Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 162 in total

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  1. van Schalkwyk DA, Blasco B, Davina Nuñez R, Liew JWK, Amir A, Lau YL, et al.
    PMID: 30831468 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2019.02.004
    New antimalarial agents are identified and developed after extensive testing on Plasmodium falciparum parasites that can be grown in vitro. These susceptibility studies are important to inform lead optimisation and support further drug development. Until recently, little was known about the susceptibility of non-falciparum species as these had not been adapted to in vitro culture. The recent culture adaptation of P. knowlesi has therefore offered an opportunity to routinely define the drug susceptibility of this species, which is phylogenetically closer to all other human malarias than is P. falciparum. We compared the in vitro susceptibility of P. knowlesi and P. falciparum to a range of established and novel antimalarial agents under identical assay conditions. We demonstrated that P. knowlesi is significantly less susceptible than P. falciparum to six of the compounds tested; and notably these include three ATP4 inhibitors currently under development as novel antimalarial agents, and one investigational antimalarial, AN13762, which is 67 fold less effective against P. knowlesi. For the other compounds there was a less than two-fold difference in susceptibility between species. We then compared the susceptibility of a recent P. knowlesi isolate, UM01, to that of the well-established, older A1-H.1 clone. This recent isolate showed similar in vitro drug susceptibility to the A1-H.1 clone, supporting the ongoing use of the better characterised clone to further study drug susceptibility. Lastly, we used isobologram analysis to explore the interaction of a selection of drug combinations and showed similar drug interactions across species. The species differences in drug susceptibility reported by us here and previously, support adding in vitro drug screens against P. knowlesi to those using P. falciparum strains to inform new drug discovery and lead optimisation.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery
  2. Zhang Y, Lee SH, Wang C, Gao Y, Li J, Xu W
    Jpn J Clin Oncol, 2020 Jun 24.
    PMID: 32579167 DOI: 10.1093/jjco/hyaa089
    BACKGROUND: Patient-derived xenograft model is a powerful and promising tool for drug discovery and cancer biology studies. The application of previous metastatic colorectal cancer models has been greatly limited by its low success rate and long time to develop metastasis. Therefore, in this study, we aim to describe an optimized protocol for faster establishment of colorectal cancer metastatic patient-derived xenograft mouse models.

    METHODS: Smaller micro tissues (˂150 μm in diameter) mixed with Matrigel were engrafted subcutaneously into NSG mice to generate the passage 1 (P1) patient-derived xenograft. The micro tumours from P1 patient-derived xenograft were then excised and orthotopically xenografted into another batch of NSG mice to generate a metastatic colorectal cancer patient-derived xenograft, P2. Haematoxylin and eosin and immunohistochemistry staining were performed to compare the characters between patient-derived xenograft tumours and primary tumours.

    RESULTS: About 16 out of 18 P1 xenograft models successfully grew a tumour for 50.8 ± 5.1 days (success rate 89.9%). Six out of eight P1 xenograft models originating from metastatic patients successfully grew tumours in the colon and metastasized to liver or lung in the NSG recipients for 60.9 ± 4.5 days (success rate 75%). Histological examination of both P1 and P2 xenografts closely resembled the histological architecture of the original patients' tumours. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed similar biomarker expression levels, including CDH17, Ki-67, active β-catenin, Ki-67 and α smooth muscle actin when compared with the original patients' tumours. The stromal components that support the growth of patient-derived xenograft tumours were of murine origin.

    CONCLUSIONS: Metastatic patient-derived xenograft mouse model could be established with shorter time and higher success rate. Although the patient-derived xenograft tumours were supported by the stromal cells of murine origin, they retained the dominant characters of the original patient tumours.

    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery
  3. Zainal-Abidin MH, Hayyan M, Ngoh GC, Wong WF, Looi CY
    J Control Release, 2019 12 28;316:168-195.
