Chronic kidney disease(CKD) is recognised as a health concern globally and leads to high rates of morbidity,mortality and healthcare expenditure.CKD is itself an independent risk factor for unfavorable health outcomes...Chronic kidney disease(CKD) is recognised as a health concern globally and leads to high rates of morbidity,mortality and healthcare expenditure.CKD is itself an independent risk factor for unfavorable health outcomes that include cardiovascular disease(CVD).Coronary artery disease is the primary type of CVD in CKD patients and a significant cause of death among renal transplant patients.Traditional and non-traditional risk factors for CVD exist in patients with CKD.Traditional factors include smoking,hypertension,dyslipidemia and diabetes which are highly prevalent in CKD patients.Non-traditional risk factors of CKD are mainly uraemiaspecific and increase in prevalence as kidney function declines.Some examples of uraemia-specific risk factors that have been well documented include low levels of haemoglobin,albuminuria,and abnormal bone and mineral metabolism.Therapeutic interventions targeted at more traditional risk factors which contribute to CVD,have not had the desired effect on lowering CVD events and mortality in those suffering with CKD.Future research is warranted to delineate clear evidence to the benefit of modifying non-traditional risk factors.展开更多
AIM To examine the role that enzyme Acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase-1(DGAT1) plays in postprandial gut peptide secretion and signaling.METHODS The standard experimental paradigm utilized to evaluate the incret...AIM To examine the role that enzyme Acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase-1(DGAT1) plays in postprandial gut peptide secretion and signaling.METHODS The standard experimental paradigm utilized to evaluate the incretin response was a lipid challenge.Following a lipid challenge,plasma was collected via cardiac puncture at each time point from a cohort of 5-8 mice per group from baseline at time zero to 10 h.Incretin hormones [glucagon like peptide-1(GLP-1),peptide tyrosine-tyrosine(PYY) and glucose dependent insulinotropic polypeptide(GIP)] were then quantitated.The impact of pharmacological inhibition of DGAT1 on the incretin effect was evaluated in WT mice.Additionally,a comparison of loss of DGAT1 function either by genetic ablation or pharmacological inhibition.To further elucidate the pathways and mechanisms involved in the incretin response to DGAT1 inhibition,other interventions [inhibitors of dipeptidyl peptidase-IV(sitagliptin),pancreatic lipase(Orlistat),GPR119 knockout mice] were evaluated.RESULTS DGAT1 deficient mice and wildtype C57/BL6J mice werelipid challenged and levels of both active and total GLP-1 in the plasma were increased.This response was further augmented with DGAT1 inhibitor PF-04620110 treated wildtype mice.Furthermore,PF-04620110 was able to dose responsively increase GLP-1 and PYY,but blunt GIP at all doses of PF-04620110 during lipid challenge.Combination treatment of PF-04620110 and Sitagliptin in wildtype mice during a lipid challenge synergistically enhanced postprandial levels of active GLP-1.In contrast,in a combination study with Orlistat,the ability of PF-04620110 to elicit an enhanced incretin response was abrogated.To further explore this observation,GPR119 knockout mice were evaluated.In response to a lipid challenge,GPR119 knockout mice exhibited no increase in active or total GLP-1 and PYY.However,PF-04620110 was able to increase total GLP-1 and PYY in GPR119 knockout mice as compared to vehicle treated wildtype mice.CONCLUSION Collectively,these data provide some insight into the mechanism by which inhibition of DGAT1 enhances intestinal hormone release.展开更多
Background: Colorectal cancer(CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in males and the second in females worldwide in 2012. In the past 20 years, strong evidence suggests that cancer stem cells are the main c...Background: Colorectal cancer(CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in males and the second in females worldwide in 2012. In the past 20 years, strong evidence suggests that cancer stem cells are the main culprit of cancer metastasis,chemotherapy resistance, and relapse.Methods: To further understand the unique biological properties of cancer stem cells and uncover novel molecular targets to eradicate them, we first established a panel of patient-derived xenograft(PDX) tumor models using tumors surgically removed from human colorectal cancer patients. We then isolated CRC cancer stem cells based on their ALDH activity using