scholarly journals Microfluidics as a Novel Technique for Tuberculosis: From Di-agnostics to Drug Discovery

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonia Molloy ◽  
James Harrison ◽  
John McGrath ◽  
Zachary Owen ◽  
Clive Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Single Cell Analysis ◽  
In Vitro Models ◽  
Novel Technique ◽  
High Throughput Drug Screening ◽  
Condi Tions ◽  
Healthcare Crisis ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Insight Into

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a global healthcare crisis with an estimated 10 million new cases and 1.4 million deaths per year TB is caused by infection with the major human pathogen Mycobacte-rium tuberculosis, which is difficult to rapidly diagnose and treat. There is an urgent need for new methods of diagnosis, sufficient in vitro models which capably mimic all physiological condi-tions of the infection, and high-throughput drug screening platforms. Microfluidic-based tech-niques provide single-cell analysis which reduces experimental time, the cost of reagents, and have been extremely useful for gaining insight into monitoring microorganisms. This review out-lines the field of microfluidics and discusses the use of this novel technique so far in M. tuberculo-sis diagnostics, research methods, and drug discovery platforms. The practices of microfluidics have promising future applications for diagnosing and treating TB.

scholarly journals Microfluidics as a Novel Technique for Tuberculosis: From Diagnostics to Drug Discovery

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 2330
Author(s):  
Antonia Molloy ◽  
James Harrison ◽  
John S. McGrath ◽  
Zachary Owen ◽  
Clive Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Single Cell Analysis ◽  
In Vitro Models ◽  
Novel Technique ◽  
High Throughput Drug Screening ◽  
Healthcare Crisis ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Gaining Insight

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a global healthcare crisis, with an estimated 5.8 million new cases and 1.5 million deaths in 2020. TB is caused by infection with the major human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is difficult to rapidly diagnose and treat. There is an urgent need for new methods of diagnosis, sufficient in vitro models that capably mimic all physiological conditions of the infection, and high-throughput drug screening platforms. Microfluidic-based techniques provide single-cell analysis which reduces experimental time and the cost of reagents, and have been extremely useful for gaining insight into monitoring microorganisms. This review outlines the field of microfluidics and discusses the use of this novel technique so far in M. tuberculosis diagnostics, research methods, and drug discovery platforms. The practices of microfluidics have promising future applications for diagnosing and treating TB.

scholarly journals Microphysiological Systems: A Pathologist’s Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 358-368
Author(s):  
Radhakrishna Sura ◽  
Terry Van Vleet ◽  
Brian R. Berridge
Keyword(s):  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
In Vitro Models ◽  
In Vitro Methods ◽  
Microphysiological Systems ◽  
Regulatory Acceptance

High-throughput in vitro models lack human-relevant complexity, which undermines their ability to accurately mimic in vivo biologic and pathologic responses. The emergence of microphysiological systems (MPS) presents an opportunity to revolutionize in vitro modeling for both basic biomedical research and applied drug discovery. The MPS platform has been an area of interdisciplinary collaboration to develop new, predictive, and reliable in vitro methods for regulatory acceptance. The current MPS models have been developed to recapitulate an organ or tissue on a smaller scale. However, the complexity of these models (ie, including all cell types present in the in vivo tissue) with appropriate structural, functional, and biochemical attributes are often not fully characterized. Here, we provide an overview of the capabilities and limitations of the microfluidic MPS model (aka organs-on-chips) within the scope of drug development. We recommend the engagement of pathologists early in the MPS design, characterization, and validation phases, because this will enable development of more robust and comprehensive MPS models that can accurately replicate normal biology and pathophysiology and hence be more predictive of human responses.