    PMID: 31669211 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2019.09.019
    The applications of eutectic systems, including deep eutectic solvents (DESs), in diverse sectors have drawn significant interest from researchers, academicians, engineers, medical scientists, and pharmacists. Eutecticity increases drug dissolution, improves drug penetration, and acts as a synthesis route for drug carriers. To date, DESs have been extensively explored as potential drug delivery systems on account of their unique properties such as tunability and chemical and thermal stability. This review discusses two major topics: first, the application of eutectic mixtures (before and after the introduction of DES) in the field of drug delivery systems, and second, the most promising examples of DES pharmaceutical activity. It also considers future prospects in the medical and biotechnological fields. In addition to the application of DESs in drug delivery systems, they show greatly promising pharmaceutical activities, including anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-cancer activities. Eutecticity is a valid strategy for overcoming many obstacles inherently associated with either introducing new drugs or enhancing drug delivery systems.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery/methods
  4. Yusuf M, Konc J, Sy Bing C, Trykowska Konc J, Ahmad Khairudin NB, Janezic D, et al.
    J Chem Inf Model, 2013 Sep 23;53(9):2423-36.
    PMID: 23980878 DOI: 10.1021/ci400421e
    ProBiS is a new method to identify the binding site of protein through local structural alignment against the nonredundant Protein Data Bank (PDB), which may result in unique findings compared to the energy-based, geometry-based, and sequence-based predictors. In this work, binding sites of Hemagglutinin (HA), which is an important target for drugs and vaccines in influenza treatment, have been revisited by ProBiS. For the first time, the identification of conserved binding sites by local structural alignment across all subtypes and strains of HA available in PDB is presented. ProBiS finds three distinctive conserved sites on HA's structure (named Site 1, Site 2, and Site 3). Compared to other predictors, ProBiS is the only one that accurately defines the receptor binding site (Site 1). Apart from that, Site 2, which is located slightly above the TBHQ binding site, is proposed as a potential novel conserved target for membrane fusion inhibitor. Lastly, Site 3, located around Helix A at the stem domain and recently targeted by cross-reactive antibodies, is predicted to be conserved in the latest H7N9 China 2013 strain as well. The further exploration of these three sites provides valuable insight in optimizing the influenza drug and vaccine development.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery*
  5. Yoneda M
    Uirusu, 2014;64(1):105-12.
    PMID: 25765986 DOI: 10.2222/jsv.64.105
    Nipah virus (NiV), a paramyxovirus, was first discovered in Malaysia in 1998 in an outbreak of infection in pigs and humans, and incurred a high fatality rate in humans. We established a system that enabled the rescue of replicating NiVs from a cloned DNA. Using the system, we analyzed the functions of accessory proteins in infected cells and the implications in in vivo pathogenicity. Further, we have developed a recombinant measles virus (rMV) vaccine expressing NiV envelope glycoproteins, which appeared to be an appropriate to NiV vaccine candidate for use in humans.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery*
  6. Yew Beng Kang, Pichika R Mallikarjuna, Davamani A Fabian, Adinarayana Gorajana, Chooi Ling Lim, Eng Lai Tan
    MyJurnal
    Important bioactive molecules are molecules that are pharmacologically active derived from natural sources and through chemical synthesis. Over the years many of such molecules have been discovered through bioprospective endeavours. The discovery of taxol from the pacific yew tree bark that has the ability in stabilising cellular microtubules represents one of the hallmarks of success of such endeavours. In recent years, the discovery process has been aided by the rapid development
    of techniques and technologies in chemistry and biotechnology. The progress in advanced genetics and computational biology has also transformed the way hypotheses are formulated as well as the strategies for drug discovery. Of equal importance is the use of advanced drug delivery vehicles in enhancing the efficacy and bioavailability of bioactive molecules. The availability of suitable animal models for testing and validation is yet another major determinant in increasing the prospect for
    clinical trials of bioactive molecules.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery
  7. Yeong KY, Tan SC, Mai CW, Leong CO, Chung FF, Lee YK, et al.
    Chem Biol Drug Des, 2018 01;91(1):213-219.
