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CXCL17 is an allosteric inhibitor of CXCR4 through a mechanism of action involving glycosaminoglycans (2024)
Journal Article
White, C. W., Platt, S., Kilpatrick, L. E., Dale, N., Abhayawardana, R. S., Dekkers, S., …Hill, S. J. (2024). CXCL17 is an allosteric inhibitor of CXCR4 through a mechanism of action involving glycosaminoglycans. Science Signaling, 17(828), Article abl3758. https://doi.org/10.1126/scisignal.abl3758

CXCL17 is a chemokine principally expressed by mucosal tissues, where it facilitates chemotaxis of monocytes, dendritic cells, and macrophages and has antimicrobial properties. CXCL17 is also implicated in the pathology of inflammatory disorders and... Read More about CXCL17 is an allosteric inhibitor of CXCR4 through a mechanism of action involving glycosaminoglycans.

A time-resolved Förster resonance energy transfer assay to investigate drug and inhibitor binding to ABCG2 (2024)
Journal Article
Mitchell-White, J. I., Briggs, D. A., Mistry, S. J., Mbiwan, H. A., Kellam, B., Holliday, N. D., …Kerr, I. D. (2024). A time-resolved Förster resonance energy transfer assay to investigate drug and inhibitor binding to ABCG2. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 753, Article 109915. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abb.2024.109915

The human ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter, ABCG2, is responsible for multidrug resistance in some tumours. Detailed knowledge of its activity is crucial for understanding drug transport and resistance in cancer, and has implications for wider... Read More about A time-resolved Förster resonance energy transfer assay to investigate drug and inhibitor binding to ABCG2.

Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of New 1H-Benzo[d]imidazole Based PqsR Inhibitors as Adjuvant Therapy for Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infections (2024)
Journal Article
Soukarieh, F., Mashabi, A., Richardson, W., Oton, E. V., Romero, M., Dubern, J., …Cámara, M. (2024). Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of New 1H-Benzo[d]imidazole Based PqsR Inhibitors as Adjuvant Therapy for Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infections. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 67(2), 1008-1023. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c00973

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the top priority pathogens that requires immediate attention according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Due to the alarming shortage of novel antimicrobials, targeting quorum sensing (QS), a bacterial cell to c... Read More about Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of New 1H-Benzo[d]imidazole Based PqsR Inhibitors as Adjuvant Therapy for Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infections.

Small Molecule Fluorescent Ligands for the Atypical Chemokine Receptor 3 (ACKR3) (2023)
Journal Article
Dekkers, S., Comez, D., Karsai, N., Arimont-Segura, M., Canals, M., Caspar, B., …Stocks, M. J. (2023). Small Molecule Fluorescent Ligands for the Atypical Chemokine Receptor 3 (ACKR3). ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 15(1), 143–148. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmedchemlett.3c00469

The atypical chemokine receptor 3 (ACKR3) is a receptor that induces cancer progression and metastasis in multiple cell types. Therefore, new chemical tools are required to study the role of ACKR3 in cancer and other diseases. In this study, fluoresc... Read More about Small Molecule Fluorescent Ligands for the Atypical Chemokine Receptor 3 (ACKR3).

A time-resolved Förster resonance energy transfer assay to investigate inhibitor binding to ABCG2 (2023)
Working Paper
Mitchell-White, J. I., Briggs, D. A., Mistry, S. J., Mbiwan, H. A., Kellam, B., Holliday, N. D., …Kerr, I. D. A time-resolved Förster resonance energy transfer assay to investigate inhibitor binding to ABCG2

The human ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter, ABCG2 is responsible for multidrug resistance in some tumours. Detailed knowledge of its activity is crucial for understanding drug transport and resistance in cancer, and has implications for wider p... Read More about A time-resolved Förster resonance energy transfer assay to investigate inhibitor binding to ABCG2.

Small-Molecule Fluorescent Ligands for the CXCR4 Chemokine Receptor (2023)
Journal Article
Dekkers, S., Caspar, B., Goulding, J., Kindon, N. D., Kilpatrick, L. E., Stoddart, L. A., …Stocks, M. J. (2023). Small-Molecule Fluorescent Ligands for the CXCR4 Chemokine Receptor. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 66(7), 5208-5222. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c00151

The C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4, or CXCR4, is a chemokine receptor found to promote cancer progression and metastasis of various cancer cell types. To investigate the pharmacology of this receptor, and to further elucidate its role in cancer, nov... Read More about Small-Molecule Fluorescent Ligands for the CXCR4 Chemokine Receptor.