fluorescent-activated cell sorting(FACS)and characterized their metabolic properties.Results: Interestingly, we found that the CRC cancer stem cells(ie, CRC cells with higher ALDH activity, or ALDH+) express higher level of antioxidant genes and have lower level of reactive oxygen species(ROS) than non-CRC cancer stem cells(ie, CRC cells with lower ALDH activity, or ALDHà). The CRC cancer stem cells also possess more mitochondria mass and show higher mitochondrial activity. More intriguingly,we observed higher AMP-activated protein kinase(AMPK) activities in these CRC cancer stem cells. Inhibition of the AMPK activity using 2 AMPK inhibitors, Compound C and Iodotubercidin, preferentially induces cell death in CRC cancer stem cells.Conclusion: We propose that AMPK inhibitors may help to eradicate the CRC cancer stem cells and prevent the relapse of CRCs.展开更多
A high throughput screen of the Pfizer compound collection was carried out using a hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1b subgenomic replicon cell line. Those confirmed hits that demonstrated broad spectrum activity with...A high throughput screen of the Pfizer compound collection was carried out using a hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1b subgenomic replicon cell line. Those confirmed hits that demonstrated broad spectrum activity without overt cytotoxicity were further evaluated, leading to the identification of a series of pyrrolopyridines with excellent antiviral activity in a fully infectious HCV cell-based assay and pharmacokinetic properties.展开更多
AIM: The purpose of this analysis was to construct appropriate models to characterise population pharmacokinetics (PK) for PHA-794428 and PK/pharmacodynamics (PD) for the efficacy biomarker Insulin-like Growth factor-...AIM: The purpose of this analysis was to construct appropriate models to characterise population pharmacokinetics (PK) for PHA-794428 and PK/pharmacodynamics (PD) for the efficacy biomarker Insulin-like Growth factor-1 (IGF-1). METHODS: Fifty-six male healthy volunteers were enrolled into a clinical study. Subjects received in a randomised manner 3 subcutaneous injections over 3 periods: i) 3.6 mg recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH), ii) PHA-794428 0, 3, 10, 30, 60, 100, 300 or 500 μg/kg, and iii) PHA-794428 0, 10, or 30 μg/kg. Both PK and IGF-1 data were collected up to 336 h post-dose. The PK and PK/PD models were constructed in 3 stages: i) the PK model was developed, ii) the PK parameters were fixed during IGF-1 model building, iii) PK and IGF-1 data were analysed simultaneously. RESULTS: PHA-794428 exhibited non-linearity with respect to dose. A one-compartment disposition model with parallel linear and non-linear elimination most appropriately described the PHA-794428 serum concentrations versus time data. The absorption of PHA-794428 was characterised as a first-order process involving two absorption rate constants. The nonlinear elimination, characterised in terms of the maximal elimination capacity (Vmax=91.5 μg/h for 70 kg) and Michaelis-Menten constant (Km=73.9 μg/L) describing the concentration at which elimination is at half Vmax. The non-linear elimination pathway is approximately 10 times higher than the linear route (0.129 L/h). PHA-794428 has a limited distribution in the blood (V=4.4 L), due to its large molecular weight. Serum IGF-1 concentrations versus time data were best described by an indirect response model with PEG-hGH stimulating IGF-1 production rate. Drug effect was appropriately characterised by a maximum effect (Emax) model. The maximal IGF-1 production rate could increase up to 8-fold across the dose range studied. The PHA-794428 concentration at half Emax (EC50) is 56.5 ng/mL. A negative feedback loop was incorporated into the PK/IGF-1 model. The maximal inhibition (Imax) of IGF-1 on endogenous GH secretion was set to 100% and IC50, the IGF-1 concentration decreasing GH secretion by 50%, was 382 ng/mL. Placebo effect was negligible. CONCLUSION: Serum data of PHA-794428 and IGF-1 could be adequately described by PK and PK/IGF-1 models, which were successfully used to predict the doses and time course of PK and IGF-1 and study design for the subsequent clinical trials in adult patients with growth hormone deficiency (AGHD). PK/PD modelling and simulation demonstrated that PHA-794428 has a potential to return low IGF-1 levels to within the normal range by weekly dosing.展开更多