    PMID: 28719017 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.13072
    Both sirtuin and poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP) family of enzymes utilize NAD+ as co-substrate. Inhibitors of sirtuins and PARPs are important tools in drug discovery as they are reported to be linked to multiple diseases such as cancer. New potent sirtuin inhibitors (2,4,6-trisubstituted benzimidazole) were discovered from reported PARP inhibitor scaffold. Interestingly, the synthesized compounds have contrasting sirtuin and PARP-1 inhibitory activities. We showed that modification on benzimidazoles may alter their selectivity toward sirtuin or PARP-1 enzymes. This offers an opportunity for further discovery and development of new promising sirtuin inhibitors. Molecular docking studies were carried out to aid the rationalization of these observations. Preliminary antiproliferative studies of selected compounds against nasopharyngeal cancer cells also showed relatively promising results.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery
  8. Yeo TC, Naming M, Manurung R
    Comb Chem High Throughput Screen, 2014 Mar;17(3):192-200.
    PMID: 24409959
    The Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (SBC) is a state government agency which regulates research and promotes the sustainable use of biodiversity. It has a program on documentation of traditional knowledge (TK) and is well-equipped with facilities for natural product research. SBC maintains a Natural Product Library (NPL) consisting of local plant and microbial extracts for bioprospecting. The NPL is a core discovery platform for screening of bioactive compounds by researchers through a formal agreement with clear benefit sharing obligations. SBC aims to develop partnerships with leading institutions and the industries to explore the benefits of biodiversity.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery*
  9. Yau MQ, Emtage AL, Loo JSE
    J Comput Aided Mol Des, 2020 Nov;34(11):1133-1145.
    PMID: 32851579 DOI: 10.1007/s10822-020-00339-5
    Recent breakthroughs in G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) crystallography and the subsequent increase in number of solved GPCR structures has allowed for the unprecedented opportunity to utilize their experimental structures for structure-based drug discovery applications. As virtual screening represents one of the primary computational methods used for the discovery of novel leads, the GPCR-Bench dataset was created to facilitate comparison among various virtual screening protocols. In this study, we have benchmarked the performance of Molecular Mechanics/Poisson-Boltzmann Surface Area (MM/PBSA) in improving virtual screening enrichment in comparison to docking with Glide, using the entire GPCR-Bench dataset of 24 GPCR targets and 254,646 actives and decoys. Reranking the top 10% of the docked dataset using MM/PBSA resulted in improvements for six targets at EF1% and nine targets at EF5%, with the gains in enrichment being more pronounced at the EF1% level. We additionally assessed the utility of rescoring the top ten poses from docking and the ability of short MD simulations to refine the binding poses prior to MM/PBSA calculations. There was no clear trend of the benefit observed in both cases, suggesting that utilizing a single energy minimized structure for MM/PBSA calculations may be the most computationally efficient approach in virtual screening. Overall, the performance of MM/PBSA rescoring in improving virtual screening enrichment obtained from docking of the GPCR-Bench dataset was found to be relatively modest and target-specific, highlighting the need for validation of MM/PBSA-based protocols prior to prospective use.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery
  10. Wong XK, Yeong KY
    Curr Med Chem, 2021 Oct 27;28(34):7076-7121.
    PMID: 33588718 DOI: 10.2174/0929867328666210215113828
    Nucleobases represent key structural motifs in biologically active molecules, including synthetic and natural products. Molecular modifications made on nucleobases or their isolation from natural sources are being widely investigated for the development of drugs with improved potency for the treatment of different diseases, such as cancer, as well as viral and bacterial infections. This review article focuses on the nucleobase analogue drug developments of the past 20 years (2000-2020). Various pharmacological and medicinal aspects of nucleobases and their analogues are discussed. The current state and limitations are also highlighted.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery
  11. Watroly MN, Sekar M, Fuloria S, Gan SH, Jeyabalan S, Wu YS, et al.
    Drug Des Devel Ther, 2021;15:4527-4549.