Recommended Guidelines for Developing, Qualifying, and Implementing Complex In Vitro Models (CIVMs) for Drug Discovery

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (10) ◽  
pp. 1174-1190
Author(s):  
Jason E. Ekert ◽  
Julianna Deakyne ◽  
Philippa Pribul-Allen ◽  
Rebecca Terry ◽  
Christopher Schofield ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
In Vitro Models ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Lead Discovery ◽  
Cellular Models ◽  
Discovery Phase ◽  
Early Drug

The pharmaceutical industry is continuing to face high research and development (R&D) costs and low overall success rates of clinical compounds during drug development. There is an increasing demand for development and validation of healthy or disease-relevant and physiological human cellular models that can be implemented in early-stage discovery, thereby shifting attrition of future therapeutics to a point in discovery at which the costs are significantly lower. There needs to be a paradigm shift in the early drug discovery phase (which is lengthy and costly), away from simplistic cellular models that show an inability to effectively and efficiently reproduce healthy or human disease-relevant states to steer target and compound selection for safety, pharmacology, and efficacy questions. This perspective article covers the various stages of early drug discovery from target identification (ID) and validation to the hit/lead discovery phase, lead optimization, and preclinical safety. We outline key aspects that should be considered when developing, qualifying, and implementing complex in vitro models (CIVMs) during these phases, because criteria such as cell types (e.g., cell lines, primary cells, stem cells, and tissue), platform (e.g., spheroids, scaffolds or hydrogels, organoids, microphysiological systems, and bioprinting), throughput, automation, and single and multiplexing endpoints will vary. The article emphasizes the need to adequately qualify these CIVMs such that they are suitable for various applications (e.g., context of use) of drug discovery and translational research. The article ends looking to the future, in which there is an increase in combining computational modeling, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), and CIVMs.

scholarly journals Dynamic 3D On-Chip BBB Model Design, Development, and Applications in Neurological Diseases

Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 3183
Author(s):  
Xingchi Chen ◽  
Chang Liu ◽  
Laureana Muok ◽  
Changchun Zeng ◽  
Yan Li
Keyword(s):  
Targeted Delivery ◽  
Neurological Diseases ◽  
In Vitro Models ◽  
Normal Function ◽  
Human Stem Cells ◽  
Design Development ◽  
High Throughput Drug Screening ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
On Chip

The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is a vital structure for maintaining homeostasis between the blood and the brain in the central nervous system (CNS). Biomolecule exchange, ion balance, nutrition delivery, and toxic molecule prevention rely on the normal function of the BBB. The dysfunction and the dysregulation of the BBB leads to the progression of neurological disorders and neurodegeneration. Therefore, in vitro BBB models can facilitate the investigation for proper therapies. As the demand increases, it is urgent to develop a more efficient and more physiologically relevant BBB model. In this review, the development of the microfluidics platform for the applications in neuroscience is summarized. This article focuses on the characterizations of in vitro BBB models derived from human stem cells and discusses the development of various types of in vitro models. The microfluidics-based system and BBB-on-chip models should provide a better platform for high-throughput drug-screening and targeted delivery.

scholarly journals Cross-species comparisons and in vitro models to study tempo in development and homeostasis

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Rayon ◽  
James Briscoe
Keyword(s):  
Biological Systems ◽  
In Vitro Models ◽  
Autonomous Control ◽  
Tissue Transplantation ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Species Comparisons ◽  
Insight Into

Time is inherent to biological processes. It determines the order of events and the speed at which they take place. However, we still need to refine approaches to measure the course of time in biological systems and understand what controls the pace of development. Here, we argue that the comparison of biological processes across species provides molecular insight into the timekeeping mechanisms in biology. We discuss recent findings and the open questions in the field and highlight the use of in vitro systems as tools to investigate cell-autonomous control as well as the coordination of temporal mechanisms within tissues. Further, we discuss the relevance of studying tempo for tissue transplantation, homeostasis and lifespan.

scholarly journals Boosting Drug Discovery for Parkinson’s: Enhancement of the Delivery of a Monoamine Oxidase-B Inhibitor by Brain-Targeted PEGylated Polycaprolactone-Based Nanoparticles

Pharmaceutics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Pinto ◽  
Carlos Fernandes ◽  
Eva Martins ◽  
Renata Silva ◽  
Sofia Benfeito ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Monoamine Oxidase ◽  
Polymeric Nanoparticles ◽  
Symptomatic Relief ◽  
In Vitro Models ◽  
Monoamine Oxidase B ◽  
Mao B ◽  
Drug Candidates ◽  
Poly Caprolactone

