Preclinical to Clinical Translation of CNS Transporter Occupancy of TD-9855, a Novel Norepinephrine and Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor

Background:

Monoamine reuptake inhibitors exhibit unique clinical profiles that reflect distinct engagement of the central nervous system (CNS) transporters.

Methods:

We used a translational strategy, including rodent pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging in humans, to establish the transporter profile of TD-9855, a novel norepinephrine and serotonin reuptake inhibitor.

Results:

TD-9855 was a potent inhibitor of norepinephrine (NE) and serotonin 5-HT uptake in vitro with an inhibitory selectivity of 4- to 10-fold for NE at human and rat transporters. TD-9855 engaged norepinephrine transporters (NET) and serotonin transporters (SERT) in rat spinal cord, with a plasma EC₅₀ of 11.7ng/mL and 50.8ng/mL, respectively, consistent with modest selectivity for NET in vivo.Accounting for species differences in protein binding, the projected human NET and SERT plasma EC₅₀ values were 5.5ng/mL and 23.9ng/mL, respectively. A single-dose, open-label PET study (4–20mg TD-9855, oral) was conducted in eight healthy males using the radiotracers [¹¹C]-3-amino-4- [2-[(di(methyl)amino)methyl]phenyl]sulfanylbenzonitrile for SERT and [¹¹C]-(S,S)-methylreboxetine for NET. The long pharmacokinetic half-life (30–40h) of TD-9855 allowed for sequential assessment of SERT and NET occupancy in the same subject. The plasma EC₅₀ for NET was estimated to be 1.21ng/mL, and at doses of greater than 4mg the projected steady-state NET occupancy is high (>75%). After a single oral dose of 20mg, SERT occupancy was 25 (±8)% at a plasma level of 6.35ng/mL.

Conclusions:

These data establish the CNS penetration and transporter profile of TD-9855 and inform the selection of potential doses for future clinical evaluation.     

Epigenetic silencing BCL6B induced colorectal cancer proliferation and metastasis by inhibiting P53 signaling

BCL6B, a homologue of BCL6, has been reported to be frequently methylated in human gastric cancer. The epigenetic change and the function of BCL6B remains to be elucidated in colorectal cancer. 7 colorectal cancer cell lines (RKO, HT-29, DLD1, LOVO, HCT116, SW480, SW620) and 102 cases of primary colorectal cancer samples were used in this study. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR, methylation specific PCR (MSP), Flow cytometry and western blot were employed. Loss of BCL6B expression was found in HT29, RKO LOVO, SW480, SW620 and DLD1 cells, and reduced expression was found in HCT116 cell line. Complete methylation was found in HT29, RKO, LOVO, SW480, SW620 and DLD1 cells, partial methylation was detected in HCT116 cells. Restoration of BCL6B expression was induced by 5-Aza treatment in these colorectal cancer cells. BCL6B was methylated in 79.4% (81/102) of primary human colorectal cancer and reduced expression was associated with promoter region hypermethylation (p < 0.05). Methylation of BCL6B is associated with late stage (p < 0.05) and lymph node metastasis (p < 0.05). Re-expression of BCL6B inhibited cell proliferation, invasion and migration in RKO and HT29 cells. BCL6B activated P53 signaling and induced apoptosis, Re-expression of BCL6B sensitized RKO and HT29 cells to 5-fluorouracil. In conclusion, BCL6B was frequently methylated in human colorectal cancer and its expression was regulated by promoter region methylation. Methylation of BCL6B is a prognostic and chemo-sensitive marker in colorectal cancer. BCL6B suppresses colorectal cancer growth by activating P53 signaling.     

Artifact removal in the context of group ICA: A comparison of single‐subject and group approaches

Independent component analysis (ICA) has been widely applied to identify intrinsic brain networks from fMRI data. Group ICA computes group‐level components from all data and subsequently estimates individual‐level components to recapture intersubject variability. However, the best approach to handle artifacts, which may vary widely among subjects, is not yet clear. In this work, we study and compare two ICA approaches for artifacts removal. One approach, recommended in recent work by the Human Connectome Project, first performs ICA on individual subject data to remove artifacts, and then applies a group ICA on the cleaned data from all subjects. We refer to this approach as Individual ICA based artifacts Removal Plus Group ICA (IRPG). A second proposed approach, called Group Information Guided ICA (GIG‐ICA), performs ICA on group data, then removes the group‐level artifact components, and finally performs subject‐specific ICAs using the group‐level non‐artifact components as spatial references. We used simulations to evaluate the two approaches with respect to the effects of data quality, data quantity, variable number of sources among subjects, and spatially unique artifacts. Resting‐state test–retest datasets were also employed to investigate the reliability of functional networks. Results from simulations demonstrate GIG‐ICA has greater performance compared with IRPG, even in the case when single‐subject artifacts removal is perfect and when individual subjects have spatially unique artifacts. Experiments using test–retest data suggest that GIG‐ICA provides more reliable functional networks. Based on high estimation accuracy, ease of implementation, and high reliability of functional networks, we find GIG‐ICA to be a promising approach. Hum Brain Mapp 37:1005–1025, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc .     

