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Through the review of relevant literature, theory and practice, consultation with the teacher. To explore the mechanism of invigorating spleen, invigorating lung and tongfu in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer after postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The method of invigorating spleen, invigorating lung and tongfu organs is actually a dialectical combination of the theory of “cultivating earth and producing gold” and the theory of “using the six organs as a whole”, which has considerable curative effect. The method of invigorating spleen, invigorating lung and tongfu can improve the overall internal environment of the body, improve the quality of life and prolong the survival period for patients with non-small cell lung cancer after postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Solubility is a key physicochemical property for the success of any drug candidate. Although the methods used and their rationales for determining solubility are subject to project needs and stages along the drug discovery-drug development pipeline, an artificial boundary can exist at the discovery-development interface. This boundary results in less effective solubility knowledge sharing and data integration among scientists in both drug discovery and drug development. Herein, we present a refreshed perspective on solubility. Solubility experimentation is not a one-size-fits-all measurement; instead, we stress the importance of constructing a seamless solubility understanding of a molecule as it progresses from a new chemical entity into a drug product.

The objective of this work is to develop extended release subcutaneous thermo-responsive in situ gel-forming delivery systems using the following commercially available triblock polymers: poly (lac...

Drug-delivery technologies for modified drug release have been in existence for decades, but their utilization has been largely limited to post-launch efforts improving therapeutic outcomes. Recently, they have gained renewed importance because the pharmaceutical industry is steadily shifting to a more integrated discovery-development approach. In discovery, modulating target engagement via drug-delivery technologies can enable crucial pharmacological studies for building well-defined criteria for molecular design. In development, earlier implementation of delivery technologies can enhance the value of drug products through reduced dosing frequency and improved tolerability and/or safety profile, thereby leading to better adherence and therapeutic effectiveness.

A novel method for early looseness state identification of bolted joint beams is proposed in this paper based on generalized variational mode decomposition (GVMD) and a similarity index. In the proposed method vibration signals are decomposed by GVMD, which has the property of the multiscale and fixed-frequency decomposition. To effectively extract the desired modes, the frequency band allocation is designed through flexibly defining scale parameters and prior center frequencies according to the characteristics of the signal itself and real needs. A new similarity index is formed based on the centroid frequency ratio of sensitive vibration modes to reliably identify early looseness state. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by impulse experiments of bolted joint transverse beam and bolted joint vertical beam. The results indicate that compared with other methods, the proposed method can effectively identify the early looseness state of the bolted joint beams, and has a good repeatability.

JAK1, JAK2, JAK3, and TYK2 belong to the JAK (Janus kinase) family. They play critical roles in cytokine signaling. Constitutive activation of JAK/STAT pathways is associated with a wide variety of...

The objective of this work is to develop extended release subcutaneous thermo-responsive

