1. |
- Berne, Olivier, et al.
(author)
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PDRs4All : A JWST Early Release Science Program on Radiative Feedback from Massive Stars
- 2022
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In: Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. - : IOP Publishing. - 0004-6280 .- 1538-3873. ; 134:1035
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Massive stars disrupt their natal molecular cloud material through radiative and mechanical feedback processes. These processes have profound effects on the evolution of interstellar matter in our Galaxy and throughout the universe, from the era of vigorous star formation at redshifts of 1-3 to the present day. The dominant feedback processes can be probed by observations of the Photo-Dissociation Regions (PDRs) where the far-ultraviolet photons of massive stars create warm regions of gas and dust in the neutral atomic and molecular gas. PDR emission provides a unique tool to study in detail the physical and chemical processes that are relevant for most of the mass in inter- and circumstellar media including diffuse clouds, proto-planetary disks, and molecular cloud surfaces, globules, planetary nebulae, and star-forming regions. PDR emission dominates the infrared (IR) spectra of star-forming galaxies. Most of the Galactic and extragalactic observations obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will therefore arise in PDR emission. In this paper we present an Early Release Science program using the MIRI, NIRSpec, and NIRCam instruments dedicated to the observations of an emblematic and nearby PDR: the Orion Bar. These early JWST observations will provide template data sets designed to identify key PDR characteristics in JWST observations. These data will serve to benchmark PDR models and extend them into the JWST era. We also present the Science-Enabling products that we will provide to the community. These template data sets and Science-Enabling products will guide the preparation of future proposals on star-forming regions in our Galaxy and beyond and will facilitate data analysis and interpretation of forthcoming JWST observations.
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2. |
- Brodkorb, A., et al.
(author)
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INFOGEST static in vitro simulation of gastrointestinal food digestion
- 2019
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In: Nature Protocols. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1754-2189 .- 1750-2799. ; 14:4, s. 991-1014
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Developing a mechanistic understanding of the impact of food structure and composition on human health has increasingly involved simulating digestion in the upper gastrointestinal tract. These simulations have used a wide range of different conditions that often have very little physiological relevance, and this impedes the meaningful comparison of results. The standardized protocol presented here is based on an international consensus developed by the COST INFOGEST network. The method is designed to be used with standard laboratory equipment and requires limited experience to encourage a wide range of researchers to adopt it. It is a static digestion method that uses constant ratios of meal to digestive fluids and a constant pH for each step of digestion. This makes the method simple to use but not suitable for simulating digestion kinetics. Using this method, food samples are subjected to sequential oral, gastric and intestinal digestion while parameters such as electrolytes, enzymes, bile, dilution, pH and time of digestion are based on available physiological data. This amended and improved digestion method (INFOGEST 2.0) avoids challenges associated with the original method, such as the inclusion of the oral phase and the use of gastric lipase. The method can be used to assess the endpoints resulting from digestion of foods by analyzing the digestion products (e.g., peptides/amino acids, fatty acids, simple sugars) and evaluating the release of micronutrients from the food matrix. The whole protocol can be completed in ~7 d, including ~5 d required for the determination of enzyme activities.
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3. |
- Grundy, Myriam M.L., et al.
