Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Recent publications

• In vitro-in vivo correlation of PLGA microspheres: Effect of polymer source variation and temperature May 15, 2022
  Development of Level A in vitro-in vivo correlations (IVIVCs) remains challenging for complex long-acting parenterals, such as poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) PLGA microspheres. The nature of the PLGA polymer excipient has a dominant influence on the performance of PLGA microspheres. These microsphere systems typically exhibit multiphasic in vitro/in vivo release/absorption characteristics and may also show interspecies differences […]
  Bo Wan
• A role for BD2-selective BET inhibitors in cocaine-seeking behaviors May 13, 2022
  Epigenetic mechanisms play important roles in the maladaptive transcriptional and behavioral responses to drugs of abuse. Inhibition of bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) proteins, a class of histone acetylation reader proteins, has been shown to reduce cocaine-seeking behaviors in animal models of addiction. To date, the role of BET protein in animal models of substance […]
  Christopher J Babigian
• Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Excretion of FDA-approved Antisense Oligonucleotide Drugs May 13, 2022
  Absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) are key biological processes for determination of a drug's pharmacokinetic parameters, which have direct impacts on therapeutic efficacy and adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Drug structures, formulations, and administration sites and routes cause different classes of drugs to have various ADME characteristics and consequent impacts upon efficacy and ADRs. For […]
  Julia M Migliorati
• Long Noncoding RNAs Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4A Antisense RNA 1 and Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1A Antisense RNA 1 are Involved in Ritonavir-induced Cytotoxicity in Hepatoma Cells May 13, 2022
  Ritonavir (RTV), a pharmacoenhancer used in anti-HIV regimens, can induce liver damage. RTV is mainly metabolized by cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) in the liver. HNF4A antisense RNA 1 (HNF4A-AS1) and HNF1A antisense RNA 1 (HNF1A-AS1) are long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) that regulate the expression of pregnane X receptor (PXR) and CYP3A4. This study investigated the […]
  Xiaofei Wang
• BET proteins as novel epigenetic targets for the treatment of Opioid Use Disorder May 13, 2022
  Recent research has revealed that targeting epigenetic proteins is an effective strategy to reduce drug-seeking behaviors in animal models of addiction. We have found that expression of epigenetic reader proteins, called Bromodomains and Extra terminal Domain (BET), are increased in the nucleus accumbens following cocaine self-administration and that pharmacological inhibition of BET proteins reduced cocaine-seeking […]
  Suzannah De Almeida
• Translesion DNA synthesis mediates acquired resistance to olaparib plus temozolomide in small cell lung cancer May 13, 2022
  In small cell lung cancer (SCLC), acquired resistance to DNA-damaging therapy is challenging to study because rebiopsy is rarely performed. We used patient-derived xenograft models, established before therapy and after progression, to dissect acquired resistance to olaparib plus temozolomide (OT), a promising experimental therapy for relapsed SCLC. These pairs of serial models reveal alterations in […]
  Marcello Stanzione
• Structure-guided functional studies of plasmid-encoded dihydrofolate reductases reveal a common mechanism of trimethoprim resistance in Gram-negative pathogens May 13, 2022
  Two plasmid-encoded dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) isoforms, DfrA1 and DfrA5, that give rise to high levels of resistance in Gram-negative bacteria were structurally and biochemically characterized to reveal the mechanism of TMP resistance and to support phylogenic groupings for drug development against antibiotic resistant pathogens. Preliminary screening of novel antifolates revealed related chemotypes that showed high […]
  Jolanta Krucinska
• Targeted Suppression of miRNA-33 Using pHLIP Improves Atherosclerosis Regression May 10, 2022
  CONCLUSIONS: This study provides proof of principle for the application of pHLIP for treating advanced atherosclerosis via pharmacological inhibition of miR-33 in macrophages that avoid the deleterious effects in other metabolic tissues. This may open new therapeutic opportunities for atherosclerosis-associated cardiovascular diseases via selective delivery of other protective miRNAs.
  Xinbo Zhang
• Novel adapter method for in vitro release testing of in situ forming implants April 30, 2022
  In situ forming implants are injectable liquid formulations which form solid or semisolid depots following injection. This allows for minimally invasive administration, localized drug delivery, and extended drug release. Unfortunately, this drug delivery strategy lacks standardized in vitro dissolution methods due to the difficulties in recreating implant formation in vitro that is biomimicry and with […]
  Xiaoyi Wang
• The Cycas genome and the early evolution of seed plants April 19, 2022
  Cycads represent one of the most ancient lineages of living seed plants. Identifying genomic features uniquely shared by cycads and other extant seed plants, but not non-seed-producing plants, may shed light on the origin of key innovations, as well as the early diversification of seed plants. Here, we report the 10.5-Gb reference genome of Cycas […]
  Yang Liu
• Efficiency of bis-amidate phosphonate prodrugs April 11, 2022
  Bis-amidate derivatives have been viewed as attractive phosphonate prodrug forms because of their straightforward synthesis, lack of phosphorus stereochemistry, plasma stability and nontoxic amino acid metabolites. However, the efficiency of bis-amidate prodrug forms is unclear, as prior studies on this class of prodrugs have not evaluated their activation kinetics. Here, we synthetized a small panel […]
  Nicholas A Lentini
• Nanoparticle delivery systems for substance use disorder March 30, 2022
  Innovative breakthroughs in nanotechnology are having a substantial impact in healthcare, especially for brain diseases where effective therapeutic delivery systems are desperately needed. Nanoparticle delivery systems offer an unmatched ability of not only conveying a diverse array of diagnostic and therapeutic agents across complex biological barriers, but also possess the ability to transport payloads to […]
  Vishal Kasina
• Domain-selective BET inhibition attenuates transcriptional and behavioral responses to cocaine March 22, 2022
  Epigenetic pharmacotherapies have emerged as a promising treatment option for substance use disorder (SUD) due to their ability to reverse maladaptive transcriptional and behavioral responses to drugs of abuse. In particular, inhibitors of bromodomain and extra terminal domain (BET) reader proteins have been shown to reduce cocaine- and opioid-seeking behaviors in rodents. However, only pan-BET […]
  Mandakini B Singh
• siRNA drug Leqvio (inclisiran) to lower cholesterol March 21, 2022
  No abstract
  Julia M Migliorati
• Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Paclitaxel-Loaded Polymeric Micelles March 4, 2022
  A continuous manufacturing technology based on coaxial turbulent jet in coflow was previously developed to produce paclitaxel-loaded polymeric micelles. Herein, coarse-grained molecular dynamics (CG-MD) simulations were implemented to better understand the effect of the material attributes (i.e., the drug-polymer ratio and the ethanol concentration) and process parameters (i.e., temperature) on the self-assembly process of polymeric […]
  Tibo Duran