Characterizing the binding of glycoprotein VI with nanobody 35 reveals a novel monomeric structure of glycoprotein VI where the conformation of D1+D2 is independent of dimerization (2022)
Journal Article
Damaskinaki, F. N., Jooss, N. J., Martin, E. M., Clark, J. C., Thomas, M. R., Poulter, N. S., …Slater, A. (2023). Characterizing the binding of glycoprotein VI with nanobody 35 reveals a novel monomeric structure of glycoprotein VI where the conformation of D1+D2 is independent of dimerization. Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 21(2), 317-328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtha.2022.11.002

Background: The platelet–signaling receptor glycoprotein VI (GPVI) is a promising antithrombotic target. We have previously raised a series of high-affinity nanobodies (Nbs) against GPVI and identified Nb2, Nb21, and Nb35 as potent GPVI inhibitors. T... Read More about Characterizing the binding of glycoprotein VI with nanobody 35 reveals a novel monomeric structure of glycoprotein VI where the conformation of D1+D2 is independent of dimerization.

Optimization of Peptide Linker-Based Fluorescent Ligands for the Histamine H1 Receptor (2022)
Journal Article
Kok, Z. Y., Stoddart, L. A., Mistry, S. J., Mocking, T. A., Vischer, H. F., Leurs, R., …Kellam, B. (2022). Optimization of Peptide Linker-Based Fluorescent Ligands for the Histamine H1 Receptor. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 65(12), 8258–8288. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.2c00125

The histamine H1 receptor (H1R) has recently been implicated in mediating cell proliferation and cancer progression, therefore high affinity H1R-selective fluorescent ligands are desirable tools for further investigation of this behaviour in vitro an... Read More about Optimization of Peptide Linker-Based Fluorescent Ligands for the Histamine H1 Receptor.

Passerini chemistries for synthesis of polymer pro-drug and polymersome drug delivery nanoparticles (2022)
Journal Article
Travanut, A., Monteiro, P. F., Smith, S., Howdle, S. M., Grabowska, A. M., Kellam, B., …Alexander, C. (2022). Passerini chemistries for synthesis of polymer pro-drug and polymersome drug delivery nanoparticles. Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 10, 3895-3905. https://doi.org/10.1039/d2tb00045h

New materials chemistries are urgently needed to overcome the limitations of existing biomedical materials in terms of preparation, functionality and versatility, and also in regards to their compatibility with biological environments. Here, we show... Read More about Passerini chemistries for synthesis of polymer pro-drug and polymersome drug delivery nanoparticles.

Synthesis, characterisation and evaluation of hyperbranched N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamides for transport and delivery in pancreatic cell lines in vitro and in vivo (2022)
Journal Article
Anane-Adjei, A. B., Fletcher, N. L., Cavanagh, R. J., Houston, Z. H., Crawford, T., Pearce, A. K., …Alexander, C. (2022). Synthesis, characterisation and evaluation of hyperbranched N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamides for transport and delivery in pancreatic cell lines in vitro and in vivo. Biomaterials Science, 10(9), 2328-2344. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1bm01548f

Hyperbranched polymers have many promising features for drug delivery, owing to their ease of synthesis, multiple functional group content, and potential for high drug loading with retention of solubility. Here we prepared hyperbranched N-(2-hydroxyp... Read More about Synthesis, characterisation and evaluation of hyperbranched N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamides for transport and delivery in pancreatic cell lines in vitro and in vivo.

Design and Evaluation of New Quinazolin-4(3 H)-one Derived PqsR Antagonists as Quorum Sensing Quenchers in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2021)
Journal Article
Soukarieh, F., Mashabi, A., Richardson, W., Oton, E. V., Romero, M., Roberston, S. N., …Cámara, M. (2021). Design and Evaluation of New Quinazolin-4(3 H)-one Derived PqsR Antagonists as Quorum Sensing Quenchers in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. ACS Infectious Diseases, 7(9), 2666-2685. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsinfecdis.1c00175

P. aeruginosa (PA) continues to pose a threat to global public health due to its high levels of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The ongoing AMR crisis has led to an alarming shortage of effective treatments for resistant microbes, and hence there is... Read More about Design and Evaluation of New Quinazolin-4(3 H)-one Derived PqsR Antagonists as Quorum Sensing Quenchers in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Subtype selective fluorescent ligands based on ICI 118,551 to study the human β2‐adrenoceptor in CRISPR/Cas9 genome‐edited HEK293T cells at low expression levels (2021)
Journal Article
Kellam, B., White, C. W., Goulding, J., Mistry, S. J., Soave, M., Woolard, J., …Hill, S. J. (2021). Subtype selective fluorescent ligands based on ICI 118,551 to study the human β2‐adrenoceptor in CRISPR/Cas9 genome‐edited HEK293T cells at low expression levels. Pharmacology Research and Perspectives, 9(3), Article e00779. https://doi.org/10.1002/prp2.779

Fluorescent ligand technologies have proved to be powerful tools to improve our understanding of ligand-receptor interactions. Here we have characterized a small focused library of nine fluorescent ligands based on the highly selective β2-adrenocepto... Read More about Subtype selective fluorescent ligands based on ICI 118,551 to study the human β2‐adrenoceptor in CRISPR/Cas9 genome‐edited HEK293T cells at low expression levels.

