Buprenorphine.

In the crystal structure of a semi-synthetic opioid drug buprenorphine, C29H41NO4 {systematic name: (2S)-2-[(5R,6R,7R,14S)-9α-cyclo-propyl-methyl-3-hy-droxy-6-meth-oxy-4,5-ep-oxy-6,14-ethano-morphinan-7-yl]-3,3-di-methyl-butan-2-ol}, the cyclo-propyl-methyl group is disordered over two sites with an occupancy factor of 0.611 (3) for the major component. One of the hy-droxy groups is involved in intra-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bond. The other hy-droxy group acts as a proton donor in an inter-molecular O-H⋯O inter-action that connects mol-ecules into a zigzag chain along the b axis.

Lifelong learning on evolving graphs under the constraints of imbalanced classes and new classes.

Lifelong graph learning deals with the problem of continually adapting graph neural network (GNN) models to changes in evolving graphs. We address two critical challenges of lifelong graph learning in this work: dealing with new classes and tackling imbalanced class distributions. The combination of these two challenges is particularly relevant since newly emerging classes typically resemble only a tiny fraction of the data, adding to the already skewed class distribution. We make several contributions: First, we show that the amount of unlabeled data does not influence the results, which is an essential prerequisite for lifelong learning on a sequence of tasks. Second, we experiment with different label rates and show that our methods can perform well with only a tiny fraction of annotated nodes. Third, we propose the gDOC method to detect new classes under the constraint of having an imbalanced class distribution. The critical ingredient is a weighted binary cross-entropy loss function to account for the class imbalance. Moreover, we demonstrate combinations of gDOC with various base GNN models such as GraphSAGE, Simplified Graph Convolution, and Graph Attention Networks. Lastly, our k-neighborhood time difference measure provably normalizes the temporal changes across different graph datasets. With extensive experimentation, we find that the proposed gDOC method is consistently better than a naive adaption of DOC to graphs. Specifically, in experiments using the smallest history size, the out-of-distribution detection score of gDOC is 0.09 compared to 0.01 for DOC. Furthermore, gDOC achieves an Open-F1 score, a combined measure of in-distribution classification and out-of-distribution detection, of 0.33 compared to 0.25 of DOC (32% increase).

Two ortho-rhom-bic polymorphs of hydro-morphone.

Conditions to obtain two polymorphic forms by crystallization from solution were determined for the analgesic drug hydro-morphone [C17H19NO3; systematic name: (4R,4aR,7aR,12bS)-9-hy-droxy-3-methyl-1,2,4,4a,5,6,7a,13-octa-hydro-4,12-methano-benzofuro[3,2-e]iso-quinolin-7-one]. These two crystalline forms, designated as I and II, belong to the P212121 ortho-rhom-bic space group. In both polymorphs, the hydro-morphone mol-ecules adopt very similar conformations with some small differences observed only in the N-methyl amine part of the mol-ecule. The crystal structures of both polymorphs feature chains of mol-ecules connected by hydrogen bonds; however, in form I this inter-action occurs between the hydroxyl group and the tertiary amine N atom whereas in form II the hydroxyl group acts as a donor of a hydrogen bond to the O atom from the cyclic ether part.

An evaluation of salt screening methodologies.

OBJECTIVES: In this study, the advantages and disadvantages of three salt screening methodologies have been explored, and recommendations are put forward as to when each method is most appropriate. METHODS: Three salt screening methodologies have been investigated: the in-situ salt screen, the saturated solution or rational screen approach, and the cooling-evaporative or high-throughput method. Two Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) with significant differences in aqueous solubility have been chosen for this study, namely aripiprazole and desvenlafaxine (see Figure 1). KEY FINDINGS: The in-situ salt formation screen appears to be a good method for early stage salt selection based on aqueous solubility, although this approach does not work for all APIs, as demonstrated in the comparison between aripiprazole and desvenlafaxine. The saturated solution method or rational approach demonstrated a valuable overview of the different salts that can be formed in an efficient and cost-effective manner. The cooling-evaporative screening method involved a complete examination of salt formation, including indication of polymorphism of the salts produced. CONCLUSIONS: The three salt formation approaches are methods that deliver crystalline salts. The choice of salt screen approach depends on the physical properties of the drug substance, development stage and objective of the screen.