PARP inhibitors exploit defects in DNA repair pathways to selectively target cancerous cells via PARP1 catalytic inhibition and PARP1 trapping onto the DNA. All known clinical PARP1 inhibitors bind at the same site at the catalytic center of the enzyme. However, despite this resemblance they show immensely different outcomes in terms of response rate in the clinic due to their varying degree of PARP trapping ability. Moreover, the first-generation PARP inhibitors were not optimized for selectivity across the PARP family potentially driving undesirable side effects, including intestinal toxicity from tankyrase inhibition or hematological toxicity from PARP2 inhibition. There has been strong rationale for the use of PARP inhibitors in neuro-oncology. However, the first-generation PARP inhibitors have limited CNS distribution as these drugs were not designed for brain penetration. Recently AstraZeneca has reported the discovery of AZD5305, a next generation PARP1 selective inhibitor and PARP1-DNA trapper which was not designed with a CNS penetrant profile. Given the unmet need of a brain penetrant PARP1 inhibitor, we set out to identify a highly potent and selective PARP1 inhibitor and trapper with CNS profile. In our next generation PARP1 inhibitor, we sought to retain the profile of AZD5305 and lower the efflux for CNS penetration. Despite the challenge of narrow SAR, we successfully used the structure- and property-based design approach to identify a brain penetrant PARP1 inhibitor and PARP1-DNA trapper. We used multiple medicinal chemistry maneuvers such as masking the hydrogen bond donors and core modifications to lower the efflux in order to achieve brain penetration. Further optimization of the nicotinamide mimetic core for potency and metabolic stability led us to the discovery of AZD9574.AZD9574 shows improved selectivity for PARP1 over PARP2 vs AZD5305 and retains its excellent selectivity over other PARP family members. It has low efflux in Caco2, MDCK-MDR1, and MDCK-MDR1-BCRP permeability assays and it also showed CNS penetration in rat and cynomolgus monkey. AZD9574 has excellent secondary pharmacology and acceptable physicochemical properties and good PK in preclinical species.In vitro, AZD9574 selectively inhibits the growth of BRCAm cell lines. Importantly, AZD9574 showed efficacy in an intracranial BRCA1m MDA-MB-436 xenograft model at doses of 3, 10 and 30 mg/kg QD, significantly extending the survival of tumor-bearing mice compared to vehicle control arm.In summary, AZD9574 is a next generation selective PARP1 inhibitor and trapper with CNS penetration. This profile makes it an ideal candidate for treating CNS malignancies or brain metastases that have a dependence on PARP inhibition either as single agent or in combination with other therapies. Citation Format: Avipsa Ghosh, Sudhir M. Hande, Amber Balazs, Derek Barratt, Sabina Cosulich, Barry Davies, Sébastien Degorce, Kevin Embrey, Sonja Gill, Anders Gunnarsson, Giuditta Illuzzi, Peter Johnström, Jordan Lane, Carrie Larner, Rachel Lawrence, Elisabetta Leo, Andrew Madin, Elizabeth Martin, Lisa McWilliams, Lenka O’Connor, Mark O’Connor, Jonathan Orme, Fiona Pachl, Martin Packer, Andy Pike, Philip Rawlins, Marianne Schimpl, Magnus Schou, Anna Staniszewska, Wenzhan Yang, James Yates, Andrew Zhang, XiaoLa Zheng, Stephen Fawell, Petra Hamerlik, Jeffrey Johannes. Structure-based and property-based drug design of AZD9574, a CNS penetrant PARP1 selective inhibitor and trapper [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 6302.

Herein we report the optimization of a series of tricyclic indazoles as selective estrogen receptor degraders (SERD) and antagonists for the treatment of ER+ breast cancer. Structure based design together with systematic investigation of each region of the molecular architecture led to the identification of N-[1-(3-fluoropropyl)azetidin-3-yl]-6-[(6S,8R)-8-methyl-7-(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-3H-pyrazolo[4,3-f]isoquinolin-6-yl]pyridin-3-amine (28). This compound was demonstrated to be a highly potent SERD that showed a pharmacological profile comparable to fulvestrant in its ability to degrade ERα in both MCF-7 and CAMA-1 cell lines. A stringent control of lipophilicity ensured that 28 had favorable physicochemical and preclinical pharmacokinetic properties for oral administration. This, combined with demonstration of potent in vivo activity in mouse xenograft models, resulted in progression of this compound, also known as AZD9833, into clinical trials.

Monitoring the looseness of bolted structures is important to ensure the reliability and integrity of engineering structures. In the past decades, various methods have been developed to characterize looseness states of bolted structures. However, in the long-term storage, transportation, and usage process of bolted structures, especially under random excitation, the vibration-based method for monitoring is the most applicative technology with merits such as low cost and comprehensive operability. To fulfill this task accurately and automatically, a novel looseness state recognition approach of bolted structures based on multi-domain sensitive features derived from quasi-analytic wavelet packet transform (QAWPT) and generalized Gegenbauer support vector machine (GGSVM) is proposed in this paper. To extract effective looseness feature information, the measured non-stationary and nonlinear vibration response signals are processed by QAWPT, and then multi-domain sensitive features are extracted from obtained frequency band signals. For accurate and automatic state recognition, generalized Gegenbauer kernel is introduced, and then multi-class GGSVM is developed to recognize looseness states. In order to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, a typical bolted beam structure is designed and fabricated, and various looseness states are implemented. The testing results show that the proposed method is effective for looseness state recognition of bolted structures. In addition, QAWPT owns superiority in processing vibration response signals compared with classical WPT, and GGSVM has higher recognition accuracy and better generalization ability than that of kernel SVM with radial basis function.