Development and Application of Subtype-Selective Fluorescent Antagonists for the Study of the Human Adenosine A1 Receptor in Living Cells (2021)
Journal Article
Comeo, E., Trinh, P., Nguyen, A. T., Nowell, C. J., Kindon, N. D., Soave, M., …Scammells, P. J. (2021). Development and Application of Subtype-Selective Fluorescent Antagonists for the Study of the Human Adenosine A1 Receptor in Living Cells. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 64(10), 6670-6695. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c02067

The adenosine A1 receptor (A1AR) is a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) that provides important therapeutic opportunities for a number of conditions including congestive heart failure, tachycardia, and neuropathic pain. The development of A1AR-select... Read More about Development and Application of Subtype-Selective Fluorescent Antagonists for the Study of the Human Adenosine A1 Receptor in Living Cells.

Efficient G protein coupling is not required for agonist?mediated internalization and membrane reorganization of the adenosine A 3 receptor (2021)
Journal Article
Stoddart, L. A., Kilpatrick, L. E., Corriden, R., Kellam, B., Briddon, S. J., & Hill, S. J. (2021). Efficient G protein coupling is not required for agonist?mediated internalization and membrane reorganization of the adenosine A 3 receptor. FASEB Journal, 35(4), Article e21211. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.202001729rr

Organization of G protein-coupled receptors at the plasma membrane has been the focus of much recent attention. Advanced microscopy techniques have shown that these receptors can be localized to discrete microdomains and reorganization upon ligand ac... Read More about Efficient G protein coupling is not required for agonist?mediated internalization and membrane reorganization of the adenosine A 3 receptor.

Ligand-directed covalent labelling of a GPCR with a fluorescent tag in live cells (2020)
Journal Article
Stoddart, L. A., Kindon, N. D., Otun, O., Harwood, C. R., Patera, F., Veprintsev, D. B., …Kellam, B. (2020). Ligand-directed covalent labelling of a GPCR with a fluorescent tag in live cells. Communications Biology, 3(1), Article 722. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-01451-w

© 2020, The Author(s). To study the localisation of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) in their native cellular environment requires their visualisation through fluorescent labelling. To overcome the requirement for genetic modification of the recept... Read More about Ligand-directed covalent labelling of a GPCR with a fluorescent tag in live cells.

Using Esterase Selectivity to Determine the in Vivo Duration of Systemic Availability and Abolish Systemic Side Effects of Topical ?-Blockers (2020)
Journal Article
Baker, J. G., Fromont, C., Bruder, M., Thompson, K. S., Kellam, B., Hill, S. J., …Fischer, P. M. (2020). Using Esterase Selectivity to Determine the in Vivo Duration of Systemic Availability and Abolish Systemic Side Effects of Topical β-Blockers. ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science, 3(4), 737-748. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsptsci.0c00051

© 2020 American Chemical Society. For disorders of the skin, eyes, ears, and respiratory tract, topical drugs, delivered directly to the target organ, are a therapeutic option. Compared with systemic oral therapy, the benefits of topical treatments i... Read More about Using Esterase Selectivity to Determine the in Vivo Duration of Systemic Availability and Abolish Systemic Side Effects of Topical ?-Blockers.

Monitoring Allosteric Interactions with CXCR4 Using NanoBiT Conjugated Nanobodies (2020)
Journal Article
Soave, M., Heukers, R., Kellam, B., Woolard, J., Smit, M. J., Briddon, S. J., & Hill, S. J. (2020). Monitoring Allosteric Interactions with CXCR4 Using NanoBiT Conjugated Nanobodies. Cell Chemical Biology, 27, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chembiol.2020.06.006

© 2020 The Authors Camelid single-domain antibody fragments (nanobodies) offer the specificity of an antibody in a single 15-kDa immunoglobulin domain. Their small size allows for easy genetic manipulation of the nanobody sequence to incorporate prot... Read More about Monitoring Allosteric Interactions with CXCR4 Using NanoBiT Conjugated Nanobodies.

Identification of a novel toxicophore in anti-cancer chemotherapeutics that targets mitochondrial respiratory complex I (2020)
Journal Article
Stephenson, Z. A., Harvey, R. F., Pryde, K. R., Mistry, S., Hardy, R. E., Serreli, R., …Willis, A. E. (2020). Identification of a novel toxicophore in anti-cancer chemotherapeutics that targets mitochondrial respiratory complex I. eLife, 9, Article e55845. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.55845

Disruption of mitochondrial function selectively targets tumour cells that are dependent on oxidative phosphorylation. However, due to their high energy demands, cardiac cells are disproportionately targeted by mitochondrial toxins resulting in a los... Read More about Identification of a novel toxicophore in anti-cancer chemotherapeutics that targets mitochondrial respiratory complex I.