(author)
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INFOGEST inter-laboratory recommendations for assaying gastric and pancreatic lipases activities prior to in vitro digestion studies
- 2021
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In: Journal of Functional Foods. - : Elsevier BV. - 1756-4646. ; 82
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In vitro digestion studies often use animal digestive enzyme extracts as substitutes of human gastric and pancreatic secretions. Pancreatin from porcine origin is thus commonly used to provide relevant pancreatic enzymes such as proteases, amylase and lipase. Rabbit gastric extracts (RGE) have been recently introduced to provide gastric lipase in addition to pepsin. Before preparing simulated gastric and pancreatic extracts with targeted enzyme activities as described in in vitro digestion protocols, it is important to determine the activities of enzyme preparations using validated methods. The purpose of this inter-laboratory study within the INFOGEST network was to test the repeatability and reproducibility of lipase assays using the pH-stat technique for measuring the activities of gastric and pancreatic lipases from various sources. Twenty-one laboratories having different pH-stat devices received the same protocol with identical batches of RGE and two pancreatin sources. Lipase assays were performed using tributyrin as a substrate and three different amounts (50, 100 and 200 µg) of each enzyme preparation. The repeatability results within individual laboratories were satisfactory with coefficients of variation (CVs) ranging from 4 to 8% regardless of the enzyme amount tested. However, the inter-laboratory variability was high (CV > 15%) compared to existing standards for bioanalytical assays. We identified and weighted the contributions to inter-laboratory variability of several parameters associated with the various pH-stat equipment used in this study (e.g. reaction vessel volume and shape, stirring mode and rate, burette volume for the automated delivery of sodium hydroxide). Based on this, we established recommendations for improving the reproducibility of lipase assays using the pH-stat technique. Defining accurate and complete recommendations on how to correctly quantify activity levels of enzyme preparations is a gateway to promising comparison of in vitro data obtained from different laboratories following the same in vitro digestion protocol.
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4. |
- Loryan, Irena, 1977-, et al.
(author)
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Mechanistic Understanding of Brain Drug Disposition to Optimize the Selection of Potential Neurotherapeutics in Drug Discovery
- 2014
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In: Pharmaceutical research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0724-8741 .- 1573-904X. ; 31:8, s. 2203-2219
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- PurposeThe current project was undertaken with the aim to propose and test an in-depth integrative analysis of neuropharmacokinetic (neuroPK) properties of new chemical entities (NCEs), thereby optimizing the routine of evaluation and selection of novel neurotherapeutics.MethodsForty compounds covering a wide range of physicochemical properties and various CNS targets were investigated. The combinatory mapping approach was used for the assessment of the extent of blood-brain and cellular barriers transport via estimation of unbound-compound brain (Kp,uu,brain) and cell (Kp,uu,cell) partitioning coefficients. Intra-brain distribution was evaluated using the brain slice method. Intra- and sub-cellular distribution was estimated via calculation of unbound-drug cytosolic and lysosomal partitioning coefficients.ResultsAssessment of Kp,uu,brain revealed extensive variability in the brain penetration properties across compounds, with a prevalence of compounds actively effluxed at the blood-brain barrier. Kp,uu,cell was valuable for identification of compounds with a tendency to accumulate intracellularly. Prediction of cytosolic and lysosomal partitioning provided insight into the subcellular accumulation. Integration of the neuroPK parameters with pharmacodynamic readouts demonstrated the value of the proposed approach in the evaluation of target engagement and NCE selection.ConclusionsWith the rather easily-performed combinatory mapping approach, it was possible to provide quantitative information supporting the decision making in the drug discovery setting.
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5. |
- Loryan, Irena, 1977-, et al.
(author)
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Molecular properties determining unbound intracellular and extracellular brain exposure of CNS drug candidates
- 2015
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In: Molecular Pharmaceutics. - ACS Publications : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1543-8384 .- 1543-8392. ; , s. 520-532
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the present work we sought to gain a mechanistic understanding of the physicochemical properties that influence the transport of unbound drug across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) as well as the intra- and extracellular drug exposure in the brain. Interpretable molecular descriptors that significantly contribute to the three key neuropharmacokinetic properties related to BBB drug transport (Kp,uu,brain), intracellular accumulation (Kp,uu,cell) and binding and distribution in the brain (Vu,brain) for a set of 40 compounds were identified using partial least squares (PLS) analysis. The tailoring of drug properties for improved brain exposure includes decreasing the polarity and/or hydrogen bonding capacity. The design of CNS drug candidates with intracellular targets may benefit from an increase in basicity and/or the number of hydrogen bond donors. Applying this knowledge in drug discovery chemistry programs will allow designing compounds with more desirable CNS pharmacokinetic properties.
