction of in vivo clearance in rat was observed for a potent p21-activated kinase (PAK1) inhibitor, GNE1.

Objective: Rate-determining (rapid uptake) and rate-limiting (slow excretion) steps in systemic clearance and elimination of GNE1, respectively, were evaluated to better understand the cause of the in vitro-in vivo (IVIV) disconnect.

Methods: A series of in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro experiments were carried out: 1) the role of organic cation transporters (Oct or Slc22a) was investigated in transporter knock-out and wild-type animals with or without 1-aminobenzotriazole (ABT) pretreatment; 2) the concentration-dependent hepatic extraction ratio was determined in isolated perfused rat liver; and 3) excreta were collected from both bile duct cannulated and non-cannulated rats after intravenous injection.

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Vismodegib (Erivedge, GDC-0449) is a first-in-class, orally administered small-molecule Hedgehog pathway inhibitor that is approved for the treatment of advanced basal cell carcinoma. Previously, we reported results from preclinical and clinical radiolabeled mass balance studies in which we determined that metabolism is the main route of vismodegib elimination. The metabolites of vismodegib are primarily the result of oxidation followed by glucuronidation.

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Many pharmaceutically active compounds are weak electrolytes and are ionizable in the pH range experienced throughout the gastrointestinal tract. Changes in protonation state due to pH changes in the gut can have dramatic effects on solubility, dissolution, and permeation through biological barriers. Preclinical assessment of the pH-dependence of oral absorption is critical for compounds possessing pH-dependent solubility.

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The advancement of a series of ligand efficient 2-amino-[1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]pyridines, initially identified from high-throughput screening, to a JAK2 inhibitor with pharmacodynamic activity in a mouse xenograft model is disclosed.

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