Circulating GDF-15: a biomarker for metabolic dysregulation and aging in people living with HIV.

Despite effective control of HIV replication by antiretroviral therapy (ART), a significant number of people living with HIV (PLWH) fail to achieve complete immune reconstitution and thus are deemed immune non-responders (INRs). Compared with immune responders (IRs) who have restored their CD4 T cell numbers and functions, CD4 T cells from these INRs exhibit prominent mitochondrial dysfunction and premature aging, which play a major role in increasing the incidence of non-AIDS, non-communicable diseases (NCDs). To date, there are no reliable biomarkers that can be used to typify and manage PLWH, especially INRs with non-AIDS NCDs. Growth differential factor-15 (GDF-15) is a transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) family member known to regulate several biological processes involved in cell aging and stress responses. Since PLWH exhibit premature aging and metabolic dysregulation, here we measured the plasma levels of GDF-15 by ELISA and metabolic proteins by proteomic array and correlated the results with clinical parameters in ART-controlled PLWH (including INRs and IRs) and healthy subjects (HS). We found that GDF-15 levels were significantly elevated in PLWH compared to HS. GDF-15 levels were positively correlated with age and negatively associated with body mass and LDL cholesterol levels in the study subjects. Also, elevated GDF-15 levels were correlated with differential dysregulation of multiple metabolic proteins in PLWH. These results suggest that GDF-15 protein may serve as a biomarker of metabolic dysregulation and aging, and this biomarker will be useful in clinical trials targeting aging and metabolic disorders in ART-treated PLWH.

A specific molecular beacon probe for the detection of human prostate cancer cells.

The small-molecule, water-soluble molecular beacon probe 1 is hydrolyzed by the lysate and living cells of human prostate cancer cell lines (LNCaP), resulting in strong green fluorescence. In contrast, probe 1 does not undergo significant hydrolysis in either the lysate or living cells of human nontumorigenic prostate cells (RWPE-1). These results, corroborated by UV-Vis spectroscopy and fluorescent microscopy, reveal that probe 1 is a sensitive and specific fluorogenic and chromogenic sensor for the detection of human prostate cancer cells among nontumorigenic prostate cells and that carboxylesterase activity is a specific biomarker for human prostate cancer cells.

Potent human uric acid transporter 1 inhibitors: in vitro and in vivo metabolism and pharmacokinetic studies.

Human uric acid transporter 1 (hURAT1; SLC22A12) is a very important urate anion exchanger. Elevated urate levels are known to play a pivotal role in cardiovascular diseases, chronic renal disease, diabetes, and hypertension. Therefore, the development of potent uric acid transport inhibitors may lead to novel therapeutic agents to combat these human diseases. The current study investigates small molecular weight compounds and their ability to inhibit 14C-urate uptake in oocytes expressing hURAT1. Using the most promising drug candidates generated from our structure-activity relationship findings, we subsequently conducted in vitro hepatic metabolism and pharmacokinetic (PK) studies in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Compounds were incubated with rat liver microsomes containing cofactors nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate and uridine 5'-diphosphoglucuronic acid. In vitro metabolism and PK samples were analyzed using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry-mass spectrometry methods. Independently, six different inhibitors were orally (capsule dosing) or intravenously (orbital sinus) administered to fasting male Sprague-Dawley rats. Blood samples were collected and analyzed; these data were used to compare in vitro and in vivo metabolism and to compute noncompartmental model PK values. Mono-oxidation (Phase I) and glucuronidation (Phase II) pathways were observed in vitro and in vivo. The in vitro data were used to compute hepatic intrinsic clearance, and the in vivo data were used to compute peak blood concentration, time after administration to achieve peak blood concentration, area under the curve, and orally absorbed fraction. The experimental data provide additional insight into the hURAT1 inhibitor structure-activity relationship and in vitro-in vivo correlation. Furthermore, the results illustrate that one may successfully prepare potent inhibitors that exhibit moderate to good oral bioavailability.

Metabolism and pharmacokinetic studies of JPH203, an L-amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1) selective compound.

Many primary human tumors and tumor cell lines highly express human L-type amino acid transporter 1 (hLAT1); cancerous cells in vivo are strongly linked to LAT1 expression. Synthetic chemistry and in vitro screening efforts have afforded a variety of novel and highly hLAT1 selective compounds, such as JPH203 1. In a recent report, we demonstrated that 1 has potent in vitro and in vivo activity. JPH203 was intravenously administered to produce significant growth inhibition against HT-29 tumors transplanted in nude mice. The current work develops a robust LC/MS-MS method to monitor 1 and its major Phase II metabolite N-acetyl-JPH203 2 from biological samples. We have conducted in vitro and in vivo experiments and the major scientific findings are: i) the major route of biotransformation of 1 is Phase II metabolism to produce 2; ii) metabolite 2 is formed in various organs/tissues (i.e. blood, liver, kidney); and iii) as dogs, which are deficient in NAT genes, do not produce 2, the dog will not be an appropriate toxicological model to evaluate 1.

Investigating idebenone and idebenone linoleate metabolism: in vitro pig ear and mouse melanocyte studies.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate inherent in vitro permeability, metabolism, and cytotoxicity of idebenone - an active used to protect skin as an anti-aging agent - and compare it to idebenone linoleate. METHODS: Idebenone and idebenone linoleate were investigated in pig ear skin and melanoma (B16: F10 mouse) cells. Diffusion experiments were conducted at 37 degrees C (bath temperature) using Franz diffusion cells. Authentic metabolite samples were synthetically prepared. Samples were analyzed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry. Cell viability was determined via the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. RESULTS: Idebenone was shown to permeate across viable porcine ear tissue; there was no evidence that idebenone linoleate permeated across porcine ear tissue after 4 h. Idebenone was metabolized to idebenone acid in both pig ear and mouse melanocytes; only minor idebenone linoleate metabolism was observed. Idebenone displayed delayed in vitro toxicity (via MTT assay) in melanocytes, while idebenone linoleate displayed no such in vitro toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: The in vitro metabolism and cytotoxicity results suggest that metabolic activation of idebenone is the likely culprit that activates the skin irritation mechanism via idebenone in vivo usage. An idebenone ester (e.g. idebenone linoleate) appears to provide a superior in vitro safety profile over idebenone.

Inhibiting efflux with novel non-ionic surfactants: Rational design based on vitamin E TPGS.

Tocopheryl Polyethylene Glycol Succinate 1000 (TPGS 1000) can inhibit P-glycoprotein (P-gp); TPGS 1000 was not originally designed to inhibit an efflux pump. Recent work from our laboratories demonstrated that TPGS activity has a rational PEG chain length dependency. In other recent work, inhibition mechanism was investigated and appears to be specific to the ATPase providing P-gp energy. Based on these observations, we commenced rational surface-active design. The current work summarizes new materials tested in a validated Caco-2 cell monolayer model; rhodamine 123 (10microM) was used as the P-gp substrate. These results demonstrate that one may logically construct non-ionic surfactants with enhanced propensity to inhibit in vitro efflux. One new surfactant based inhibitor, Tocopheryl Polypropylene Glycol Succinate 1000 (TPPG 1000), approached cyclosporine (CsA) in its in vitro efflux inhibitory potency. Subsequently, TPPG 1000 was tested for its ability to enhance the bioavailability of raloxifene - an established P-gp substrate -in fasted male rats. Animals dosed with raloxifene and TPPG 1000 experienced an increase in raloxifene oral bioavailability versus a control group which received no inhibitor. These preliminary results demonstrate that one may prepare TPGS analogs that possess enhanced inhibitory potency in vitro and in vivo.