Discovery of LYC-55716: A Potent, Selective, and Orally Bioavailable Retinoic Acid Receptor-Related Orphan Receptor-γ (RORγ) Agonist for Use in Treating Cancer.

Retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor γ (RORc, RORγ, or NR1F3) is the nuclear receptor master transcription factor that drives the function and development of IL-17-producing T helper cells (Th17), cytotoxic T cells (Tc17), and subsets of innate lymphoid cells. Activation of RORγ T cells in the tumor microenvironment is hypothesized to render immune infiltrates more effective at countering tumor growth. To test this hypothesis, a family of benzoxazines was optimized to provide LYC-55716 (), a potent, selective, and orally bioavailable small-molecule RORγ agonist.

Alternate strategies to obtain mass balance without the use of radiolabeled compounds: application of quantitative fluorine (19F) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in metabolism studies.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is playing an increasingly important role in the quantitation of small and large molecules. Recently, we demonstrated that (1)H NMR could be used to quantitate drug metabolites isolated in submilligram quantities from biological sources. It was shown that these metabolites, once quantitated by NMR, were suitable to be used as reference standards in quantitative LC/MS-based assays, hence circumventing the need for radiolabeled material or synthetic standards to obtain plasma exposure estimates in humans and preclinical species.

Application of quantitative NMR in pharmacological evaluation of biologically generated metabolites: implications in drug discovery.

It is important to gain an understanding of the pharmacological activities of metabolite(s) of compounds in development, especially if they are found in systemic circulation in humans. Pharmacological evaluation of metabolites is normally conducted with synthetic standards, which become available during various stages of drug development. However, the synthesis of metabolite standards may be protracted, taking anywhere from several weeks to months to be completed.

Metabolism of vabicaserin in mice, rats, dogs, monkeys, and humans.

Vabicaserin is a potent 5-hydroxytryptamine(2C) agonist that is currently being developed for the treatment of the psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia. In this study, in vitro and in vivo metabolism of vabicaserin was evaluated in mice, rats, dogs, monkeys, and humans, and the structures of the metabolites were characterized by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. Vabicaserin underwent three major metabolic pathways in vitro: NADPH-dependent hydroxylation, NADPH-independent imine formation, and carbamoyl glucuronidation.

Reversible covalent binding of neratinib to human serum albumin in vitro.

Neratinib (HKI-272), an irreversible inhibitor of Her 2 tyrosine kinase, is currently in development as an alternative for first and second line therapy in metastatic breast cancer patients who overexpress Her 2. Following incubation of [(14)C]neratinib in control human plasma at 37°C for 6 hours, about 60% to 70% of the radioactivity was not extractable, due to covalent binding to albumin. In this study, factors that could potentially affect the covalent binding of neratinib to plasma proteins, specifically to albumin were investigated.

In vitro metabolism, permeability, and efflux of bazedoxifene in humans.

Bazedoxifene (BZA) acetate, a novel estrogen receptor modulator being developed for the prevention and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis, undergoes extensive metabolism in women after oral administration. In this study, the in vitro metabolism of [(14)C]BZA was determined in human hepatocytes and hepatic and intestinal microsomes, and the UDP glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) isozymes involved in the glucuronidation of BZA were identified. In addition, BZA was evaluated for its potential as a substrate of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) transporter in Caco-2 cell monolayers.

Characterization of HKI-272 covalent binding to human serum albumin.

The study was initiated as an observation of incomplete extraction recovery of N-(4-(3-chloro-4-(2-pyridinylmethoxy)anilino)-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-6-quinolyl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-butenamide (HKI-272) from human plasma. The objective of this study was to 1) identify the binding site(s) of HKI-272 to human plasma protein(s); 2) characterize the nature of the binding; and 3) evaluate the potential reversibility of the covalent binding. After incubation of [(14)C]HKI-272 with human plasma, the mixture was directly injected on liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS), and an intact molecular mass of HKI-272 human serum albumin (HSA) adduct was determined to be 66,999 Da, which is 556 Da (molecular mass of HKI-272) larger than the measured molecular mass of HSA (66,443 Da).

Development of a UGT1A1 reporter gene assay for induction studies: correlation between reporter gene data and regulation of UGT1A1 in human hepatocytes.

The present manuscript describes the development of a cell-based reporter transcriptional activation assay for evaluating induction of UGT1A1. A reporter construct (pGL-UGT1A1-Luc) encompassing the proximal promoter (nucleotide -254 to +38) and distal enhancer (-3483 to -3194) regions of the human UGT1A1 gene was generated by PCR cloning, and co-transfected with a previously generated PXR construct (pSG5-PXR) into HepG2 cells. The system was then validated using known ligands of PXR, rifampicin (RIF), clotrimazole (CLOT) sulfinpyrazone (SPZ) and phenobarbital (PB), which produced dose dependent induction of UGT1A1 luciferase activity by 4.

In vitro metabolism and identification of human enzymes involved in the metabolism of methylnaltrexone.

Methylnaltrexone (MNTX) is a peripherally acting mu-opioid receptor antagonist and is currently indicated for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation in patients with advanced illness who are receiving palliative care, when response to laxative therapy has not been sufficient. Sulfation to MNTX-3-sulfate (M2) and carbonyl reduction to methyl-6alpha-naltrexol (M4) and methyl-6beta-naltrexol (M5) are the primary metabolic pathways for MNTX in humans. The objectives of this study were to investigate MNTX in vitro metabolism in human and nonclinical species and to identify the human enzymes involved in MNTX metabolism.

Metabolism of intravenous methylnaltrexone in mice, rats, dogs, and humans.