JAK1, JAK2, JAK3, and TYK2 belong to the JAK (Janus kinase) family. They play critical roles in cytokine signaling. Constitutive activation of JAK/STAT pathways is associated with a wide variety of diseases. Particularly, pSTAT3 is observed in response to the treatment with inhibitors of oncogenic signaling pathways such as EGFR, MAPK, and AKT and is associated with resistance or poorer response to agents targeting these pathways. Among the JAK family kinases, JAK1 has been shown to be the primary driver of STAT3 phosphorylation and signaling; therefore, selective JAK1 inhibition can be a viable means to overcome such treatment resistances. Herein, an account of the medicinal chemistry optimization from the promiscuous kinase screening hit

Mcl-1 is a member of the Bcl-2 family of proteins that promotes cell survival by preventing induction of apoptosis in many cancers. High expression of Mcl-1 causes tumorigenesis and resistance to anticancer therapies highlighting the potential of Mcl-1 inhibitors as anticancer drugs. Here, we describe AZD5991, a rationally designed macrocyclic molecule with high selectivity and affinity for Mcl-1 currently in clinical development. Our studies demonstrate that AZD5991 binds directly to Mcl-1 and induces rapid apoptosis in cancer cells, most notably myeloma and acute myeloid leukemia, by activating the Bak-dependent mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. AZD5991 shows potent antitumor activity in vivo with complete tumor regression in several models of multiple myeloma and acute myeloid leukemia after a single tolerated dose as monotherapy or in combination with bortezomib or venetoclax. Based on these promising data, a Phase I clinical trial has been launched for evaluation of AZD5991 in patients with hematological malignancies (NCT03218683)., High expression of Mcl-1 promotes tumorigenesis and resistance to anticancer therapies. Here they report a macrocyclic molecule with high selectivity and affinity for Mcl-1 that exhibits potent anti-tumor effects as single agent and in combination with bortezomib or venetoclax in preclinical models of multiple myeloma and acute myeloid leukemia.

The druggability and developability space is rapidly evolving in the post-genomic era. In the past, Lipinski’s rule-of-five (Ro5) emerged and served as a guide for drug-like molecule design for oral delivery in the traditional druggable target space. In contrast, in this new era, a transition is occurring in drug discovery towards novel approaches to bind and modulate challenging biological targets that have led to transformative treatments for patients. Consequently, drugging novel targets using a variety of emerging molecular modalities, namely beyond the Ro5 (bRo5) small molecules (such as protein-protein interaction modulators, protein-targeted chimeras, or PROTACs), peptide/peptidomimetics, and nucleic acid-based modalities, have become a key focus in drug discovery. Herein, the emerging druggability and developability space is discussed side by side to build a general understanding of the potential development challenges of these novel modalities. An overview is provided on the evolving novel targets and molecular modalities, followed by a detailed analysis of the druggability aspects as well as the strategies used to progress drug candidate, and the trending chemistry and formulation strategies used to assess developability.

The application and impact of human dose projection (HDP) has been well recognized in the late drug development phase, with increasing appreciation earlier during discovery and early development. This commentary describes the perspective of pharmaceutical scientists on the evolving application and impact of HDP at various phases from discovery to early development, including lead generation, lead optimization, lead up to candidate nomination, and early drug development. The underlying fundamental concepts and key input parameters for HDP are briefly discussed. A broad overview of phase-specific tools and approaches commonly utilized for human dose projection in the pharmaceutical industry is provided. A discussion of phase-appropriate implementation strategies, associated limitations/assumptions and continuous refinement for HDP from discovery to early development is presented. The authors describe the phase-specific applications of human dose projection to facilitate key assessments and relative impact on decision points.