肺癌围手术期免疫功能保护的研究进展

肺癌患者的细胞免疫、体液免疫、红细胞免疫等状况较正常人均存在着不同程度的低下。目前早中期患者肺癌的首选治疗方式仍然是手术切除治疗。虽然切除肿瘤可以逐渐消除瘤体本身造成的免疫抑制，但手术创伤引发的机体应激反应、神经内分泌变化、疼痛的刺激以及麻醉药物的使用在术后一段时间内反而会加重免疫抑制。因此针对围术期内多个治疗环节加以改进，可以有助于患者术后免疫功能的恢复，减少肿瘤复发、转移的几率。具体措施包括术前给予参芪扶正注射液、番茄红素、胸腺肽等药物以及预先给予适当的心理疏导以提升免疫力；术中更多的运用微创胸腔镜技术并在全身麻醉时联用硬膜外麻醉；围术期采用多模式联合镇痛，术前给予氟比洛芬酯等非甾体类抗炎药物开展超前镇痛，术后给予静脉持续自控镇痛时辅用地佐辛等药物或与肋间神经阻滞相结合，或改用硬膜外自控镇痛、自控椎旁神经阻滞等方法镇痛；此外术后建议给予患者早期营养支持，尽量减少不必要的输血，需要输血时使用辐照成分输血。     

Determination of plasma antiglycan autoantibodies in patients with IgA nephropathy and the correlation with clinical characteristics

Objective To establish the measurement of IgA1 O-glycan-specific antiglycan autoantibodies in patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN), and evaluate their role in the development and progression of IgAN. Methods In the IgAN regular follow-up cohort of Peking University Institute of Nephrology from January 2006 to December 2015, 170 patients drawn by stratified randomization were enrolled in this study. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine the levels of plasma galactose-deficient IgA1 (Gd-IgA1) and antiglycan autoantibody (IgG and IgA1). The correlation between antiglycan autoantibodies and clinicopathological parameters was analyzed by linear correlation and multiple linear regression analysis. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to evaluate the value of plasma anti glycide antibodies in the diagnosis of IgAN. Results IgG and IgA1 antiglycan autoantibodies that specifically recognized Fab-hinge region (Fab-HR) antigens could be detected in both IgAN and healthy control group. Agglutinin inhibition test showed that the specific antigen epitope was N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) residue exposed to galactose deficiency in IgA1 hinged region. There was no significant difference in the absolute levels of plasma IgG antiglycan autoantibodies between IgAN and healthy controls (P=0.963). After adjustment of the plasma level of IgG, the normalized antiglycan autoantibody (ln[IgG antiglycan antibody/IgG]) in patients with IgAN was significantly higher than that in healthy controls (0.58±0.31 vs 0.37±0.11, P﹤0.01). The normalized level of IgG antiglycan autoantibody in IgAN patients was positively correlated with 24 h urine protein level during renal biopsy (Spearman r=0.183, P﹤0.05), and was also significantly correlated with 24 h urinary protein level after adjusting for baseline clinical and pathological factors (β=0.713, 95%CI 0.323-1.102, P﹤0.01). The area under ROC curve (AUC) of normalized IgG antiglycan autoantibody in the diagnosis of IgAN was 0.764 (95% CI 0.682-0.845, P﹤0.05). Using the cut-off value of 0.396, the sensitivity and specificity of normalized IgG antiglycan autoantibody for IgAN were 0.729 and 0.700 respectively. There was no significant difference in the absolute or normalized levels of IgA1 antiglycan autoantibodies between IgAN patients and healthy controls. Conclusions Gd-IgA1-specific antiglycan autoantibodies can be detected both in IgAN patients and healthy controls. They are elevated in some patients with IgAN and possibly involved in the development of IgAN.