Low intrinsic efficacy for G protein activation can explain the improved side-effect profile of new opioid agonists (2020)
Journal Article
Gillis, A., Gondin, A. B., Kliewer, A., Sanchez, J., Lim, H. D., Alamein, C., …Canals, M. (2020). Low intrinsic efficacy for G protein activation can explain the improved side-effect profile of new opioid agonists. Science Signaling, 13(625), Article eaaz3140. https://doi.org/10.1126/scisignal.aaz3140

Biased agonism at G protein–coupled receptors describes the phenomenon whereby some drugs can activate some downstream signaling activities to the relative exclusion of others. Descriptions of biased agonism focusing on the differential engagement of... Read More about Low intrinsic efficacy for G protein activation can explain the improved side-effect profile of new opioid agonists.

Subtype-Selective Fluorescent Ligands as Pharmacological Research Tools for the Human Adenosine A2A Receptor (2019)
Journal Article
Comeo, E., Kindon, N. D., Soave, M., Stoddart, L. A., Kilpatrick, L. E., Scammells, P. J., …Kellam, B. (2020). Subtype-Selective Fluorescent Ligands as Pharmacological Research Tools for the Human Adenosine A2A Receptor. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 63(5), 2656-2672. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b01856

© 2019 American Chemical Society. Among class A G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR), the human adenosine A2A receptor (hA2AAR) remains an attractive drug target. However, translation of A2AAR ligands into the clinic has proved challenging and an impro... Read More about Subtype-Selective Fluorescent Ligands as Pharmacological Research Tools for the Human Adenosine A2A Receptor.

Meeting report: 27th Annual GP2A Medicinal Chemistry Conference (2019)
Journal Article
Mistry, S. N., Marchand, P., & Kellam, B. (2019). Meeting report: 27th Annual GP2A Medicinal Chemistry Conference. Pharmaceuticals, 12(4), https://doi.org/10.3390/ph12040179

The 27th annual GP2A (Groupement des Pharmacochimistes de l?Arc Atlantique/Group of Medicinal Chemists in the Atlantic Arc) conference took place from 21 to 23 August 2019, at the East Midlands Conference Centre (University Park, Nottingham, United K... Read More about Meeting report: 27th Annual GP2A Medicinal Chemistry Conference.

NanoBiT Complementation to Monitor Agonist-Induced Adenosine A1 Receptor Internalization (2019)
Journal Article
Soave, M., Kellam, B., Woolard, J., Briddon, S. J., & Hill, S. J. (2019). NanoBiT Complementation to Monitor Agonist-Induced Adenosine A1 Receptor Internalization. Slas Discovery, https://doi.org/10.1177/2472555219880475

Receptor internalization in response to prolonged agonist treatment is an important regulator of G protein–coupled receptor (GPCR) function. The adenosine A1 receptor (A1AR) is one of the adenosine receptor family of GPCRs, and evidence for its agoni... Read More about NanoBiT Complementation to Monitor Agonist-Induced Adenosine A1 Receptor Internalization.

Structure-Kinetic Profiling of Haloperidol Analogues at the Human Dopamine D2 Receptor (2019)
Journal Article
Fyfe, T. J., Kellam, B., Sykes, D. A., Capuano, B., Scammells, P. J., Lane, J. R., …Mistry, S. N. (2019). Structure-Kinetic Profiling of Haloperidol Analogues at the Human Dopamine D2 Receptor. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 62(21), 9488-9520. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b00864

Haloperidol is a typical antipsychotic drug (APD) associated with an increased risk of extrapyramidal side-effects (EPS) and hyperprolactinemia relative to atypical APDs such as clozapine. Both drugs are dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) antagonists, with c... Read More about Structure-Kinetic Profiling of Haloperidol Analogues at the Human Dopamine D2 Receptor.

Modulators of CXCR4 and CXCR7/ACKR3 Function (2019)
Journal Article
Adlere, I., Caspar, B., Arimont, M., Dekkers, S., Visser, K., Stuijt, J., …Leurs, R. (2019). Modulators of CXCR4 and CXCR7/ACKR3 Function. Molecular Pharmacology, 96(6), 737-752. https://doi.org/10.1124/mol.119.117663

Copyright © 2019 by The Author(s). The two G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) and atypical chemokine receptor 3 (ACKR3) are part of the class A chemokine GPCR family and represent important drug targets for hu... Read More about Modulators of CXCR4 and CXCR7/ACKR3 Function.