Promoter silencing by ectopic?de novo?methylation of tumor suppressor genes has been proposed as comparable or equivalent to inactivating mutations as a factor in carcinogenesis. However, this hypotheses had not previ...Promoter silencing by ectopic?de novo?methylation of tumor suppressor genes has been proposed as comparable or equivalent to inactivating mutations as a factor in carcinogenesis. However, this hypotheses had not previously been tested by high resolution,?high-coverage whole-genome methylation profiling in primary carcinomas. We have determined the genomic methylation status of a series of primary mammary carcinomas and matched control tissues by examination of more than 2.7 billion CpG dinucleotides. Most of the tumors showed variable losses of DNA methylation?from all sequence compartments, but increases in promoter methylation were infrequent, very small in extent, and were observed largely at CpG-poor promoters. De novo methylation at the promoters?of proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes occurred at approximately the same frequency. The findings indicate that tumor suppressor silencing by?de novo?methylation is much less common than currently believed. We put forward a hypothesis under which the demethylation commonly observed in carcinomas is a manifestation of a defensive system that kills incipient cancer cells.展开更多
Background: 5-HT4receptors in cortex and hippocampus area are considered as a possible target for modulation of cognitive functions in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). A systems pharmacology approach was adopted to evaluate...Background: 5-HT4receptors in cortex and hippocampus area are considered as a possible target for modulation of cognitive functions in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). A systems pharmacology approach was adopted to evaluate the potential of the 5-HT4 modulation in providing beneficialeffects on cognition in AD. Methods: A serotonergic synaptic cleft model was developed by integrating serotonin firing, release, synaptic half-life, drug/tracer properties (affinity and agonism) as inputs and5-HT4 activity as output. The serotonergic model was calibrated using bothinvivo data on free 5-HT levels in preclinical models and human imaging data. The model was further expanded to other neurontransmitter systems and incorporated into a computer-based cortical network model which implemented the physiology of 12 different membrane CNS targets. A biophysically realistic, multi-compartment model of 80 pyramidal cells and 40 interneurons was further calibrated usingdata reported for working memory tasks in healthyhumans and schizophrenia patients. Model output was the duration of the network firing activity in response to an external stimulus. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology, in particular synapse and neuronal cell loss in addition to cholinergic deficits, was calibrated to align with the natural clinical disease progression. The model was used to provide insights into the effect of 5-HT4 activation on working memory and to prospectively simulate the response of PF- 04995274, a 5-HT4partial agonist, in a scopolamine-reversal trial in healthy human subjects. Results: The model output suggested a beneficial effect of 5-HT4 agonism on working memory. The model also projected no effect or an exacerbation of scopolamine impairment for low in- trinsic activity 5-HT4agonists, which was supported by the subsequent human trial outcome. The clinical prediction of the disease model strongly suggests that 5-HT4 agonists with high intrinsic activity may have a beneficial effect on cognition in AD patients.展开更多
文摘Chronic kidney disease(CKD) is recognised as a health concern globally and leads to high rates of morbidity,mortality and healthcare expenditure.CKD is itself an independent risk factor for unfavorable health outcomes that include cardiovascular disease(CVD).Coronary artery disease is the primary type of CVD in CKD patients and a significant cause of death among renal transplant patients.Traditional and non-traditional risk factors for CVD exist in patients with CKD.Traditional factors include smoking,hypertension,dyslipidemia and diabetes which are highly prevalent in CKD patients.Non-traditional risk factors of CKD are mainly uraemiaspecific and increase in prevalence as kidney function declines.Some examples of uraemia-specific risk factors that have been well documented include low levels of haemoglobin,albuminuria,and abnormal bone and mineral metabolism.Therapeutic interventions targeted at more traditional risk factors which contribute to CVD,have not had the desired effect on lowering CVD events and mortality in those suffering with CKD.Future research is warranted to delineate clear evidence to the benefit of modifying non-traditional risk factors.
