Elena Farcas

Optimization of the liquid chromatography enantioseparation of chiral acidic compounds using cellulose tris(3-chloro-4-methylphenylcarbamate) as chiral selector and polar organic mobile phases.

The LC enantioseparation of chiral acidic and zwitterionic drugs selected as model compounds was optimized using chlorine containing cellulose based chiral stationary phases and polar organic mobile phases. The main solvent of the mobile phase was acetonitrile, the temperature was settled at 25°C and a stationary phase with cellulose tris(3-chloro-4-methylphenylcarbamate) as chiral selector (3-Cl-4-Me-PC) was selected. In the screening step, the nature and concentration of both acidic and basic additives were found to have a significant effect on retention, selectivity and resolution. Acetic acid (AcA) was selected as acidic additive for the optimization step since it could lead to the enantioseparation of more acidic compounds than trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and formic acid (FA), while among the three basic additives tested, diethylamine (DEA) most often gave better results with respect to enantioresolution and selectivity than butylamine (BuA) and triethylamine (TEA). The optimization was performed using a central composite face-centered design with two factors, namely the concentration of acetic acid (0.1-0.3%) and the concentration of DEA (0.01-0.1%) in the mobile phase. On the basis of the results obtained in the screening and optimization steps, a strategy for the rapid development of methods for the enantioseparation of acidic or neutral compounds was proposed.

Determination of inhibitory potency of argatroban toward thrombin by electrophoretically mediated microanalysis

Developing an EMMA method for enzymatic assay remains a challenge, particularly using UV detection. Indeed, it is necessary to optimize the separation conditions while allowing the enzymatic reaction to occur within the capillary respecting kinetic constraints and achieving enough sensitivity. In this work, such EMMA methodology was set up to evaluate the inhibitory potency of drugs toward thrombin, a serine protease implicated in the coagulation cascade. To achieve our goal, the separation buffer, the injection sequence, the internal standard and the chromogenic substrate were investigated. The newly developed system was then assessed determining the kinetic Km constant for the selected substrate and compared with the results obtained with a continuous spectrophotometer cell assay. Secondly, the Ki inhibitory constant of the thrombin inhibitor argatroban was determined and found in agreement with the published value.

In-capillary derivatization with (-)-1-(9-fluorenyl)ethyl chloroformate as chiral labeling agent for the electrophoretic separation of amino acids.

An original micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) method using in-capillary derivatization with a chiral labeling reagent was developed for the separation of amino acid (AA) derivatives. The potential of (-)-1-(9-fluorenyl)-ethyl chloroformate (FLEC) as in-capillary derivatization agent is described for the first time. Several parameters for in-capillary derivatization and subsequent MEKC separation were systematically investigated using experimental designs. Firstly experimental conditions for in-capillary derivatization were optimized using face-centered central composite design (FCCD). Mixing voltage and time as well as concentration of the labeling solution were investigated. Efficient labeling was achieved by sequential injection of AAs and FLEC labeling solution followed by the application of a voltage of 0.2 kV for 570 s. The background electrolyte (BGE) composition was then optimized in order to achieve selectivity. A FCCD was performed with two factors, namely the sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) concentration and the percentage of propan-2-ol (IPA). The separation of 12 pairs of derivatized AA (FLEC-AA) diastereomers was achieved with resolution values comprised between 3 and 20. Furthermore, an efficient derivatization and separation of 29 FLEC-AA derivatives were achieved in a single run using a buffer made up of 40 mM sodium tetraborate, 21 mM SDS and 8.5% IPA. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of spiked artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) sample.

Capillary electrophoresis in the context of drug discovery

HIGHLIGHTSRecent CE developments focused on drug discovery.CE as an attractive technique for bioassays and drug screening.Drug‐plasma protein interaction and Drug metabolism studies by CE. ABSTRACT Capillary Electrophoresis is a very efficient and resolutive separation technique used for many years in the analytical field. Despite all its assets, CE remains poorly used in drug discovery. This can be explained by the relatively low number of experienced CE practitioners, the maturity of HPLC in the pharmaceutical industry and some intrinsic limitations of the technique. The objective of this review is to focus our attention on recent developments of this technique in three different drug discovery areas: bioassays, drug‐plasma interactions and drug metabolism studies. These developments were based on two important abilities of CE: the capacity to measure non‐covalent interactions in solution and the ability to use a portion of the capillary as a reactor while the rest of the capillary is used for the separation of the product of the reaction.

Partial filling affinity capillary electrophoresis as a useful tool for fragment-based drug discovery: A proof of concept on thrombin.

With the emergence of more challenging targets, a relatively new approach, fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD), proved its efficacy and gained increasing importance in the pharmaceutical industry. FBDD identifies low molecular-weight (MW) ligands (fragments) that bind to biologically important macromolecules, then a structure-guided fragment growing or merging approach is performed, contributing to the quality of the lead. However, to select the appropriate fragment to be evolved, sensitive analytical screening methods must be used to measure the affinity in the μM or even mM range. In this particular context, we developed a robust and selective partial filling affinity CE (ACE) method for the direct binding screening of a small fragment library in order to identify new thrombin inhibitors. To demonstrate the accuracy of our assay, the complex dissociation constants of three known thrombin inhibitors, namely benzamidine, p-aminobenzamidine and nafamostat were determined and found to be in good concordance with the previously reported values. Finally, the screening of a small library was performed and demonstrated the high discriminatory power of our method towards weak binders compared to classical spectrophotometric activity assay, proving the interest of our method in the context of FBDD.