Subtle modifications to a thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine scaffold yield negative allosteric modulators and agonists of the dopamine D2 receptor (2019)
Journal Article
Fyfe, T. J., Kellam, B., Mistry, S. N., Scammells, P. J., Lane, J. R., & Capuano, B. (2019). Subtle modifications to a thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine scaffold yield negative allosteric modulators and agonists of the dopamine D2 receptor. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 168, 474-490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmech.2019.01.061

We recently described a structurally novel series of negative allosteric modulators (NAMs) of the dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) based on thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine 1, showing it can be structurally simplified to reveal low molecular weight, fragment-like N... Read More about Subtle modifications to a thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine scaffold yield negative allosteric modulators and agonists of the dopamine D2 receptor.

Visualising ligand-binding to a GPCR in vivo using nanoBRET (2018)
Journal Article
Carvalheira Alcobia, D., Ziegler, A. I., Kondrashov, A., Comeo, E., Mistry, S., Kellam, B., …Sloan, E. K. (2018). Visualising ligand-binding to a GPCR in vivo using nanoBRET. iScience, 6(8), 280-288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2018.08.006

© 2018 The Author(s) The therapeutic action of a drug depends on its ability to engage with its molecular target in vivo. However, current drug discovery strategies quantify drug levels within organs rather than determining the binding of drugs direc... Read More about Visualising ligand-binding to a GPCR in vivo using nanoBRET.

Nucleoside based self-assembling drugs for localized drug delivery (2018)
Journal Article
Skilling, K. J., Stocks, M. J., Kellam, B., Ashford, M., Bradshaw, T., Burroughs, L., & Marlow, M. (in press). Nucleoside based self-assembling drugs for localized drug delivery. ChemMedChem, https://doi.org/10.1002/cmdc.201800063

We have synthesized a range of gelators based on nucleoside analogues gemcitabine and lamivudine, characterizing representative gels from the series using rheology and TEM. Growth inhibition studies of gemcitabine derivatives confirmed the feasibilit... Read More about Nucleoside based self-assembling drugs for localized drug delivery.

A thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine scaffold is a novel negative allosteric modulator of the dopamine D2 receptor (2018)
Journal Article
Fyfe, T. J., Zarzycka, B., Lim, H. D., Kellam, B., Mistry, S. N., Katrich, V., …Capuano, B. (2019). A thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine scaffold is a novel negative allosteric modulator of the dopamine D2 receptor. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 62(1), 174–206. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.7b01565

Recently, a novel negative allosteric modulator (NAM) of the D 2-like dopamine receptors 1 was identified through virtual ligand screening. This ligand comprises a thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine scaffold that does not feature in known dopaminergic ligands.... Read More about A thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine scaffold is a novel negative allosteric modulator of the dopamine D2 receptor.

Synthesis and evaluation of the first fluorescent antagonists of the human P2Y2 receptor based on AR-C118925 (2018)
Journal Article
Conroy, S., Kindon, N., Glenn, J., Stoddart, L. A., Lewis, R. J., Hill, S. J., …Stocks, M. J. (2018). Synthesis and evaluation of the first fluorescent antagonists of the human P2Y2 receptor based on AR-C118925. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 61(7), https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b00139

The human P2Y2 receptor (hP2Y2R) is a G protein-coupled receptor that shows promise as a therapeutic target for many important conditions including anti-metastatic cancer therapy and more recently for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. A... Read More about Synthesis and evaluation of the first fluorescent antagonists of the human P2Y2 receptor based on AR-C118925.

Self-assembling benzothiazole-based gelators: a mechanistic understanding of in vitro bioactivation and gelation (2018)
Journal Article
Citossi, F., Smith, T., Lee, J. B., Segal, J., Gershkovich, P., Stocks, M. J., …Marlow, M. (in press). Self-assembling benzothiazole-based gelators: a mechanistic understanding of in vitro bioactivation and gelation. Molecular Pharmaceutics, 15(4), https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.7b01106

Low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs) of chemotherapeutic drugs represent a valid alternative to the existing poly-mer-based formulations used for targeted delivery of anticancer drugs. Herein we report the design and development of novel self-assemb... Read More about Self-assembling benzothiazole-based gelators: a mechanistic understanding of in vitro bioactivation and gelation.

Development of novel fluorescent histamine H?-receptor antagonists to study ligand-binding kinetics in living cells (2018)
Journal Article
Stoddart, L. A., Vernall, A. J., Bouzo-Lorenzo, M., Bosma, R., Kooistra, A. J., de Graaf, C., …Hill, S. J. (2018). Development of novel fluorescent histamine H₁-receptor antagonists to study ligand-binding kinetics in living cells. Scientific Reports, 8, Article 1572. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-19714-2

The histamine H1-receptor (H1R) is an important mediator of allergy and inflammation. H1R antagonists have particular clinical utility in allergic rhinitis and urticaria. Here we have developed six novel fluorescent probes for this receptor that are... Read More about Development of novel fluorescent histamine H?-receptor antagonists to study ligand-binding kinetics in living cells.