Mcl-1, a member of the Bcl/Mcl family, is a key protein involved in evasion of apoptosis in a wide variety of tumors. Its amplification and overexpression have also been implicated in innate and acquired resistance to anticancer drugs. Mcl-1 is capable of preventing induction of apoptosis, both by binding and inactivating the pro-apoptotic executioner Bcl-2 protein, Bak, as well as by sequestering other pro-apoptotic BH3-only proteins such as Bim and Noxa. AZD5991 is a rationally designed macrocycle with sub-nanomolar affinity for Mcl-1. It demonstrates all the hallmarks of a true Mcl-1 inhibitor: 1. potent, selective, and rapid apoptosis in Mcl-1-dependent cell lines (e.g., GI50 as low as 10 nM in multiple myeloma cell lines); 2. loss of activity upon overexpression of Bcl-xL or siRNA-mediated knockout of Bak; 3. Mcl-1:Bak complex disruption as demonstrated by co-immunoprecipitation. AZD5991 is active in vivo, with complete (100%) tumor regression demonstrated in several mouse xenograft models after a single tolerated dose. We have also demonstrated synergistic in vivo efficacy in combination with standard-of-care agents. Analysis of ex vivo activity in primary samples from leukemia patients indicates that a high percentage of leukemia patients should respond to drug treatment, which supports our plan for a phase I trial of AZD5991 in patients with hematologic cancers. Citation Format: Alexander W. Hird, J. Paul Secrist, Ammar Adam, Matthew A. Belmonte, Eric Gangl, Frank Gibbons, David Hargreaves, Jeffrey W. Johannes, Stephen L. Kazmirski, Jason G. Kettle, Stephen E. Kurtz, Michelle L. Lamb, Martin J. Packer, Bo Peng, Craig R. Stewart, Jeffrey W. Tyner, Wenzhan Yang, Qing Ye, XiaoLan Zheng, Edwin A. Clark. AZD5991: A potent and selective macrocyclic inhibitor of Mcl-1 for treatment of hematologic cancers [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr DDT01-02. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-DDT01-02

Variational mode decomposition (VMD), which is an alternative to empirical mode decomposition (EMD), has been widely used to extract the feature components of nonstationary signals. However, as a parameterized method, the performance of VMD is heavily influenced by its parameters. Meanwhile, it cannot efficiently extract weak feature components submerged in powerful ones. To address these problems, a novel method based on an optimized VMD is developed for precisely extracting the weak feature of viscoelastic sandwich cylindrical structures (VSCSs). In this method, a parameter optimization algorithm first is proposed to simultaneously select the crucial parameters in the VMD, and to reveal the characteristics of the influence of these parameters on the decomposition performance. Then, the weak feature components submerged in low-frequency strong ones are extracted twice by using the VMD with the optimized parameters. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by simulation signals and the experiment vibration signal collected from the VSCS. Its robustness to noise is also discussed. The results indicate that the parameter optimization algorithm can adaptively obtain optimal parameters, and compared with the optimized complementary ensemble EMD (CEEMD) and the original VMD, the proposed method can precisely extract the weak feature components submerged in strong ones.