The orphan G protein-coupled receptor 3 modulates amyloid-beta peptide generation in neurons.

Deposition of the amyloid-beta peptide is a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. A high-throughput functional genomics screen identified G protein-coupled receptor 3 (GPR3), a constitutively active orphan G protein-coupled receptor, as a modulator of amyloid-beta production. Overexpression of GPR3 stimulated amyloid-beta production, whereas genetic ablation of GPR3 prevented accumulation of the amyloid-beta peptide in vitro and in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model. GPR3 expression led to increased formation and cell-surface localization of the mature gamma-secretase complex in the absence of an effect on Notch processing. GPR3 is highly expressed in areas of the normal human brain implicated in Alzheimer's disease and is elevated in the sporadic Alzheimer's disease brain. Thus, GPR3 represents a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Discovery of naturally occurring splice variants of the rat histamine H3 receptor that act as dominant-negative isoforms.

We described previously the cDNA cloning of three functional rat histamine H3 receptor (rH3R) isoforms as well as the differential brain expression patterns of their corresponding mRNAs and signaling properties of the resulting rH3A, rH3B, and rH3C receptor isoforms (Mol Pharmacol 59:1-8). In the current report, we describe the cDNA cloning, mRNA localization in the rat central nervous system, and pharmacological characterization of three additional rH3R splice variants (rH3D, rH3E, and rH3F) that differ from the previously published isoforms in that they result from an additional alternative-splicing event. These new H3R isoforms lack the seventh transmembrane (TM) helix and contain an alternative, putatively extracellular, C terminus (6TM-rH3 isoforms). After heterologous expression in COS-7 cells, radioligand binding or functional responses upon the application of various H3R ligands could not be detected for the 6TM-rH3 isoforms. In contrast to the rH3A receptor (rH3AR), detection of the rH3D isoform using hemagglutinin antibodies revealed that the rH3D isoform remains mainly intracellular. The expression of the rH3D-F splice variants, however, modulates the cell surface expression-levels and subsequent functional responses of the 7TM H3R isoforms. Coexpression of the rH3AR and the rH3D isoforms resulted in the intracellular retention of the rH3AR and reduced rH3AR functionality. Finally, we show that in rat brain, the H3R mRNA expression levels are modulated upon treatment with the convulsant pentylenetetrazole, suggesting that the rH3R isoforms described herein thus represent a novel physiological mechanism for controlling the activity of the histaminergic system.

New high affinity H3 receptor agonists without a basic side chain.

In this study, we replaced the basic amine function of the known histamine H(3) receptor agonists imbutamine or immepip with non-basic alcohol or hydrocarbon moieties. All compounds in this study show a moderate to high affinity for the cloned human H(3) receptor and, unexpectedly, almost all of them act as potent agonists. Moreover, in the alcohol series, we consistently observed an increased selectivity for the human H(3) receptor over the human H(4) receptor, but none of the compounds in this series possess increased affinity and functional activity compared to their alkylamine congeners. In this new series of compounds VUF5657, 5-(1H-imidazol-4-yl)-pentan-1-ol, is the most potent histamine H(3) receptor agonist (pK(i) = 8.0 and pEC(50) = 8.1) with a 320-fold selectivity at the human H(3) receptor over the human H(4) receptor.

Adenoviral vectors expressing siRNAs for discovery and validation of gene function.

RNA interference is a powerful tool for studying gene function and for drug target discovery in diverse organisms and cell types. In mammalian systems, small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), or DNA plasmids expressing these siRNAs, have been used to down-modulate gene expression. However, inefficient transfection protocols, in particular, for primary cell types, have hampered the use of these tools in disease-relevant cellular assays. To be able to use this technology for genome-wide function screening, a more robust transduction protocol, resulting in a longer duration of the knock-down effect, is required. Here, we describe the validation of adenoviral vectors that express hairpin RNAs that are further processed to siRNAs. Infection of cell lines, or primary human cells, with these viruses leads to an efficient, sequence-specific, and prolonged reduction of the corresponding target mRNA, resulting in a reduction of the encoded protein level in the cell. For knock-down of one of the targets, GalphaS, we have measured inhibition of ligand-dependent, G-protein-coupled signaling. It is expected that this technology will prove to be of great value in target validation and target discovery efforts.