The current pharmacological treatments for Parkinson’s disease only offer symptomatic relief to the patients and are based on the administration of levodopa and catechol-O-methyltransferase or monoamine oxidase-B inhibitors (IMAO-B). Since the majority of drug candidates fail in pre- and clinical trials, due largely to bioavailability pitfalls, the use of polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) as drug delivery systems has been reported as an interesting tool to increase the stealth capacity of drugs or help drug candidates to surpass biological barriers, among other benefits. Thus, a novel potent, selective, and reversible IMAO-B (chromone C27, IC50 = 670 ± 130 pM) was encapsulated in poly(caprolactone) (PCL) NPs by a nanoprecipitation process. The resulting C27-loaded PEGylated PCL NPs (~213 nm) showed high stability and no cytotoxic effects in neuronal (SH-SY5Y), epithelial (Caco-2), and endothelial (hCMEC/D3) cells. An accumulation of PEGylated PCL NPs in the cytoplasm of SH-SY5Y and hCMEC/D3 cells was also observed, and their permeation across Caco-2 and hCMEC/D3 cell monolayers, used as in vitro models of the human intestine and blood-brain barrier, respectively, was demonstrated. PEGylated PCL NPs delivered C27 at concentrations higher than the MAO-B IC50 value, which provides evidence of their relevance to solving the drug discovery pitfalls.

Imaging Microphysiological Systems: A Review

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Peel ◽  
Mark Jackman
Keyword(s):  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
In Vitro Models ◽  
Microscopy Imaging ◽  
In Vivo Models ◽  
Microphysiological Systems

Microphysiological Systems (MPS), often referred to as 'organ-on-chips' are microfluidic-based in vitro models that aim to recapitulate the dynamic chemical and mechanical microenvironment of living organs. MPS promise to bridge the gap between in vitro and in vivo models, and ultimately improve the translation from pre-clinical animal studies to clinical trials. However, despite the explosion of interest in recent years, and the obvious rewards for such models which could improve R&D efficiency and reduce drug attrition in the clinic, the pharmaceutical industry has been slow to fully adopt this technology. The ability to extract robust, quantitative information from MPS at scale is a key requirement if these models are to impact drug discovery and the subsequent drug development process. Microscopy imaging remains a core technology that enables the capture of information at the single cell level and with subcellular resolution. Furthermore, such imaging techniques can be automated, increasing throughput, enabling compound screening. In this review we discuss a range of imaging techniques that have been applied to MPS of varying focus, such as organoids and organ-chip-type models. We outline the opportunities these technologies can bring in terms of understanding mechanistic biology, but also how they could be used in higher-throughput screens, widening the scope of their impact in drug discovery. We discuss the associated challenges of imaging these complex models and the steps required to enable full exploitation. Finally, we discuss the requirements for MPS, if they are to be applied at a scale necessary to support drug discovery projects.

ADMET Profiling in Drug Discovery and Development: Perspectives of in silico, in vitro and integrated approaches

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nour El-Huda Daoud ◽  
Pobitra Borah ◽  
Pran Kishore Deb ◽  
Katharigatta N. Venugopala ◽  
Wafa Hourani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Discovery ◽  
In Silico ◽  
Predictive Power ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
In Vitro Models ◽  
Prediction Ability ◽  
Drug Discovery And Development ◽  
In Silico Admet

: In the drug discovery setting, undesirable ADMET properties of a pharmacophore with good predictive power obtained after a tedious drug discovery and development process may lead to late-stage attrition. The early-stage ADMET profiling has introduced a new dimension to leading development. Although several high-throughput in vitro models are available for ADMET profiling, however, the in silico methods are gaining more importance because of their economic and faster prediction ability without the requirements of tedious and expensive laboratory resources. Nonetheless, in silico ADMET tools alone are not accurate and, therefore, ideally adopted along with in vitro and or in vivo methods in order to enhance predictability power. This review summarizes the significance and challenges associated with the application of in silico tools as well as the possible scope of in vitro models for integration to improve the ADMET predictability power of these tools.

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