Advanced molecular imaging for the characterisation of complex medicines.

A growing number and diversity of complex medicines is in development and reaching the market, with many of these medicines utilising innovative delivery technology to achieve appropriate biodistribution and exposure. Accurate assessment of biodistribution, cell penetration, internalised form, cargo release and efficacy are essential for the development of these medicines. Advanced imaging technologies, deploying different labelling techniques that allow the assessment of both carrier and cargo, are enabling in-depth analysis and providing a mechanistic understanding of each step in the drug delivery pathway. Translation across cell, tissue and whole-body settings using multiple imaging methods can provide decision-making information that is critical for clinical phase selection and for the development of complex medicines.

Positioning High-Throughput CETSA in Early Drug Discovery through Screening against B-Raf and PARP1.

Methods to measure cellular target engagement are increasingly being used in early drug discovery. The Cellular Thermal Shift Assay (CETSA) is one such method. CETSA can investigate target engagement by measuring changes in protein thermal stability upon compound binding within the intracellular environment. It can be performed in high-throughput, microplate-based formats to enable broader application to early drug discovery campaigns, though high-throughput forms of CETSA have only been reported for a limited number of targets. CETSA offers the advantage of investigating the target of interest in its physiological environment and native state, but it is not clear yet how well this technology correlates to more established and conventional cellular and biochemical approaches widely used in drug discovery. We report two novel high-throughput CETSA (CETSA HT) assays for B-Raf and PARP1, demonstrating the application of this technology to additional targets. By performing comparative analyses with other assays, we show that CETSA HT correlates well with other screening technologies and can be applied throughout various stages of hit identification and lead optimization. Our results support the use of CETSA HT as a broadly applicable and valuable methodology to help drive drug discovery campaigns to molecules that engage the intended target in cells.

Functional expression of the voltage-gated Na⁺-channel Nav1.7 is necessary for EGF-mediated invasion in human non-small cell lung cancer cells.

Various ion channels are expressed in human cancers where they are intimately involved in proliferation, angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis. Expression of functional voltage-gated Na(+) channels (Nav) is implicated in the metastatic potential of breast, prostate, lung and colon cancer cells. However, the cellular mechanisms that regulate Nav expression in cancer remain largely unknown. Growth factors are attractive candidates; they not only play crucial roles in cancer progression but are also key regulators of ion channel expression and activity in non-cancerous cells. Here, we examine the role of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signalling and Nav in non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cell lines. We show unequivocally, that functional expression of the α subunit Nav1.7 promotes invasion in H460 NSCLC cells. Inhibition of Nav1.7 activity (using tetrodotoxin) or expression (by using small interfering RNA), reduces H460 cell invasion by up to 50%. Crucially, non-invasive wild type A549 cells lack functional Nav, whereas exogenous overexpression of the Nav1.7 α subunit is sufficient to promote TTX-sensitive invasion of these cells. EGF/EGFR signalling enhances proliferation, migration and invasion of H460 cells but we find that, specifically, EGFR-mediated upregulation of Nav1.7 is necessary for invasive behaviour in these cells. Examination of Nav1.7 expression at mRNA, protein and functional levels further reveals that EGF/EGFR signalling via the ERK1/2 pathway controls transcriptional regulation of channel expression to promote cellular invasion. Immunohistochemistry of patient biopsies confirms the clinical relevance of Nav1.7 expression in NSCLC. Thus, Nav1.7 has significant potential as a new target for therapeutic intervention and/or as a diagnostic or prognostic marker in NSCLC.

Use of escin as a perforating agent on the IonWorks quattro automated electrophysiology platform.

The automated electrophysiology platform IonWorks has facilitated the medium-throughput study of ion channel biology and pharmacology. Electrical and chemical access to the cell is by perforated patch, afforded by amphotericin. Permeation of the amphotericin pore is limited to monovalent cations. We describe here the use of the saponin escin as an alternative perforating agent. With respect to the number and robustness of seals formed across a variety of cell and ion channel types, the performance of escin is equal to that of amphotericin. Escin also permits the permeation of larger molecules through its pore. These include nucleotides, important intracellular modulators of ion channel activity that can be used to prevent ion channel rundown of, for instance, Ca(V)1.2. Furthermore, pharmacologic agents such as QX314 can also permeate and be used for mechanistic studies. Escin, in combination with IonWorks, increases the scope of ion channel screening and can facilitate the assay of previously difficult-to-assay targets.

Heterologous expression and functional analysis of rat Nav1.8 (SNS) voltage-gated sodium channels in the dorsal root ganglion neuroblastoma cell line ND7-23.

The voltage-gated sodium channel NaV1.8 (SNS, PN3) is thought to be a molecular correlate of the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) tetrodotoxin resistant (TTX-R) Na+ current. TTX-R/NaV1.8 is an attractive therapeutic drug target for inflammatory and neuropathic pain on the basis of its specific distribution in sensory neurones and its modulation by inflammatory mediators. However, detailed analysis of recombinant NaV1.8 has been hampered by difficulties in stably expressing the functional protein in mammalian cells. Here, we show stable expression and functional analysis of rat NaV1.8 (rNaV1.8) in the rat DRG/mouse N18Tg2 neuroblastoma hybridoma cell line ND7-23. Rat NaV1.8 Na+ currents were recorded (789 +/- 89 pA, n=62, over 20-cell passages) that qualitatively resembled DRG TTX-R in terms of gating kinetics and voltage-dependence of activation and inactivation. The local anaesthetic drug tetracaine produced tonic inhibition of rNaV1.8 (mean IC50 value 12.5 microM) and in repeated gating paradigms (2-10 Hz) also showed frequency-dependent block. There was a correlation between the ability of several analogues of the anticonvulsant/analgesic compound lamotrigine to inhibit TTX-R and rNaV1.8 (r=0.72, P<0.001). RT-PCR analysis of wild type ND7-23 cells revealed endogenous expression of the beta1 and beta3 accessory Na+ channel subunits-the possibility that the presence of these subunits assists and stabilises expression of rNaV1.8 is discussed. We conclude that the neuroblastoma ND7-23 cell line is a suitable heterologous expression system for rNaV1.8 Na+ channels in that it allows stable expression of a channel with biophysical properties that closely resemble the native TTX-R currents in DRG neurones. This reagent will prove useful in the search for pharmacological inhibitors of rNaV1.8 as novel analgesics.

An industrial perspective on utilizing functional ion channel assays for high throughput screening.

The ability to apply large-scale screening formats to measures of ion channel function offers immense opportunities for drug discovery and academic research. Technologies have been developed over the last several years that now provide the ability to screen large numbers of compounds and natural products on ion channel function to find novel drugs. Application of these technologies has vastly improved the capabilities of ion channel drug discovery and provides an avenue to accelerate discoveries of ion channel biology. These advances have largely arisen from the development and application of instruments and reporters of membrane potential and ion movements in cells used to measure functional activity of ion channels. This article endeavors to describe the practical applications of these technologies in developing, validating, and implementing high throughput screening assay formats to different types of ion channels.