Refine
Document Type
- Doctoral Thesis (3)
Language
- English (3) (remove)
Has Fulltext
- yes (3)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (3)
Keywords
- 4010153-8 (1)
- Enhanced Sampling (1)
- Flupirtine (1)
- Hepatotoxicity (1)
- Kv7.2/7.3 (1)
- Moleküldynamik (1)
- Oxidation potential (1)
- Proteinfaltung (1)
- Replica Exchange (1)
- Simulation (1)
Institute
The investigation of complex molecular systems by molecular dynamics simulations has been successfully established and proven as a standard method during the last decades. The use of highly optimized algorithms and steadily increasing, generally available computing resources enables even larger and longer simulations. However, the dynamics of the system itself is not accelerated, and it can be trapped in low energy minima that can only be overcome slowly. A number of methods have therefore been developed to address this problem.
Within the context of this dissertation, a novel algorithm based on replica exchange was developed to solve problems with existing methods, which can now be used for large molecular systems with a low resource consumption. Parameter dependence was systematically evaluated and optimized to define guidelines for correct application. This algorithm was successfully applied to various pharmaceutical and biochemical problems, such as protein folding or protein-protein interactions.
Research on the science and the fiction of supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) has been ongoing for more than five decades. Today, packed column SFC promises speedy solutions to chiral and semi-preparative separation problems, but academia has been reluctant to incorporate SFC into its curriculum, as doubts linger concerning its practicability. This work sought to explore the merits of SFC in hyphenation with electrospray ionization--single quadrupole mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) in various aspects of medicinal chemistry and bioanalysis within an academic setting.
SFC was investigated for its usefulness in assessing the purity and the stability of synthesis products, and the quantification of chiral and achiral metabolites - domains conventionally occupied by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
Confronted with analytes prone to hydrolysis (cyclic polysulfides) and UV-induced configurational changes (aza-stilbenes), fast elution by water-free SFC-MS proved complementary to traditional chromatographic techniques.
The quantification of antidepressant ketamine metabolites presented an opportunity to assess supercritical fluid techniques within a bioanalytical context. While SFC hyphenated to single quadrupole MS did not reach the sensitivity levels of HPLC coupled to triple quadrupole MS/MS, exploitation of supercritical CO2 reduced analysis times more than six-fold (60 minutes by HPLC vs 10 minutes by SFC). When coopted for both extraction and analysis, SFE-SFC-MS simplified sample preparation and promoted the transition from off- to on-line bioanalysis. Similar results were obtained when SFC was applied to acidic and basic metabolites of the controversial anodyne flupirtine. Again, SFC featured shorter run times but also expanded the target metabolite spectrum covered within one run.
Finally, a tiered approach to validation demonstrated the reliability achievable by SFC. Critical applications such as quantification of the newly approved antidepressant ketamine or the recently withdrawn analgesic flupirtine were comprehensively validated according to guidelines on bioanalytical method validation by the European Medicines Agency. Notably, this included the first fully validated chromatographic methods for the putative antidepressant (2R,6R)-6-hydroxynorketamine, and the first report of EMA-conforming quantification by on-line SFE-SFC-MS from urine.
Separation scientists find themselves confronted with diverse problems and tools. Although parsing only a microscopic subsection of the available chemical and analytical space, the results obtained here suggest SFC to be a fast and versatile addition to conventional chromatographic methods employed at the intersection of medicinal chemistry and bioanalysis.
Profiling the activity and hepatotoxicity of flupirtine through medicinal chemistry approaches
(2019)
Drug induced liver injury (DILI) and tissue discoloration led to the recent discontinuation of the therapeutic use of the closely related drugs flupirtine and retigabine, respectively. Experience gained with these drugs strongly suggests that heterodimer, voltage‐gated potassium channels 2 and 3 (KV2/3) are valid targets for effective treatment of pain and epilepsy. Because the adverse effects are not related to the mechanism of action, it appears promising to investigate chemical modifications of these clinically validated, drug‐like leads. In the present retro metabolic drug design study, a series of 44 compounds were
synthesized and characterized with regards to KV7.2/3 opening activity and efficacy. The most active compounds displays excellent potency (EC50 = 4 nM) and efficacy (154%) as an Kv7.2/3 opener. Limited aqeous solubility hampered toxicity testing at concentrations higher than 63 μM, but this concentration was nontoxic to two hepatocellular cell ilnes (HEP‐G2 and TAMH) in culture.