    PMID: 34764636 DOI: 10.2147/DDDT.S338548
    Anthraquinones (AQs) are found in a variety of consumer products, including foods, nutritional supplements, drugs, and traditional medicines, and have a wide range of pharmacological actions. Rubiadin, a 1,3-dihydroxy-2-methyl anthraquinone, primarily originates from Rubia cordifolia Linn (Rubiaceae). It was first discovered in 1981 and has been reported for many biological activities. However, no review has been reported so far to create awareness about this molecule and its role in future drug discovery. Therefore, the present review aimed to provide comprehensive evidence of Rubiadin's phytochemistry, biosynthesis, physicochemical properties, biological properties and therapeutic potential. Relevant literature was gathered from numerous scientific databases including PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Google Scholar between 1981 and up-to-date. The distribution of Rubiadin in numerous medicinal plants, as well as its method of isolation, synthesis, characterisation, physiochemical properties and possible biosynthesis pathways, was extensively covered in this review. Following a rigorous screening and tabulating, a thorough description of Rubiadin's biological properties was gathered, which were based on scientific evidences. Rubiadin fits all five of Lipinski's rule for drug-likeness properties. Then, the in depth physiochemical characteristics of Rubiadin were investigated. The simple technique for Rubiadin's isolation from R. cordifolia and the procedure of synthesis was described. Rubiadin is also biosynthesized via the polyketide and chorismate/o-succinylbenzoic acid pathways. Rubiadin is a powerful molecule with anticancer, antiosteoporotic, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, antioxidant, antibacterial, antimalarial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. The mechanism of action for the majority of the pharmacological actions reported, however, is unknown. In addition to this review, an in silico molecular docking study was performed against proteins with PDB IDs: 3AOX, 6OLX, 6OSP, and 6SDC to support the anticancer properties of Rubiadin. The toxicity profile, pharmacokinetics and possible structural modifications were also described. Rubiadin was also proven to have the highest binding affinity to the targeted proteins in an in silico study; thus, we believe it may be a potential anticancer molecule. In order to present Rubiadin as a novel candidate for future therapeutic development, advanced studies on preclinical, clinical trials, bioavailability, permeability and administration of safe doses are necessary.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery
  12. Wan-Loy Chu
    MyJurnal
    There have been significant achievements in research at IMU as indicated by the increasing amount of external funds obtained, and number of publications and postgraduate students produced since it started its research activities in the year 2000. However, it is a great challenge indeed to ensure sustainability of our research, which is currently heavily dependent on internal funding. There is a need to realign our strategies to further enhance our competitiveness in securing external funding for research. In line with this, the Institute for Research, Development and Innovation (IRDI) was officially established on 18 September 2012. The Institute will serve as a platform to support all research activities at IMU. There are four Centres of Excellence based on the identified thrust areas under
    IRDI, namely 1) Centre for Bioactive Molecules and Drug Discovery; 2) Centre for Environmental and
    Population Health; 3) Centre for Cancer and Stem Cell Research, and 4) Centre for Health Professional Education Research. Major findings based on research in these four thrust areas are reviewed in this paper. With the strategic planning and establishment of IRDI, it is our aspiration to bring research at IMU to a higher level.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery
  13. Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy A, Yusop Z, Jaafar J, Madhavi V, Madhavi G
    Curr Drug Discov Technol, 2016;13(4):211-224.
    PMID: 27697028
    Drug discovery is a highly complicated, tedious and potentially rewarding approach associated with great risk. Pharmaceutical companies literally spend millions of dollars to produce a single successful drug. The drug discovery process also need strict compliance to the directions on manufacturing and testing of new drug standards before their release into market. All these regulations created the necessity to develop advanced approaches in drug discovery. The contributions of advanced technologies including high resolution analytical instruments, 3-D biological printing, next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics have made positive impact on drug discovery & development. Fortunately, all these advanced technologies are evolving at the right time when new issues are rising in drug development process. In the present review, we have discussed the role of genomics and advanced analytical techniques in drug discovery. Further, we have also discussed the significant advances in drug discovery as case studies.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery*
  14. Venkateskumar K, Parasuraman S, Chuen LY, Ravichandran V, Balamurgan S
    Curr Drug Discov Technol, 2020;17(4):507-514.