Fluorescently Labeled Morphine Derivatives for Bioimaging Studies (2018)
Journal Article
Lam, R., Gondin, A. B., Canals, M., Kellam, B., Briddon, S. J., Graham, B., & Scammells, P. J. (2018). Fluorescently Labeled Morphine Derivatives for Bioimaging Studies. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 61(3), 1316-1329. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.7b01811

Opioids, like morphine, are the mainstay analgesics for the treatment and control of pain. Despite this, they often exhibit severe side effects that limit dose; patients often become tolerant and dependent on these drugs, which remains a major health... Read More about Fluorescently Labeled Morphine Derivatives for Bioimaging Studies.

A non-imaging high throughput approach to chemical library screening at the unmodified adenosine-A3 receptor in living cells (2017)
Journal Article
Arruda, M. A., Stoddart, L. A., Gherbi, K., Briddon, S. J., Kellam, B., & Hill, S. J. (in press). A non-imaging high throughput approach to chemical library screening at the unmodified adenosine-A3 receptor in living cells. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 8(908), https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2017.00908

Recent advances in fluorescent ligand technology have enabled the study of G protein-coupled receptors in their native environment without the need for genetic modification such as addition of N-terminal fluorescent or bioluminescent tags. Here, we h... Read More about A non-imaging high throughput approach to chemical library screening at the unmodified adenosine-A3 receptor in living cells.

Novel selective ?1-adrenoceptor antagonists for concomitant cardiovascular and respiratory disease (2017)
Journal Article
Baker, J. G., Gardiner, S. M., Woolard, J., Fromont, C., Jadhav, G. P., Mistry, S. N., …Fischer, P. M. (2017). Novel selective β1-adrenoceptor antagonists for concomitant cardiovascular and respiratory disease. FASEB Journal, 31(7), 3150-3166. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.201601305R

?-Blockers reduce mortality and improve symptoms in people with heart disease. However, current clinically available ?-blockers have poor selectivity for the cardiac ?1-adrenoceptor (AR) over the lung ?2-AR. Unwanted ?2-blockade risks causing life-th... Read More about Novel selective ?1-adrenoceptor antagonists for concomitant cardiovascular and respiratory disease.

Design and elaboration of a tractable tricyclic scaffold to synthesize druglike inhibitors of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4), antagonists of the C–C Chemokine Receptor Type 5 (CCR5), and highly potent and selective phosphoinositol-3 Kinase δ (PI3Kδ) inhibitors (2017)
Journal Article
Schwehm, C., Kellam, B., Garces, A., Hill, S. J., Kindon, N., Bradshaw, T. D., …Stocks, M. (2017). Design and elaboration of a tractable tricyclic scaffold to synthesize druglike inhibitors of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4), antagonists of the C–C Chemokine Receptor Type 5 (CCR5), and highly potent and selective phosphoinositol-3 Kinase δ (PI3Kδ) inhibitors. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 60(4), https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6b01801

A novel molecular scaffold has been synthesized, and its incorporation into new analogues of biologically active molecules across multiple target classes will be discussed. In these studies, we have shown use of the tricyclic scaffold to synthesize p... Read More about Design and elaboration of a tractable tricyclic scaffold to synthesize druglike inhibitors of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4), antagonists of the C–C Chemokine Receptor Type 5 (CCR5), and highly potent and selective phosphoinositol-3 Kinase δ (PI3Kδ) inhibitors.

Developing a self-healing supramolecular nucleoside hydrogel (2016)
Journal Article
Skilling, K. J., Kellam, B., Ashford, M., Bradshaw, T. D., & Marlow, M. (2016). Developing a self-healing supramolecular nucleoside hydrogel. Soft Matter, 12(43), 8950-8957. https://doi.org/10.1039/c6sm01779g

© 2016 The Royal Society of Chemistry. Low molecular weight gelator hydrogels provide a viable alternative to traditional polymer based drug delivery platforms, owing to their tunable stability and in most cases inherent biocompatibility. Here we rep... Read More about Developing a self-healing supramolecular nucleoside hydrogel.

GPCRs through the keyhole: the role of protein flexibility in ligand binding to ?-adrenoceptors (2016)
Journal Article
Emtage, A. L., Mistry, S. N., Fischer, P. M., Kellam, B., & Laughton, C. A. (2017). GPCRs through the keyhole: the role of protein flexibility in ligand binding to ?-adrenoceptors. Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics, 35(12), 2604-2619. https://doi.org/10.1080/07391102.2016.1226197

© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are proteins of pharmaceutical importance, with over 30% of all drugs in clinical use targeting them. Increasing numbers of X-ray crystal (XRC) struct... Read More about GPCRs through the keyhole: the role of protein flexibility in ligand binding to ?-adrenoceptors.

