Paul B Taylor | PubMed Health

PubMed2002

Haploscleridamine, a novel tryptamine-derived alkaloid from a sponge of the order haplosclerida: an inhibitor of cathepsin K.

As part of a search for novel inhibitors of cathepsin K, the MeOH extract of a Micronesian sponge of the order Haplosclerida was shown to be active. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the extract yielded halitoxins, tryptamine, and a novel tryptamine-derived alkaloid, haploscleridamine (1). The tetrahydro-beta-carboline structure of haploscleridamine (1) was elucidated through spectral techniques. Haploscleridamine (1) was found to be an inhibitor of cathepsin K with an IC(50) of 26 microM.

Alkaloids↗

PubMed2002

A new dimeric dihydrochalcone and a new prenylated flavone from the bud covers of Artocarpus altilis: potent inhibitors of cathepsin K.

A MeOH/CH(2)Cl(2) extract of the bud covers of Artocarpus altilis collected in Micronesia showed activity in a cathepsin K inhibition assay. In addition to the three known flavonoids isolated from the bud covers of this species, two new compounds have been identified whose structures were determined on the basis of spectral data. These compounds include a dimeric dihydrochalcone, cycloaltilisin 6 (2), and a new prenylated flavone, cycloaltilisin 7 (3). Novel compounds 2 and 3 have IC(50) values of 98 and 840 nM, respectively, in cathepsin inhibition.

Cathepsin K↗

PubMed2002

A standard operating procedure for assessing liquid handler performance in high-throughput screening.

The thrust of early drug discovery in recent years has been toward the configuration of homogeneous miniaturized assays. This has allowed organizations to contain costs in the face of exponential increases in the number of screening assays that need to be run to remain competitive. Miniaturization brings with it an increasing dependence on instrumentation, which over the past several years has seen the development of nanodispensing capability and sophisticated detection strategies. To maintain confidence in the data generated from miniaturized assays, it is critical to ensure that both compounds and reagents have been delivered as expected to the target wells. The authors have developed a standard operating procedure for liquid-handling quality control that has enabled them to evaluate performance on 2 levels. The first level provides for routine daily testing on existing instrumentation, and the second allows for more rigorous testing of new dispensing technologies. The procedure has shown itself to be useful in identifying both method programming and instrumentation performance shortcomings and has provided a means to harmonizing instrumentation usage by assay development and screening groups. The goal is that this type of procedure be used for facilitating the exchange of liquid handler performance data across the industry.

Combinatorial Chemistry Techniques↗