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Monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) is considered an important therapeutic target in depression. In order to rapidly screen and identify novel MAO-A inhibitors from natural products, a magnetic bead (MB) based drug discovery tool was developed in this study. MAO-A was first immobilized onto the surface of MBs, and the resulting MAO-A-immobilized MBs (MAO-A-MBs) were then applied to ligand fishing by combining them with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (Q-TOF-MS/MS). The inherent catalytic activity and kinetic parameters of the immobilized-MAO-A were determined by measuring the peak area of the oxidation product. The immobilized MAO-A activity was found to remain over 80% after storage at 4 °C for about 7 days. Seven compounds (tetrahydrocolumbamine, protopine, jatrorrhizine, glaucine, tetrahydropalmatine, palmatine, dehydrocorydaline) with high binding affinity to MAO-A were fished out from the ethyl acetate fraction extract of Corydalis Rhizome. Their MAO-A inhibitory activity was further verified by enzymatic inhibition assay. These results show that the developed approach using MAO-A-MBs combined with HPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS is suitable for the fast screening and identification of MAO-A inhibitors in complex mixtures., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Neuraminidase (NA) is a glycoside hydrolase that has been proposed as a potential therapeutic target for influenza. Thus, the identification of compounds that modulate NA activity could be of great therapeutic importance. The aim of this study is to develop a drug discovery tool for the identification of novel modulators of NA from both compound libraries and natural plant extracts. NA was immobilized onto the surface of magnetic beads and the inherent catalytic activity of NA-functionalized magnetic beads was characterized. Based on the enzymatic activity (hydrolysis ratio), the inhibitory activities of 12 compounds from plant secondary metabolites were screened, and the desired anti-NA activities of flavonoids were certified. Ligand fishing with the immobilized enzyme was optimized using an artificial test mixture consisting of oseltamivir, lycorine and matrine prior to carrying out the proof-of-concept experiment with the crude extract of Flos Lonicerae. The combination of ligand fishing and HPLC-MS/MS identified luteolin-7-O-β-D-glucoside, luteolin, 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid and 3,4-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid as neuraminidase inhibitory ligands in Flos Lonicerae. This is the first report on the use of neuraminidase functionalized magnetic beads for the identification of active ligands from a botanical matrix, and it sets the basis for the de novo identification of NA modulators from complex biological mixtures., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The present work aims to prepare a novel phosphatidylcholine functionalized monolithic stationary phase by in situ co-polymerization of 12-methacryloyl dodecylphosphocholine (MDPC) and ethylene dimethacrylate (EDMA) for immobilized artificial membrane chromatography. Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, pore size distribution analysis, ζ-potential analysis and micro-HPLC were used to evaluate the monolithic structure and physicochemical properties. Satisfactory morphology, high mechanical stability, good permeability and chromatographic performance were obtained on the optimized monolithic columns. A typical reverse-phase retention mechanism was observed over a wide range of organic solvent content (acetonitrile< 80%). The optimized poly(MDPC-co-EDMA) monolith exhibited good selectivity for proteins and basic drugs. Good correlation was observed between the retention on commercial IAM column (IAM.PC.DD2) and poly(MDPC-co-EDMA) monolith. This novel poly(MDPC-co-EDMA) monolith exhibited good potential for studying the drug-membrane interaction., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Prion diseases are characterized by protein aggregation and neurodegeneration. Conversion of the native prion protein (PrP(C)) into the abnormal scrapie PrP isoform (PrP(Sc)), which undergoes aggregation and can eventually form amyloid fibrils, is a critical step leading to the characteristic path morphological hallmark of these diseases. However, the mechanism of conversion remains unclear. It is known that ligands can act as cofactors or inhibitors in the conversion mechanism of PrP(C) into PrP(Sc). Within this context, herein, we describe the immobilization of PrP(C) onto the surface of magnetic beads and the morphological characterization of PrP(C)-coated beads by fluorescence confocal microscopy. PrP(C)-coated magnetic beads were used to identify ligands from a mixture of compounds, which were monitored by UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS. This affinity-based method allowed the isolation of the anti-prion compound quinacrine, an inhibitor of PrP aggregation. The results indicate that this approach can be applied to not only "fish" for anti-prion compounds from complex matrixes, but also to screening for and identify possible cellular cofactors involved in the deflagration of prion diseases., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Drug-induced phospholipidosis (PLD) is characterized