    PMID: 31424372 DOI: 10.2174/1570163816666190819141344
    About 95% of earth living space lies deep below the ocean's surface and it harbors extraordinary diversity of marine organisms. Marine biodiversity is an exceptional reservoir of natural products, bioactive compounds, nutraceuticals and other potential compounds of commercial value. Timeline for the development of the drug from a plant, synthetic and other alternative sources is too lengthy. Exploration of the marine environment for potential bioactive compounds has gained focus and huge opportunity lies ahead for the exploration of such vast resources in the ocean. Further, the evolution of superbugs with increasing resistance to the currently available drugs is alarming and it needs coordinated efforts to resolve them. World Health Organization recommends the need and necessity to develop effective bioactive compounds to combat problems associated with antimicrobial resistance. Based on these factors, it is imperative to shift the focus towards the marine environment for potential bioactive compounds that could be utilized to tackle antimicrobial resistance. Current research trends also indicate the huge strides in research involving marine environment for drug discovery. The objective of this review article is to provide an overview of marine resources, recently reported research from marine resources, challenges, future research prospects in the marine environment.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery/methods*
  15. Vairappan CS, Ishii T, Lee TK, Suzuki M, Zhaoqi Z
    Mar Drugs, 2010;8(6):1743-9.
    PMID: 20631866 DOI: 10.3390/md8061743
    In our continuous interest to study the diversity of halogenated metabolites of Malaysian species of the red algal genus Laurencia, we examined the chemical composition of five populations of unrecorded Laurencia sp. A new brominated diterpene, 10-acetoxyangasiol (1), and four other known metabolites, aplysidiol (2), cupalaurenol (3), 1-methyl-2,3,5-tribromoindole (4), and chamigrane epoxide (5), were isolated and identified. Isolated metabolites exhibited potent antibacterial activities against clinical bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus sp., Streptococcus pyogenes, Salmonella sp. and Vibrio cholerae.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery*
  16. Tubesha Z, Imam MU, Mahmud R, Ismail M
    Molecules, 2013 Jun 26;18(7):7460-72.
    PMID: 23803717 DOI: 10.3390/molecules18077460
    Toxicological studies constitute an essential part of the effort in developing an herbal medicine into a drug product. A newly developed thymoquinone-rich fraction nanoemulsion (TQRFNE) has been prepared using a high pressure homogenizer. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential acute toxicity of this nanoemulsion in Sprague Dawley rats. The acute toxicity studies were conducted as per the OECD guidelines 425, allowing for the use of test dose limit of 20 mL TQRFNE (containing 44.5 mg TQ)/kg. TQRFNE and distilled water (DW) as a control were administered orally to both sexes of rats on Day 0 and observed for 14 days. All the animals appeared normal, and healthy throughout the study. There was no observed mortality or any signs of toxicity during the experimental period. The effects of the TQRFNE and DW groups on general behavior, body weight, food and water consumption, relative organ weight, hematology, histopathology, and clinical biochemistry were measured. All the parameters measured were unaffected as compared to the control (DW) group. The administration of 20 mL TQRFNE /kg was not toxic after an acute exposure.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery
  17. Trang NTH, Tang DYY, Chew KW, Linh NT, Hoang LT, Cuong NT, et al.
    Mol Biotechnol, 2021 Nov;63(11):1004-1015.
