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Graph showing the relationship of dPEG® linker length in relation to potency and specificity in extracellular drug conjugates.

Extracellular Drug Conjugates Therapeutically Exploit Protein Proximity

Pharmaceutical company Centrose, founded by James R. Prudent, Ph.D., developed a new class of antibody drug conjugates called extracellular drug conjugates. Nature Publishing Group published the research as a open access paper in its Molecular Therapy journal.1 Apart from the interesting and important development of a new class of antibody drug conjugate (ADC), the research also showed how important linker length 2 is to the potency and specificity of the EDC.

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Amphotericin B+dPEG®: Water-Soluble, Less Toxic, Potent

 

About Amphotericin B

Structure of Amphotericin B. Used with permission from J. Med. Chem. (2016), 59, 1197-1206, copyright 2016, American Chemical Society.
Figure 1: Structure of Amphotericin B. Image used by permission from J. Med. Chem. (2016), 59, 1197-1206, copyright 2016, American Chemical Society.

Amphotericin B (Figure 1) is the “gold standard” treatment for systemic fungal infections and diseases caused by the parasite Leishmania. Sometimes it is the only effective treatment because drug resistance renders other treatments useless. Systemic fungal infections are an increasingly serious, widespread problem in medicine. Patients with weakened or suppressed immune systems (caused by HIV/AIDS, diabetes, organ transplants, some cancer treatments) are especially at risk. An estimated 1.5-2 million people die each year from systemic fungal infections (1). Despite its “gold standard” label, Amphotericin B has several well-known difficulties.

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Chemical structure of PN10283, Fmoc-N-amido-dPEG®12-acid

SNARE-Mediated Membrane Fusion and dPEG®, Part 1

Part 1: A Reduced SNARE Model for Membrane Fusion

The cells of all living things depend on membrane fusion for intra- and intercellular transport of molecules. In both cellular membrane fusion and intracellular vesicle fusion, the fusion process is controlled and guided by SNARE proteins. SNARE is an acronym for Soluble NSF Attachment Protein Receptor. NSF stands for N-ethylmaleimide-Sensitive Factor. Reviews of SNARE protein structure and function can be found here, here, here, and here. An example of a SNARE protein is synaptobrevin. Click part 2 and part 3 to read the other pieces in this series.

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Chart showing the analgesic activities of various galanin analogues used in a formalin pain assay.

PEGylated Galanin Shows Enhanced Analgesic Effects in PNS

Galanin is a naturally occurring neuropeptide in the human body that facilitates communication between cells to balance a myriad of physiological functions. Neuropeptides are biosynthesized molecules used by the human body for everything from neurogenesis to cell communication.  Galanin’s main receptor sites reside in the central nervous system (CNS), and it normally crosses the blood brain barrier; however, the peripheral nervous system (PNS) also reacts directly to galanin and its receptors in sites of pain mediation.1 

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