Drug-like antagonists of P2Y receptors — from lead identification to drug development (2016)
Journal Article
Conroy, S., Kindon, N., Kellam, B., & Stocks, M. (in press). Drug-like antagonists of P2Y receptors — from lead identification to drug development. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5b01972

P2Y receptors are expressed in virtually all cells and tissue types and mediate an astonishing array of biological functions, including platelet aggregation, smooth muscle cell proliferation, and immune regulation. The P2Y receptors belong to the G p... Read More about Drug-like antagonists of P2Y receptors — from lead identification to drug development.

Alkylation of staurosporine to derive a kinase probe for fluorescence applications (2016)
Journal Article
Disney, A. J., Kellam, B., & Dekker, L. V. (in press). Alkylation of staurosporine to derive a kinase probe for fluorescence applications. ChemMedChem, 11, https://doi.org/10.1002/cmdc.201500589

The natural product staurosporine is a high-affinity inhibitor of nearly all mammalian protein kinases.The labelling of staurosporine has proven effective as a means of generating protein kinase research tools. Most tools have been generated by acyla... Read More about Alkylation of staurosporine to derive a kinase probe for fluorescence applications.

Synthesis, Biological Evaluation, and Utility of Fluorescent Ligands Targeting the ?-Opioid Receptor (2015)
Journal Article
Schembri, L. S., Stoddart, L. A., Briddon, S. J., Kellam, B., Canals, M., Graham, B., & Scammells, P. J. (2015). Synthesis, Biological Evaluation, and Utility of Fluorescent Ligands Targeting the ?-Opioid Receptor. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 58(24), 9754-9767. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5b01664

Fluorescently labeled ligands are useful pharmacological research tools for studying receptor localization, trafficking, and signaling processes via fluorescence imaging. They are also employed in fluorescent binding assays. This study is centered on... Read More about Synthesis, Biological Evaluation, and Utility of Fluorescent Ligands Targeting the ?-Opioid Receptor.

Antitumour benzothiazoles. Part 32: DNA adducts and double strand breaks correlate with activity; synthesis of 5F203 hydrogels for local delivery (2015)
Journal Article
Stone, E. L., Citossi, F., Singh, R., Kaur, B., Gaskell, M., Farmer, P. B., …Bradshaw, T. D. (2015). Antitumour benzothiazoles. Part 32: DNA adducts and double strand breaks correlate with activity; synthesis of 5F203 hydrogels for local delivery. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, 23(21), 6891-6899. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bmc.2015.09.052

Potent, selective antitumour AhR ligands 5F 203 and GW 610 are bioactivated by CYPs 1A1 and 2W1. Herein we reason that DNA adducts’ generation resulting in lethal DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) underlies benzothiazoles’ activity. Treatment of sensit... Read More about Antitumour benzothiazoles. Part 32: DNA adducts and double strand breaks correlate with activity; synthesis of 5F203 hydrogels for local delivery.

Direct visualisation of internalization of the adenosine A3 receptor and localization with arrestin3 using a fluorescent agonist (2015)
Journal Article
Stoddart, L. A., Vernall, A. J., Briddon, S. J., Kellam, B., & Hill, S. J. (2015). Direct visualisation of internalization of the adenosine A3 receptor and localization with arrestin3 using a fluorescent agonist. Neuropharmacology, 98, 68-77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2015.04.013

Fluorescence based probes provide a novel way to study the dynamic internalization process of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Recent advances in the rational design of fluorescent ligands for GPCRs have been used here to generate new fluorescent... Read More about Direct visualisation of internalization of the adenosine A3 receptor and localization with arrestin3 using a fluorescent agonist.

Synthesis of new DPP-4 inhibitors based on a novel tricyclic scaffold (2015)
Journal Article
Schwehm, C., Li, J., Song, H., Hu, X., Kellam, B., & Stocks, M. (2015). Synthesis of new DPP-4 inhibitors based on a novel tricyclic scaffold. ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 6(3), https://doi.org/10.1021/ml500503n

A novel molecular scaffold has been synthesized and its synthesis and incorporation into new analogues of biologically active molecules will be discussed. A comparison of the inhibitory activity of these compounds to the known type-2 diabetes compoun... Read More about Synthesis of new DPP-4 inhibitors based on a novel tricyclic scaffold.