Methylnaltrexone (MNTX), a selective mu-opioid receptor antagonist, functions as a peripherally acting receptor antagonist in tissues of the gastrointestinal tract. This report describes the metabolic fate of [(3)H]MNTX or [(14)C]MNTX bromide in mice, rats, dogs, and humans after intravenous administration. Separation and identification of plasma and urinary MNTX metabolites was achieved by high-performance liquid chromatography-radioactivity detection and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Species differences in the formation of vabicaserin carbamoyl glucuronide.

Vabicaserin is a potent 5-hydroxtryptamine 2C full agonist with therapeutic potential for a wide array of psychiatric disorders. Metabolite profiles indicated that vabicaserin was extensively metabolized via carbamoyl glucuronidation after oral administration in humans. In the present study, the differences in the extent of vabicaserin carbamoyl glucuronide (CG) formation in humans and in animals used for safety assessment were investigated.

Metabolic disposition of [14C]bazedoxifene in healthy postmenopausal women.

Bazedoxifene is a selective estrogen receptor modulator under development for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. The disposition of [(14)C]bazedoxifene was determined in six healthy postmenopausal women after administration of a single oral dose of 20 mg (200 microCi). After dosing, blood was collected at frequent intervals, and urine and fecal samples were collected for up to 10 days.

Obtaining exposures of metabolites in preclinical species through plasma pooling and quantitative NMR: addressing metabolites in safety testing (MIST) guidance without using radiolabeled compounds and chemically synthesized metabolite standards.

The recent guidance on "Safety Testing of Drug Metabolites" issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) has highlighted the importance of identifying and characterizing drug metabolites as early as possible in drug discovery and development.

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy as a quantitative tool to determine the concentrations of biologically produced metabolites: implications in metabolites in safety testing.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has traditionally been considered as an indispensable tool in elucidating structures of metabolites. With the advent of Fourier transform (FT) spectrometers, along with improvements in software and hardware (such as high-field magnets, cryoprobes, versatile pulse sequences, and solvent suppression techniques), NMR is increasingly being considered as a critical quantitative tool, despite its lower sensitivity as compared to mass spectrometry. A specific quantitative application of NMR is in determining the concentrations of biologically isolated metabolites, which could potentially be used as reference standards for further quantitative work by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Metabolism, excretion, and pharmacokinetics of [14C]tigecycline, a first-in-class glycylcycline antibiotic, after intravenous infusion to healthy male subjects.

Tigecycline, a novel, first-in-class glycylcycline antibiotic, has been approved for the treatment of complicated intra-abdominal infections and complicated skin and skin structure infections. The pharmacokinetics, metabolism, and excretion of [(14)C]tigecycline were examined in healthy male volunteers. Tigecycline has been shown to bind to bone; thus, to minimize the amount of radioactivity binding to bone and to maximize the recovery of radioactivity, tigecycline was administered intravenously (30-min infusion) as a single 100-mg dose, followed by six 50-mg doses, every 12 h, with the last dose being [(14)C]tigecycline (50 microCi).

Application of pharmacogenomics in drug discovery and development: correlations between transcriptional modulation and preclinical safety observations.

An integrated systems biology approach of measuring mRNA, protein and enzyme activity, was used to determine the molecular mechanisms responsible for reductions in thyroid hormone levels observed in rats given 1000 mg/kg/day of a nonsteroidal progesterone agonist (NSP). The effect of NSP on drug metabolizing enzyme (DME) expression was determined in livers from treated and vehicle control rats. In treated males, CYP1A1, CYP2B1, CYP2B2, CYP2C12, CYP3A1 and UGT1A mRNAs increased by 2.

Mechanism study of N-dephenylation mediated through a N-para-hydroxy metabolite.

A P450 catalyzed N-para-hydroxy metabolite was suggested to be a prerequisite for N-dephenylation occurrence. Although two mechanisms have been proposed to describe this process as a consequence of either a chemical degradation or P450 lead epoxidation of the hydroxy metabolite, direct evidence has not been demonstrated. In this study, we started with a novel technique using a dipeptide, Lys-Phe, to trap the byproduct of N-dephenylation, a quinone-like compound, forming a peptide adduct to facilitate LC/MS characterization.

A novel approach for predicting acyl glucuronide reactivity via Schiff base formation: development of rapidly formed peptide adducts for LC/MS/MS measurements.

A novel technique to study the reactivity of acyl glucuronide metabolites to protein has been developed and is described herein. Considered here are acyl glucuronide metabolites, which have undergone the rearrangement of the glucuronic acid moiety at physiological temperature and pH. The investigation of the reactivity of these electrophilic metabolites was carried out by measuring the rate of reaction of rearranged AG metabolites in forming the corresponding acyl glucuronide-peptide adduct in the presence of Lys-Phe.

Quantitation of cytochrome P450 mRNA levels in human skin.

There is considerable interindividual variation in man's ability to metabolize drugs and foreign compounds. These differences can partly be attributed to genetic polymorphisms that result in the generation of multiple phenotypes with different drug-metabolizing capabilities. Genetically derived differences can easily be assessed by genotyping assays in cases where the polymorphism has been identified.

Lipopolysaccharide-mediated modulation of cytochromes P450 in Stat1 null mice.

Signal transducer and activator of transcription (Stat), a family of transcriptional factors, has been demonstrated to play a critical role in gene regulation in response to inflammatory cytokines, such as interferon and interleukin-6. Inflammatory cytokines and bacterial endotoxin are known to suppress, in most of cases, the constitutive or induced cytochromes P450 (P450) in animals and humans. However, it is not clear if the suppression of P450 by cytokines is through the Stat-signaling pathway.