Reflections on drug research

Rapid Selective Detection and Quantification of β-Blockers Used in Doping Based on Molecularly Imprinted Nanoparticles (NanoMIPs)

Human performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), frequently used in sport competitions, are strictly prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Biological samples collected from athletes and regular patients are continuously tested regarding the identification and/or quantification of the banned substances. Current work is focused on the application of a new analytical method, molecularly imprinted nanoparticles (nanoMIPs), to detect and determine concentrations of certain prohibited drugs, such as β-blockers, in water and human urine samples. These medications are used in the treatment of cardiovascular conditions, negative effects of adrenaline (helping to relief stress), and hypertension (slowing down the pulse and softening the arteries). They can also significantly increase muscle relaxation and improve heart efficiency. The new method of the detection and quantification of β-blockers is based on synthesis, characterization, and implementation of nanoMIPs (so-called plastic antibodies). It offers numerous advantages over the traditional methods, including high binding capacity, affinity, and selectivity for target molecules. Additionally, the whole process is less complicated, cheaper, and better controlled. The size and shape of the nanoMIPs is evaluated by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The affinity and selectivity of the nanoparticles are investigated by competitive pseudo enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (pseudo-ELISA) similar to common immunoassays employing natural antibodies. To provide reliable results towards either doping detection or therapeutic monitoring using the minimal invasive method, the qualitative and quantitative analysis of these drugs is performed in water and human urine samples. It is demonstrated that the assay can detect β-blockers in water within the linear range 1 nmol·L^-1-1 mmol·L^-1 for atenolol with the detection limit 50.6 ng mL^-1, and the linear range 1 mmol·L^-1-10 mmol·L^-1 for labetalol with the detection limit of 90.5 ng·mL^-1. In human urine samples, the linear range is recorded in the concentration range 0.1 mmol·L^-1-10 nmol·L^-1 for atenolol and 1 mmol·L^-1-10 nmol·L^-1 for labetalol with a detection limit of 61.0 ng·mL-1 for atenolol and 99.4 ng·mL^-1 for labetalol.

Receptor visualization and the atomic bomb. A historical account of the development of the chemical neuroanatomy of receptors for neurotransmitters and drugs during the Cold War

This is a historical account of how receptors for neurotransmitters and drugs got to be seen at the regional, cellular, and subcellular levels in brain, in the years going from the end of the World War II until the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Cold War (1945-1991). The realization in the US of the problem of mental health care, as a consequence of the results of medical evaluation for military service during the war, let the US Government to act creating among other things the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH). Coincident with that, new drug treatments for these disorders were introduced. War science also created an important number of tools and instruments, such as the radioisotopes, that played a significant role in the development of our story. The scientific context was marked by the development of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and the introduction in the early 80's of the DNA recombinant technologies. The concepts of chemical neurotransmission in the brain and of receptors for drugs and transmitters, although proposed before the war, where not generally accepted. Neurotransmitters were identified and the mechanisms of biosynthesis, storage, release and termination of action by mechanisms such as reuptake, elucidated. Furthermore, the synapse was seen with the electron microscope and more important for our account, neurons and their processes visualized in the brain first by fluorescence histochemistry, then using radioisotopes and autoradiography, and later by immunohistochemistry (IHC), originating the Chemical Neuroanatomy. The concept of chemical neurotransmission evolved from the amines, expanded to excitatory and inhibitory amino acids, then to neuropeptides and finally to gases and other "atypical" neurotransmitters. In addition, coexpression of more than one transmitter in a neuron, changed the initial ideas of neurotransmission. The concept of receptors for these and other messengers underwent a significant evolution from an abstract chemical concept to their physical reality as gene products. Important steps were the introduction in the 70's of radioligand binding techniques and the cloning of receptor genes in the 80's. Receptors were first visualized using radioligands and autoradiography, and analyzed with the newly developed computer-assisted image analysis systems. Using Positron Emission Tomography transmitters and receptors were visualized in living human brain. The cloning of receptor genes allowed the use of in situ hybridization histochemistry and immunohistochemistry to visualize with the light and electron microscopes the receptor mRNAs and proteins. The results showed the wide heterogeneity of receptors and the diversity of mode of signal transmission, synaptic and extra-synaptic, again radically modifying the early views of neurotransmission. During the entire period the interplay between basic science and Psychopharmacology and Psychiatry generated different transmitter or receptor-based theories of brain drug action. These concepts and technologies also changed the way new drugs were discovered and developed. At the end of the period, a number of declines in these theories, the use of certain tools and the ability to generate new diagnostics and treatments, the end of an era and the beginning of a new one in the research of how the brain functions.

Open Targets: a platform for therapeutic target identification and validation

We have designed and developed a data integration and visualization platform that provides evidence about the association of known and potential drug targets with diseases. The platform is designed to support identification and prioritization of biological targets for follow-up. Each drug target is linked to a disease using integrated genome-wide data from a broad range of data sources. The platform provides either a target-centric workflow to identify diseases that may be associated with a specific target, or a disease-centric workflow to identify targets that may be associated with a specific disease. Users can easily transition between these target- and disease-centric workflows. The Open Targets Validation Platform is accessible at https://www.targetvalidation.org.

The current status of beta blockers' use in the management of hypertension

The invention of beta (β)-blockers culminated in a new era in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases (CD), and changed the course of pharmacology research for years to come. Since the introduction of propranolol into clinical practice in 1964, β-blockers enjoyed a special place in the clinicians' armamentarium against CDs, especially for patients with ischemic heart diseases, and are still one of the most extensively used therapeutic drugs in both cardiac and non-cardiac ailments. Current uses of β-blockers in CDs include ischemic heart diseases, hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, and heart failure. Other substantial non-cardiac uses include glaucoma, migraine, situational anxiety, benign essential tremors, and cardiac symptoms of thyrotoxicosis. This review covers some of the evolutionary changes of clinical uses of β-blockers, the rationale for their use, some recent controversies surrounding their use for treatment of hypertension, and advantages of newer additions to the group. 

CPT: Pharmacometrics and Systems Pharmacology

Welcome to the first issue of CPT: Pharmacometrics and Systems Pharmacology (CPT:PSP), a new journal from the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. CPT:PSP is a cross-disciplinary journal devoted to publishing advances in quantitative, model-based approaches as applied in pharmacology, (patho)physiology, and disease to aid the discovery, development, and utilization of human therapeutics. The emphasis of CPT:PSP will be on the application of modeling and simulation and the impact of Pharmacometrics and Systems Pharmacology on the discovery and development of innovative therapies.

Previously unsuspected widespread cellular and tissue distribution of β-adrenoceptors and its relevance to drug action

The discovery of β-adrenoceptors in previously unsuspected cell types is contributing to the rethinking of new drug targets. Recent developments in β-adrenoceptor pharmacology might have excited and surprised James Black, given his interest in developing drugs based on the selective manipulation of receptors to alter physiological responses. β-adrenoceptors continue to generate surprises at molecular and pharmacological levels that often require knowledge of receptor location to interpret. In this review, we emphasize the use of fluorescent ligands as the most selective means of demonstrating receptor localization. Fluorescent ligand binding in live tissues can provide quantitative pharmacological data, under carefully controlled conditions, relevant to other signalling parameters. Consideration of the role of β-adrenoceptors in many cell types (previously ignored) is needed to understand the actions of drugs at β-adrenoceptors throughout the body, particularly in the lung epithelium, vascular endothelium, immune cells and other 'structural' and 'restorative' cell types.