    PMID: 34185249 DOI: 10.1007/s12033-021-00362-3
    Various studies showed that the suppression of α-glucosidase activity can impede the glucose absorption in our body, and therefore, it can be used to treat type 2 diabetes. Hence, the compounds with anti-α-glucosidase have gained considerable attention because of their potential application in diabetes treatment. In previous literature studies, these anti-α-glucosidase compounds were extracted from plants and fungus. Less studies are being conducted to identify the anti-α-glucosidase compounds in the microbial community. In this study, 23 marine bacterial strains were screened for their potential to suppress the α-glucosidase activity. The highest inhibitory activity was exhibited by isolated L06 which was identified as Oceanimonas smirnovii EBL6. The cultivation conditions, such as temperature and pH, were optimized to increase the production of α-glucosidase inhibitors by Oceanimonas smirnovii EBL6 strain. The result findings showed that the highest yield of α-glucosidase inhibitors can be obtained at the culture time of 120 h, fermentation temperature of 30 °C, and pH 4.6. Under these conditions, the inhibitory activity of α-glucosidase can reach 81%. The IC50 of n-butanol extract was 13.89 μg/ml, while standard acarbose was 31.16 μg/ml. Overall, these findings suggest that Oceanimonas smirnovii produces α-glucosidase inhibitors and could been applied in the biochemical and medicinal fields in the future.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery
  18. Tiekink ER
    Dalton Trans, 2012 Jun 7;41(21):6390-5.
    PMID: 22252404 DOI: 10.1039/c2dt12225a
    Despite being disparaged for their malodorous and toxic demeanour, compounds of selenium, a bio-essential element, and tellurium, offer possibilities as therapeutic agents. Herein, their potential use as drugs, for example, as anti-viral, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory agents, etc., will be surveyed along with a summary of the established biological functions of selenium. The natural biological functions of tellurium remain to be discovered.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery/methods*
  19. Tibon NS, Ng CH, Cheong SL
    Eur J Med Chem, 2020 Feb 15;188:111983.
    PMID: 31911292 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2019.111983
    Discovery and development of antimalarial drugs have long been dominated by single-target therapy. Continuous effort has been made to explore and identify different targets in malaria parasite crucial for the malaria treatment. The single-target drug therapy was initially successful, but it was later supplanted by combination therapy with multiple drugs to overcome drug resistance. Emergence of resistant strains even against the combination therapy has warranted a review of current antimalarial pharmacotherapy. This has led to the development of the new concept of covalent biotherapy, in which two or more pharmacophores are chemically bound to produce hybrid antimalarial drugs with multi-target functionalities. Herein, the review initially details the current pharmacotherapy for malaria as well as the conventional and novel targets of importance identified in the malaria parasite. Then, the rationale of multi-targeted therapy for malaria, approaches taken to develop the multi-target antimalarial hybrids, and the examples of hybrid molecules are comprehensively enumerated and discussed.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery*
  20. Tewari D, Mocan A, Parvanov ED, Sah AN, Nabavi SM, Huminiecki L, et al.
    Front Pharmacol, 2017;8:518.
    PMID: 28860989 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2017.00518
    Jaundice is a very common symptom especially in the developing countries. It is associated with several hepatic diseases which are still major causes of death. There are many different approaches to jaundice treatment and the growing number of ethnomedicinal studies shows the plant pharmacology as very promising direction. Many medicinal plants are used for the treatment of jaundice, however a comprehensive review on this subject has not been published. The use of medicinal plants in drug discovery is highly emphasized (based on their traditional and safe uses in different folk medicine systems from ancient times). Many sophisticated analytical techniques are emerging in the pharmaceutical field to validate and discover new biologically active chemical entities derived from plants. Here, we aim to classify and categorize medicinal plants relevant for the treatment of jaundice according to their origin, geographical location, and usage. Our search included various databases like Pubmed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar. Keywords and phrases used for these searches included: "jaundice," "hyperbilirubinemia," "serum glutamate," "bilirubin," "Ayurveda." The first part of the review focuses on the variety of medicinal plant used for the treatment of jaundice (a total of 207 medicinal plants). In the second part, possible mechanisms of action of biologically active secondary metabolites of plants from five families for jaundice treatment are discussed.
    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery
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