文摘AIM To examine the role that enzyme Acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase-1(DGAT1) plays in postprandial gut peptide secretion and signaling.METHODS The standard experimental paradigm utilized to evaluate the incretin response was a lipid challenge.Following a lipid challenge,plasma was collected via cardiac puncture at each time point from a cohort of 5-8 mice per group from baseline at time zero to 10 h.Incretin hormones [glucagon like peptide-1(GLP-1),peptide tyrosine-tyrosine(PYY) and glucose dependent insulinotropic polypeptide(GIP)] were then quantitated.The impact of pharmacological inhibition of DGAT1 on the incretin effect was evaluated in WT mice.Additionally,a comparison of loss of DGAT1 function either by genetic ablation or pharmacological inhibition.To further elucidate the pathways and mechanisms involved in the incretin response to DGAT1 inhibition,other interventions [inhibitors of dipeptidyl peptidase-IV(sitagliptin),pancreatic lipase(Orlistat),GPR119 knockout mice] were evaluated.RESULTS DGAT1 deficient mice and wildtype C57/BL6J mice werelipid challenged and levels of both active and total GLP-1 in the plasma were increased.This response was further augmented with DGAT1 inhibitor PF-04620110 treated wildtype mice.Furthermore,PF-04620110 was able to dose responsively increase GLP-1 and PYY,but blunt GIP at all doses of PF-04620110 during lipid challenge.Combination treatment of PF-04620110 and Sitagliptin in wildtype mice during a lipid challenge synergistically enhanced postprandial levels of active GLP-1.In contrast,in a combination study with Orlistat,the ability of PF-04620110 to elicit an enhanced incretin response was abrogated.To further explore this observation,GPR119 knockout mice were evaluated.In response to a lipid challenge,GPR119 knockout mice exhibited no increase in active or total GLP-1 and PYY.However,PF-04620110 was able to increase total GLP-1 and PYY in GPR119 knockout mice as compared to vehicle treated wildtype mice.CONCLUSION Collectively,these data provide some insight into the mechanism by which inhibition of DGAT1 enhances intestinal hormone release.
文摘Background: Colorectal cancer(CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in males and the second in females worldwide in 2012. In the past 20 years, strong evidence suggests that cancer stem cells are the main culprit of cancer metastasis,chemotherapy resistance, and relapse.Methods: To further understand the unique biological properties of cancer stem cells and uncover novel molecular targets to eradicate them, we first established a panel of patient-derived xenograft(PDX) tumor models using tumors surgically removed from human colorectal cancer patients. We then isolated CRC cancer stem cells based on their ALDH activity using fluorescent-activated cell sorting(FACS)and characterized their metabolic properties.Results: Interestingly, we found that the CRC cancer stem cells(ie, CRC cells with higher ALDH activity, or ALDH+) express higher level of antioxidant genes and have lower level of reactive oxygen species(ROS) than non-CRC cancer stem cells(ie, CRC cells with lower ALDH activity, or ALDHà). The CRC cancer stem cells also possess more mitochondria mass and show higher mitochondrial activity. More intriguingly,we observed higher AMP-activated protein kinase(AMPK) activities in these CRC cancer stem cells. Inhibition of the AMPK activity using 2 AMPK inhibitors, Compound C and Iodotubercidin, preferentially induces cell death in CRC cancer stem cells.Conclusion: We propose that AMPK inhibitors may help to eradicate the CRC cancer stem cells and prevent the relapse of CRCs.
文摘A high throughput screen of the Pfizer compound collection was carried out using a hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1b subgenomic replicon cell line. Those confirmed hits that demonstrated broad spectrum activity without overt cytotoxicity were further evaluated, leading to the identification of a series of pyrrolopyridines with excellent antiviral activity in a fully infectious HCV cell-based assay and pharmacokinetic properties.