A novel modified film-hydration-dilution method was employed to prepare highly encapsulated interferon-alpha-2b containing liposomes for intramuscular sustained release. The liposomes produced by this technique were a mixture of mainly unilamellar vesicles and a small number of multilamellar vesicles. The trapping efficiency was above 80%. With at least 60-fold dilution, Triton X-100 at the concentration of 0.3% (w/v) in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) was able to solubilize phospholipids without denaturing the protein and/or interfering with the enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA). After three homogenization cycles under a pressure of 70 MPa the size of liposomes was reduced from 978 to 101 nm while the activity of interferon-alpha-2b decreased by 9.9% compared to the control. Although liposomes were physically stable for 22 months at 4 degrees C the mean size of the liposomes increased slightly from 101 to 122 nm. The levels of free interferon-alpha-2b at the site of intramuscular injection decreased rapidly with only 4.15% of initial dose retained at the injection site after 0.33 h following injection of an interferon-alpha-2b solution (nonencapsulated). In contrast, interferon-alpha-2b encapsulated in liposomes was retained at the site of intramuscular injection at higher levels than free interferon-alpha-2b (p < 0.05). Larger liposomes containing interferon-alpha-2b (978 nm) were the most effective for local retention because 27.8% of interferon-alpha-2b was retained after 24 h. These liposomes have the potential to be topically injected for treating genital herpes with prolonged interferon levels at the local injection site. Since the smaller liposomes (75.8 and 101 nm) retained interferon-alpha-2b at the injection site for shorter times while enhancing the blood circulation of the drug, they are potentially good carriers for systemic therapy with higher bioavailability and liver targeting.

In this study, the thermal behavior of three hydrated water-soluble 4-sulphonato calix[n]arenes was investigated. The melting points, heats of fusion, and heats of solution of the calix[4]arene, calix[6]arene and calix[8]arene were 277, 262, and 270°C; 192, 242 and 351 kJ/mol; and 30, 58 and 63 kJ/mol, respectively. Lower heat of fusion, smaller increase in entropy and smaller heat of solution of the calix[4]arene compared to the calix[6]arene and calix[8]arene showed that less heat was required to break up the crystal lattice of the smaller macromolecule. This apparent anomaly is rationalized in terms of smaller cooperativity of interaction between the molecules of calix[4]arene in the crystal lattice, although the strength of the individual interactions is stronger as evidenced by the higher melting point. TGA analysis indicated that about 17–20% of water was associated with the calix[n]arenes. Both TGA and hot stage microscopy results indicated that upon heating these molecules underwent stepwise water...

In this study, the solubilizing effect of 4-sulphonic calix[n]arenes on the poorly water soluble drug nifedipine was investigated. 4-Sulphonic calix[n]arenes are water-soluble phenolic cyclooligomers that form complexes with neutral molecules such as nifedipine. Solubility experiments were performed at 30 degrees C using the Higuchi rotating bottle method. The amount of nifedipine in solution was determined by HPLC. The results showed that the size of the 4-sulphonic calix[n]arenes, the pH of solubility medium, and the concentration of the calix[n]arenes all significantly changed the solubility of nifedipine. 4-Sulphonic calix[8]arene improved the solubility of nifedipine the most, about 3 times the control at 0.008 M and pH 5, followed by 4-sulphonic calix[4]arene, about 1.5 times the control at 0.008 M and pH 5, while in the presence of 4-sulphonic calix[6]arene, the solubility of nifedipine was decreased. The possible mechanisms involving in the complexation between 4-sulphonic calix[4]arenes, 4-sulphonic calix[8]arene and nifedipine may be a combination of hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic bonding, and possibly electron donor-acceptor interactions. However, the degree to which these forces promote the formation of nifedipine:4-sulphonic calix[n]arene complexes with increased solubility was limited by conformational changes in the 4-sulphonic calix[n]arene molecules.

This study reports the use of para-sulphonato calix[8]arene to produce stable complexes with improved bioavailability for nifedipine, a calcium-channel blocker that is practically insoluble in water. Thermal analysis and electrospray ionisation mass spectroscopy confirmed that nifedipine formed complexes with the calixarenes in a size dependent way. The most stable, soluble complexes was formed with para-sulphonato calix[8]arene. Complexation was weakest with the calix[4]arene while complexation with the calix[6]arene was intermediate. However, the calix[4 and 6]arenes changed the chemical stability of the drug in solution because significant amounts of the nitroso-pyridine derivative was produced, proposing an interaction between the nifedipine bearing a H substituent at the N-1 position and the calixarenes. This oxidative degradation of the drug was greatest when combined with the calix[6]arene. Simultaneous oral ingestion of the calix[6 or 8]arenes significantly increased the bioavailability of the drug after oral administration in male Sprague-Dawley rats while not influencing CYP3A activities in the liver. The pharmacokinetic parameters of the nifedipine: para-sulfonato calix[8]arene complexes showed it was bioequivalent to a nifedipine PEG-solution. The absolute bioavailability for both formulations was ca. 60 %.