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6. |
- McAllister, Mark, et al.
(author)
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Developing Clinically Relevant Dissolution Specifications (CRDSs) for Oral Drug Products: Virtual Webinar Series
- 2022
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In: Pharmaceutics. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4923. ; 14:5, s. 1010-1010
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A webinar series that was organised by the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences Biopharmaceutics focus group in 2021 focused on the challenges of developing clinically relevant dissolution specifications (CRDSs) for oral drug products. Industrial scientists, together with regulatory and academic scientists, came together through a series of six webinars, to discuss progress in the field, emerging trends, and areas for continued collaboration and harmonisation. Each webinar also hosted a Q&A session where participants could discuss the shared topic and information. Although it was clear from the presentations and Q&A sessions that we continue to make progress in the field of CRDSs and the utility/success of PBBM, there is also a need to continue the momentum and dialogue between the industry and regulators. Five key areas were identified which require further discussion and harmonisation.
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7. |
- Sinha, Vikash K., et al.
(author)
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Towards a Better Prediction of Peak Concentration, Volume of Distribution and Half-Life after Oral Drug Administration in Man, Using Allometry
- 2011
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In: Clinical Pharmacokinetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0312-5963 .- 1179-1926. ; 50:5, s. 307-318
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: it is imperative that new drugs demonstrate adequate pharmacokinetic properties, allowing an optimal safety margin and convenient dosing regimens in clinical practice, which then lead to better patient compliance. Such pharmacokinetic properties include suitable peak (maximum) plasma drug concentration (C-max), area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) and a suitable half-life (t(1/4)). The C-max and t(1/2) following oral drug administration are functions of the oral clearance (CL/F) and apparent volume of distribution during the terminal phase by the oral route (V-z/F), each of which may be predicted and combined to estimate C-max and t(1/4). Allometric scaling is a widely used methodology in the pharmaceutical industry to predict human pharmacokinetic parameters such as clearance and volume of distribution. In our previous published work, we have evaluated the use of allometry for prediction of CL/F and AUC. In this paper we describe the evaluation of different allometric scaling approaches for the prediction of C-max, V-z/F and t(1/2) after oral drug administration in man. Methods: Twenty-nine compounds developed at Janssen Research and Development (a division of Janssen Pharmaceutica NV), covering a wide range of physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties, were selected. The C,, following oral dosing of a compound was predicted using (i) simple allometry alone; (ii) simple allometry along with correction factors such as plasma protein binding (PPB), maximum life-span potential or brain weight (reverse rule of exponents, unbound C-max approach); and (iii) an indirect approach using allometrically predicted CL/F and V-z/F and absorption rate constant (k(a)). The k(a) was estimated from (i) in vivo pharmacokinetic experiments in preclinical species; and (ii) predicted effective permeability in man Weir), using a Caco-2 permeability assay. The V-z/F was predicted using allometric scaling with or without PPB correction. The t(1/2) was estimated from the allometrically predicted parameters CL/F and V-z/F. Predictions were deemed adequate when errors were within a 2-fold range. Results: C-max and t(1/2), could be predicted within a 2-fold error range for 59% and 66% of the tested compounds, respectively, using allometrically predicted CL/F and V-z/F. The best predictions for Cif, were obtained when K-a values were calculated from the Caco-2 permeability assay. The V-z/F was predicted within a 2-fold error range for 72% of compounds when PPB correction was applied as the correction factor for scaling. Conclusions: We conclude that (i) C-max and t(1/2), are best predicted by indirect scaling approaches (using allometrically predicted CL/F and V-z/F and accounting for ka derived from permeability assay); and (ii) the PPB is an important correction factor for the prediction of V-z/F by using allometric scaling. Furthermore, additional work is warranted to understand the mechanisms governing the processes underlying determination of C-max so that the empirical approaches can be fine-tuned further.
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8. |
- Kanai, M, et al.
(author)
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- 2023
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swepub:Mat__t
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