Publications by authors named "John P Maxwell"

Article Synopsis
  • TNG908 is a clinical-stage inhibitor targeting PRMT5, utilizing a unique binding mechanism that exploits the loss of the MTAP gene commonly found in various cancers.
  • It specifically inhibits PRMT5 in cancer cells lacking MTAP, which occurs in 10-15% of human cancers and could lead to more effective treatments compared to earlier drugs.
  • Ongoing Phase I/II trials are investigating the effectiveness of TNG908 in patients with MTAP-null tumors, including glioblastoma, suggesting a promising future for this therapy in multiple cancer types, particularly those affecting the brain.
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Purpose: Clinicians are often uncertain about their prognostic estimates, which may impede prognostic communication and clinical decision-making. We assessed the impact of a web-based prognostic calculator on physicians' prognostic confidence.

Methods: In this prospective study, palliative care physicians estimated the prognosis of patients with advanced cancer in an outpatient clinic using the temporal, surprise, and probabilistic approaches for 6 m, 3 m, 2 m, 1 m, 2 w, 1 w, and 3 d.

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Article Synopsis
  • PRMT5 inhibitors can target cancer cells with a specific gene deletion by utilizing the buildup of a substrate called MTA, leading to selective cell death.* -
  • TNG908 is a newly discovered and potent inhibitor that binds to the PRMT5·MTA complex, demonstrating a significant ability to kill MTAP-null cells more effectively than normal cells.* -
  • TNG908 shows promise as an oral treatment in mouse models for various tumors, including those in the central nervous system, because it can cross the blood-brain barrier.*
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Article Synopsis
  • CRISPR Cas9-based screening identifies USP1's role as a synthetic lethal target in cancers with DNA damage vulnerabilities, particularly in BRCA1/2 mutant and some wild-type tumors.
  • Inhibiting USP1 decreases DNA synthesis and causes S-phase-specific DNA damage, linked to the accumulation of mono- and polyubiquitinated PCNA.
  • This study suggests that targeting USP1 could offer a new therapeutic strategy for treating BRCA1/2 mutant tumors, as well as a subset of BRCA1/2 wild-type tumors, highlighting the importance of PCNA's posttranslational modifications.
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Purpose Of Review: To provide an updated overview of prognostic models in advanced cancer and highlight the role of prognostic calculators.

Recent Findings: In the advanced cancer setting, many important healthcare decisions are driven by a patient's prognosis. However, there is much uncertainty in formulating prognosis, particularly in the era of novel cancer therapeutics.

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The discovery of non-symmetric thienoimidazole-containing HCV NS5A inhibitors is described. The inhibitors herein reported display high potencies against both genotype 1a and 1b. In this follow-up manuscript, we discuss the importance of the linker aromaticity to achieve high potency, particularly against genotype 1a.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study introduces C2-symmetric bis-thienoimidazoles as inhibitors for the HCV NS5A protein.
  • It outlines two simple methods to create the necessary diyne and biphenyl linker structures.
  • The research emphasizes that the aromatic nature of the linker is crucial for achieving strong effectiveness against genotype 1a of the virus.
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The treatment of HCV with highly efficacious, well-tolerated, interferon-free regimens is a compelling clinical goal. Trials employing combinations of direct-acting antivirals that include NS5A inhibitors have shown significant promise in meeting this challenge. Herein, we describe our efforts to identify inhibitors of NS5A and report on the discovery of benzimidazole-containing analogs with subnanomolar potency against genotype 1a and 1b replicons.

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Inhibitors of the HCV NS5A nonstructural protein are showing promising clinical potential in the treatment of hepatitis C when used in combination with other direct-acting antiviral agents. Current NS5A clinical candidates such as daclatasvir, ledipasvir, and ombitasvir share a common pharmacophore that features a pair of (S)-methoxycarbonylvaline capped pyrrolidines linked to various cores by amides, imidazoles and/or benzimidazoles. In this Letter, we describe the evaluation of NS5A inhibitors which contain alternative heteroaromatic replacements for these amide mimetics.

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The discovery of potent thienoimidazole-based HCV NS5A inhibitors is herein reported. A novel method to access the thienoimidazole [5,5]-bicyclic system is disclosed. This method gave access to a common key intermediate (6) that was engaged in Suzuki or Sonogashira reactions with coupling partners bearing different linkers.

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Reversible tetrapeptide-based compounds have been shown to effectively inhibit the hepatitis C virus NS3.4A protease. Inhibition of viral replicon RNA production in Huh-7 cells has also been demonstrated.

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We recently described the identification of an optimized alpha-ketoamide warhead for our series of HCV NS3.4A inhibitors. We report herein a series of HCV protease inhibitors incorporating 3-alkyl-substituted prolines in P(2).

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We have used a structure-based drug design approach to identify small molecule inhibitors of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3.4A protease as potential candidates for new anti-HCV therapies. VX-950 is a potent NS3.

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We report here that (1) enolate anions of five- to seven-membered cycloalkanones nucleophilically open cyclopentene and cyclohexene oxides in 57-76% yields and with 4-8:1 diastereoselectivity; (2) enolate anions formed regiospecifically via kinetic deprotonation of 2-cyclohexenone and 2-cycloheptenone open cyclohexene oxide in 60-62% yields and with 32-95:1 diastereoselectivity; and (3) an aryl methyl ketone enolate anion opens a monosubstituted epoxide as the key step in a short synthesis of the gamma-hydroxyketone (GHK) aglycon of the natural product curculigine.

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