The present study investigated the effect of water-soluble 4-sulphonato-calix[n]arenes, cyclodextrins, and combinations of these macromolecules on the aqueous solubility of a poorly water-soluble drug, niclosamide. Complexation between the macromolecules and niclosamide was confirmed by thermal analysis and phase solubility studies in a pH 7.0 Mcllvaine buffer kept at 30 degrees C. Results show that the increase in solubility ranked as follows: 4-sulphonato-calix[6]arene + hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HP-beta-CD)4-sulphonato-calix[6]arene + beta-cyclodextrin4-sulphonato-calix[6]arene + gamma-cyclodextrin = HP-beta-CD4-sulphonato-calix[6]arene4-sulphonato-calix[8]arene = 4-sulphonato-calix[4]arenebeta-cyclodextrin . Type B phase solubility profiles were observed, indicating a decrease in solubility at concentrations0.004 to 0.005 mol/L of the 4-sulphonato-calix[n]arenes or combinations of 4-sulphonato-calix[6]arene and the cyclodextrins. However, below this concentration, the greatest increase in the aqueous solubility niclosamide was observed when 4-sulphonato-calix[6]arene and HP-beta-CD were combined. This increase in solubility was additive.

The solubilization of the practically water insoluble drug furosemide by guest:host inclusion complexation with 4-sulphonic calix[n]arenes has been reported. The 4-sulphonic calix[n]arenes are water-soluble phenolic cyclooligomers that form inclusion complexes with neutral molecules. The solubility of furosemide in acidic (pH < 4) aqueous solutions containing increasing concentrations of the calixarenes was determined at 30°C and the concentration of furosemide in solution was determined by HPLC. Results showed that the molecular size of the 4-sulphonic calix[n]arenes and the concentration of the calix[n]arenes significantly influenced the increase in the solubility of furosemide. 4-Sulphonic calix[6]arene improved the solubility of furosemide the most (± 104%) followed by 4-sulphonic calix[8]-arene (±84–102%), while 4-sulphonic calix[4]arene increased the solubility of furosemide the least (±73–81%). The increase in furosemide solubility afforded by the calixarenes was most probably the result of the incorporation of the non-polar portions of the furosemide molecule into the non-polar cavities of the calixarenes similar to furosemide:cyclodextrin complexes. The driving force for this interaction was the reduction in the non-polar-water interfacial surface area when the furosemide (guest) molecules were inserted into the 4-sulphonic calix[n]arenes (host).

Triclosan, an antimicrobial, although widely incorporated into many skin care products, toothpastes, and liquid soaps, presents formulation difficulties because it is practically insoluble in water. The objective of this study was to improve the aqueous solubility of triclosan through solubilization, complexation, and salt formation. The solubility of triclosan in distilled water and in phosphate buffers (pH 7.4) was determined at 30 degrees C. The order of solubilizing performance of the solubilizers was: N-methylglucamineor =L-argininesodium lauryl sulfatebeta-cyclodextrinor =hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrinethanolaminesodium benzoatesodium methyl 4-hydroxybenzoatetriethanolamineor =diethanolamine. These solubilizers increased the solubility of triclosan from 80- to 6000-fold. Micellar solubilization and the formation of either salts or complexes are postulated as possible mechanisms for the increase in the solubility of triclosan by the surfactant sodium lauryl sulphate, the cyclic sugar derivatives beta-cyclodextrin and 2-hydropropyl-beta-cyclodextrin, the amino acid L-arginine, and the amino sugar alcohol N-methylglucamine. Furthermore, although the bacteriostatic efficacy of triclosan was significantly increased when solubilized with N-methylglucamine, L-arginine, and ethanolamine, increased solubilization did not increase the effectiveness of triclosan for all solubilizers tested.