文摘AIM: The purpose of this analysis was to construct appropriate models to characterise population pharmacokinetics (PK) for PHA-794428 and PK/pharmacodynamics (PD) for the efficacy biomarker Insulin-like Growth factor-1 (IGF-1). METHODS: Fifty-six male healthy volunteers were enrolled into a clinical study. Subjects received in a randomised manner 3 subcutaneous injections over 3 periods: i) 3.6 mg recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH), ii) PHA-794428 0, 3, 10, 30, 60, 100, 300 or 500 μg/kg, and iii) PHA-794428 0, 10, or 30 μg/kg. Both PK and IGF-1 data were collected up to 336 h post-dose. The PK and PK/PD models were constructed in 3 stages: i) the PK model was developed, ii) the PK parameters were fixed during IGF-1 model building, iii) PK and IGF-1 data were analysed simultaneously. RESULTS: PHA-794428 exhibited non-linearity with respect to dose. A one-compartment disposition model with parallel linear and non-linear elimination most appropriately described the PHA-794428 serum concentrations versus time data. The absorption of PHA-794428 was characterised as a first-order process involving two absorption rate constants. The nonlinear elimination, characterised in terms of the maximal elimination capacity (Vmax=91.5 μg/h for 70 kg) and Michaelis-Menten constant (Km=73.9 μg/L) describing the concentration at which elimination is at half Vmax. The non-linear elimination pathway is approximately 10 times higher than the linear route (0.129 L/h). PHA-794428 has a limited distribution in the blood (V=4.4 L), due to its large molecular weight. Serum IGF-1 concentrations versus time data were best described by an indirect response model with PEG-hGH stimulating IGF-1 production rate. Drug effect was appropriately characterised by a maximum effect (Emax) model. The maximal IGF-1 production rate could increase up to 8-fold across the dose range studied. The PHA-794428 concentration at half Emax (EC50) is 56.5 ng/mL. A negative feedback loop was incorporated into the PK/IGF-1 model. The maximal inhibition (Imax) of IGF-1 on endogenous GH secretion was set to 100% and IC50, the IGF-1 concentration decreasing GH secretion by 50%, was 382 ng/mL. Placebo effect was negligible. CONCLUSION: Serum data of PHA-794428 and IGF-1 could be adequately described by PK and PK/IGF-1 models, which were successfully used to predict the doses and time course of PK and IGF-1 and study design for the subsequent clinical trials in adult patients with growth hormone deficiency (AGHD). PK/PD modelling and simulation demonstrated that PHA-794428 has a potential to return low IGF-1 levels to within the normal range by weekly dosing.
文摘Promoter silencing by ectopic?de novo?methylation of tumor suppressor genes has been proposed as comparable or equivalent to inactivating mutations as a factor in carcinogenesis. However, this hypotheses had not previously been tested by high resolution,?high-coverage whole-genome methylation profiling in primary carcinomas. We have determined the genomic methylation status of a series of primary mammary carcinomas and matched control tissues by examination of more than 2.7 billion CpG dinucleotides. Most of the tumors showed variable losses of DNA methylation?from all sequence compartments, but increases in promoter methylation were infrequent, very small in extent, and were observed largely at CpG-poor promoters. De novo methylation at the promoters?of proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes occurred at approximately the same frequency. The findings indicate that tumor suppressor silencing by?de novo?methylation is much less common than currently believed. We put forward a hypothesis under which the demethylation commonly observed in carcinomas is a manifestation of a defensive system that kills incipient cancer cells.
文摘Background: 5-HT4receptors in cortex and hippocampus area are considered as a possible target for modulation of cognitive functions in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). A systems pharmacology approach was adopted to evaluate the potential of the 5-HT4 modulation in providing beneficialeffects on cognition in AD. Methods: A serotonergic synaptic cleft model was developed by integrating serotonin firing, release, synaptic half-life, drug/tracer properties (affinity and agonism) as inputs and5-HT4 activity as output. The serotonergic model was calibrated using bothinvivo data on free 5-HT levels in preclinical models and human imaging data. The model was further expanded to other neurontransmitter systems and incorporated into a computer-based cortical network model which implemented the physiology of 12 different membrane CNS targets. A biophysically realistic, multi-compartment model of 80 pyramidal cells and 40 interneurons was further calibrated usingdata reported for working memory tasks in healthyhumans and schizophrenia patients. Model output was the duration of the network firing activity in response to an external stimulus. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology, in particular synapse and neuronal cell loss in addition to cholinergic deficits, was calibrated to align with the natural clinical disease progression. The model was used to provide insights into the effect of 5-HT4 activation on working memory and to prospectively simulate the response of PF- 04995274, a 5-HT4partial agonist, in a scopolamine-reversal trial in healthy human subjects. Results: The model output suggested a beneficial effect of 5-HT4 agonism on working memory. The model also projected no effect or an exacerbation of scopolamine impairment for low in- trinsic activity 5-HT4agonists, which was supported by the subsequent human trial outcome. The clinical prediction of the disease model strongly suggests that 5-HT4 agonists with high intrinsic activity may have a beneficial effect on cognition in AD patients.