by the excessive accumulation of phospholipids, resulting in multilamellar vesicle structure within lysosomes. In the present study, a novel mixed phospholipid functionalized monolithic column was developed for the first time through a facile one-step co-polymerization approach. The phospholipid composition of the monolith can be adjusted quantitatively and accurately to mimic the mixed phospholipid environment of different biomembranes on a solid matrix. The mixed phospholipid functionalized monolith as a promising immobilized artificial membrane technique was used to study drug-phospholipid interaction. Scanning electron microscopy, elemental analysis, FT-IR spectra, ζ-potential analysis and micro-HPLC were carried out to characterize the physicochemical properties and separation performance of the monolith. Mechanism studies revealed that both hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions play an important role in the retention of analytes. The ratio of their contributions to retention can be easily manipulated by adjusting the composition of the mixed phospholipids, in order to better mimic the interaction between drugs and cell membrane. The obtained mixed phospholipid functionalized monolithic columns were applied to the screening of drug-induced PLD potency. Data from 79 drugs on the market demonstrated that the chromatographic hydrophobicity index referring to the mixed phospholipid functionalized monolith at pH 7.4 (CHI IAM7.4) for the selected drugs were highly correlated with the drug-induced PLD potency data obtained from other in vivo or in vitro assays. Moreover, the effect of the acidic phospholipid phosphatidylserine proportion on prediction accuracy was also investigated. The monolith containing 20% phosphatidylserine and 80% phosphatidylcholine exhibited the best prediction ability for the drug-induced PLD potency of the tested compounds. This research has led to the successful development of a novel and facile approach to prepare a mixed phospholipids functionalized monolith, which offers a reliable, cost-effective and high-throughput screening tool for early prediction of the PLD potency of drug candidates., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Protein-based liquid chromatography stationary phases are used in bioaffinity chromatography for studying drug-protein interactions, the determination of binding affinities, competitive and allosteric interactions, as well as for studying protein-protein interactions. This review addresses the development and characterization of protein-based stationary phase, and the application of these phases using frontal and zonal chromatography techniques. The approach will be illustrated using immobilized heat shock protein 90α and the immobilized estrogen related receptor stationary phases. In addition, the review discusses the use of the protein-coated magnetic beads for ligand and protein fishing as well as for the identification of unknown ligands from cellular or botanical extracts., (Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Uniformly-sized, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for (S)-nicotine have been prepared by a precipitation polymerization method using methacrylic acid (MAA) or 2-(trifluoromethyl)acrylic acid (TFMAA) as a functional monomer and divinylbenzene (DVB) as a cross-linker in a mixture of toluene and acetonitrile. The (S)-nicotine-imprinted MAA-co-DVB polymers were monodispersed microspheres of about 4 microm in diameter, while the TFMAA-co-DVB ones were gel-like. Molecular recognition abilities of the former MIPs were evaluated for nicotine and its structurally related compounds in liquid chromatography using a mixture of sodium phosphate buffer and acetonitrile as the eluent. Enantioseparation of nicotine was attained using the (S)-nicotine-imprinted MAA-co-DVB polymers. Furthermore, they could selectively trap nicotine in cigarette smoke extracts.

Immobilized enzyme reactors (IMERs) for on-line enzymatic studies are useful tool to select specific inhibitors and may be used for direct determination of drug-receptor binding interactions and for the rapid on-line screening to identify specific inhibitors. This technique has been shown to increase the stability of enzymes. The enzyme glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) plays an important role in the life cycle of the Trypanosoma cruzi and it has become a key target in the drug discovery program for Chagas' disease. Crystallographic studies have indicated that there are significant inter-species differences in GAPDH activity and sensitivity. For example the active sites of GAPDH in T. cruzi and humans differ by a substitution of ASP(210) (T. cruzi) by Leu(194) in human. Based on this information we initiated the study to develop optimal conditions for the covalent immobilization of the human GAPDH enzyme on a modified capillary support (400 mm x 0.10 mm). The chromatographic separation of NAD from NADH was achieved using a RP-Spherex-diol-OH (10 cm x 0.46 cm, 10 microm, 100 A) column. By using multidimensional HPLC chromatography system it was possible to investigate the activity and kinetic parameters of the GAPDH-IMER. The values obtained for D-GA3P and NAD were K(m)=3.5+/-0.2 mM and 0.75+/-0.04 mM, respectively, and were compared with values obtained with the free enzyme. The activity of the immobilized GAPDH has been preserved for over 120 days.