ABSTRACT
Rocuronium bromide is a non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocking agent that causes rapid muscle relaxation after intravenous injection. Regulatory authorities for registration of pharmaceuticals for human use require the evaluation of the stability of active compounds under various stress conditions. Forced degradation of rocuronium bromide was performed under hydrolytic, thermal, photolytic, and oxidative settings. HPLC-UV/vis analysis revealed an unknown degradation product under oxidative conditions (1% H2 O2 , reflux for 1 h). Investigation of the respective HPLC fraction by high resolution mass spectrometry indicated a formal loss of CH2 and an addition of one oxygen atom to the intact drug molecule. Additional multistage mass spectrometric structural elucidation experiments aided by complementary information from analysis of the intact drug and known rocuronium-related compounds showed that the morpholine moiety was unstable under oxidative stress. The data demonstrated that the morpholine ring was opened and transformed to an N-ethanoyl-formamide group. The structure was supported by appropriate mechanistic explanations.
Subject(s)
Androstanols/chemistry , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods , Neuromuscular Nondepolarizing Agents/chemistry , Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization/methods , Drug Stability , Humans , Hydrolysis , Oxidation-Reduction , Oxidative Stress , Photolysis , RocuroniumABSTRACT
A series of polyguanidylated dendritic structures that can be used as molecular translocators have been designed and synthesized based on nonpeptide units. The dendritic oligoguanidines conjugated with fluorescein or with a green fluorescent protein (GFP) mutant as cargos were isolated and characterized. Quantification and time-course analyses of the cellular uptake of the conjugates using HeLa S3 and human cervical carcinoma cells reveal that the polyguanidylated dendrimers have comparable translocation efficiency to the Tat(49-57) peptide. Furthermore, the deconvolution microscopy image analysis shows that they are located inside the cells. These results clearly show that nonlinear, branched dendritic oligoguanidines are capable of translocation through the cell membrane. This work also demonstrates the potential of these nonpeptidic dendritic oligoguanidines as carriers for intracellular delivery of small molecule drugs, bioactive peptides, and proteins.