Fully automated electrophoretically mediated microanalysis for CYP1A1 activity monitoring optimized by multivariate approach

In this study, a fully automated incapillary system was developed to monitor the activity of CYP1A1 (Cytochrome P450, family 1, subfamily A, polypeptide 1) in physiological conditions. Ethoxycoumarin, the selected substrate, undergoes an inline bioreaction in the presence of CYP1A1 supersomes and Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate reduced as cofactor, giving rise to hydroxycoumarin, the product that was assayed. The optimization of the experimental conditions was supported by the application of a design of experiment, providing a better understanding of electrophoretic mixing parameters that influence the metabolic reactions. The results obtained in optimal conditions were compared not only to those achieved after offline metabolization but also with liver microsomes. Finally, inhibition studies were conducted showing an important decrease of hydroxycoumarin formation using apigenin as CYP1A1 potent inhibitor. This study demonstrates the usefulness of our inline system for the fully automated in vitro metabolism studies and the screening of new CYP1A1 inhibitors.

Development and validation of a liquid chromatographic method for the stability study of a pharmaceutical formulation containing voriconazole using cellulose tris(4-chloro-3-methylphenylcarbamate) as chiral selector and polar organic mobile phases.

The ophthalmic solution of voriconazole, i.e. (2R,3S)-2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-3-(5-fluoropyrimidin-4-yl)-1-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)butan-2-ol, made from an injection formulation which also contains sulfobutylether-β-cyclodextrin sodium salt as an excipient (Vfend), is used for the treatment of fungal keratitis. A liquid chromatographic (LC) method using polar organic mobile phase and cellulose tris(4-chloro-3-methylphenylcarbamate) coated on silica as chiral stationary phase was successfully developed to evaluate the chiral stability of the ophthalmic solution. The percentage of methanol (MeOH) in the mobile phase containing acetonitrile (ACN) as the main solvent significantly influenced the retention and resolution of voriconazole and its enantiomer ((2S,3R)-2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-3-(5-fluoropyrimidin-4-yl)-1-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)butan-2-ol). The optimized mobile phase consisted of ACN/MeOH/diethylamine/trifluoroacetic acid (80/20/0.1/0.1; v/v/v/v). The method was found to be selective not only regarding the enantiomer of voriconazole but also regarding the specified impurities described in the monograph from the European Pharmacopoeia. The LC method was then fully validated applying the strategy based on total measurement error and accuracy profiles. Under the selected conditions, the determination of 0.1% of voriconazole enantiomer could be performed. Finally, a stability study of the ophthalmic solution was conducted using the validated LC method.

Capillary electrophoresis method to determine siRNA complexation with cationic liposomes

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) inducing gene silencing has great potential to treat many human diseases. To ensure effective siRNA delivery, it must be complexed with an appropriate vector, generally nanoparticles. The nanoparticulate complex requires an optimal physiochemical characterization and the complexation efficiency has to be precisely determined. The methods usually used to measure complexation in gel electrophoresis and RiboGreen® fluorescence‐based assay. However, those approaches are not automated and present some drawbacks such as the low throughput and the use of carcinogenic reagents. The aim of this study is to develop a new simple and fast method to accurately quantify the complexation efficiency. In this study, capillary electrophoresis (CE) was used to determine the siRNA complexation with cationic liposomes. The short‐end injection mode applied enabled siRNA detection in less than 5 min. Moreover, the CE technique offers many advantages compared with the other classical methods. It is automated, does not require sample preparation and expensive reagents. Moreover, no mutagenic risk is associated with the CE approach since no carcinogenic product is used. Finally, this methodology can also be extended for the characterization of other types of nanoparticles encapsulating siRNA, such as cationic polymeric nanoparticles.

Transverse diffusion of laminar flow profiles as a generic capillary electrophoresis method for in-line nanoreactor mixing: Application to the investigation of antithrombotic activity

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) instrument was used for the generation of a robust and reliable nanoreactor for enzymatic assays in the context of antithrombotic drug screening. The activity of the screened molecules was monitored in a quick and fully automated fashion using only few nanoliters of reactants. To achieve this goal, the targeted enzyme (thrombin) and the chromogenic substrate with or without the screened inhibitor were injected as separate plugs. The mixing of the reactants was then realized using electrophoretically mediated microanalysis (EMMA) or fast transverse diffusion of laminar flow profiles (TDLFP) procedure. The latest provided better mixing performance and was chosen to investigate the inhibitory potency of a fragment library. This very straightforward and fast CE activity assay showed results in good accordance with a previously developed CE affinity assay that confirms the potential of CE at the early stages of drug discovery, providing not only an efficient nanoscale bioreactor but also a selective and integrated separation device.

Capillary electrophoretic mobility shift displacement assay for the assessment of weak drug-protein interactions

Only few reports describe the use of capillary electrophoresis in the context of Fragment Based Drug Discovery (FBDD). In this paper, we will present a generic, fully automated, microscale electrophoretic mobility shift displacement assay that can be used in FBDD for primary screening of weak biomolecular interactions between fragments and target protein. The accuracy and reliability of the present method was demonstrated by measuring the IC50 value of two known fragments inhibiting thrombin, namely benzamidine and p-aminobenzamidine and a relatively weak inhibitor, nafamostat. Furthermore, we built a small chemical library to evaluate the performance and the advantage of our newly developed screening-bioassay compared to the direct affinity capillary electrophoresis-binding assay. The results demonstrate the high discriminatory power of the method and above all its ability to screen neutral, negatively or positively charged molecules, as well as molecules that have no or low UV-VIS absorbance, greatly expanding the scope of the assay. Finally, we proved that this approach is able to discriminate between reversible and irreversible binders. Altogether, this work demonstrates that capillary electrophoresis could constitute an important added value in the arsenal used to screen fragments in drug discovery.