Preparation and structural analysis of (±)-cis-ethyl 2-sulfanylidenedecahydro-1,6-naphthyridine-6-carboxylate and (±)-trans-ethyl 2-oxooctahydro-1H-pyrrolo[3,2-c]pyridine-5-carboxylate (2014)
Journal Article
Schwehm, C., Lewis, W., Blake, A. J., Kellam, B., & Stocks, M. J. (2014). Preparation and structural analysis of (±)-cis-ethyl 2-sulfanylidenedecahydro-1,6-naphthyridine-6-carboxylate and (±)-trans-ethyl 2-oxooctahydro-1H-pyrrolo[3,2-c]pyridine-5-carboxylate. Acta Crystallographica Section C: Structural Chemistry, 70(12), 1161-1168. https://doi.org/10.1107/s205322961402436x

Bicycle ring closure on a mixture of (4aS,8aR)- and (4aR,8aS)-ethyl 2-oxodecahydro-1,6-naphthyridine-6-carboxylate, followed by conversion of the separated cis and trans isomers to the corresponding thioamide derivatives, gave (4aSR,8aRS)-ethyl 2-sul... Read More about Preparation and structural analysis of (±)-cis-ethyl 2-sulfanylidenedecahydro-1,6-naphthyridine-6-carboxylate and (±)-trans-ethyl 2-oxooctahydro-1H-pyrrolo[3,2-c]pyridine-5-carboxylate.

Gelation properties of self-assembling N-acyl modified cytidine derivatives (2014)
Journal Article
Skilling, K. J., Ndungu, A., Kellam, B., Ashford, M., Bradshaw, T. D., & Marlow, M. (in press). Gelation properties of self-assembling N-acyl modified cytidine derivatives. Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 2(47), https://doi.org/10.1039/C4TB01375A

In this study we report the synthesis of new cytidine derived gelators possessing acyl chains of different lengths. These low molecular weight gelators were shown to form self-supporting gels at 0.5 % (w/v) in binary systems of aqueous miscible polar... Read More about Gelation properties of self-assembling N-acyl modified cytidine derivatives.

Kinetic analysis of antagonist-occupied adenosine-A3 receptors within membrane microdomains of individual cells provides evidence of receptor dimerization and allosterism (2014)
Journal Article
Corriden, R., Kilpatrick, L. E., Kellam, B., Briddon, S. J., & Hill, S. J. (2014). Kinetic analysis of antagonist-occupied adenosine-A3 receptors within membrane microdomains of individual cells provides evidence of receptor dimerization and allosterism. FASEB Journal, 28(10), 4211-4222. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.13-247270

© The Author(s). In our previous work, using a fluorescent adenosine-A3 receptor (A3AR) agonist and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), we demonstrated highaffinity labeling of the active receptor (R∗) conformation. In the current study, we... Read More about Kinetic analysis of antagonist-occupied adenosine-A3 receptors within membrane microdomains of individual cells provides evidence of receptor dimerization and allosterism.

Effect of a toggle switch mutation in TM6 of the human adenosine A3 receptor on Gi protein-dependent signalling and Gi-independent receptor internalization (2014)
Journal Article
Stoddart, L. A., Kellam, B., Briddon, S. J., & Hill, S. J. (2014). Effect of a toggle switch mutation in TM6 of the human adenosine A3 receptor on Gi protein-dependent signalling and Gi-independent receptor internalization. British Journal of Pharmacology, 171(16), https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.12739

Background and Purpose: The highly conserved tryptophan (W6.48) in transmembrane domain 6 of GPCRs has been shown to play a central role in forming an active conformation in response to agonist binding. We set out to characterize the effect of this m... Read More about Effect of a toggle switch mutation in TM6 of the human adenosine A3 receptor on Gi protein-dependent signalling and Gi-independent receptor internalization.

The evolving small-molecule fluorescent-conjugate toolbox for Class A GPCRs (2014)
Journal Article
Vernall, A. J., Hill, S. J., & Kellam, B. (2014). The evolving small-molecule fluorescent-conjugate toolbox for Class A GPCRs. British Journal of Pharmacology, 171(5), https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.12265

The past decade has witnessed fluorescently tagged drug molecules gaining significant attraction in their use as pharmacological tools with which to visualize and interrogate receptor targets at the single-cell level. Additionally, one can generate d... Read More about The evolving small-molecule fluorescent-conjugate toolbox for Class A GPCRs.

Allosteric interactions at adenosine A1 and A3 receptors: new insights into the role of small molecules and receptor dimerization (2014)
Journal Article
Hill, S. J., May, L. T., Kellam, B., & Woolard, J. (2014). Allosteric interactions at adenosine A1 and A3 receptors: new insights into the role of small molecules and receptor dimerization. British Journal of Pharmacology, 171(5), https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.12345

Keywords:adenosine;allosterism;receptor;GPCR;dimerization;biased signalling The purine nucleoside adenosine is present in all cells in tightly regulated concentrations. It is released under a variety of physiological and pathophysiological condition... Read More about Allosteric interactions at adenosine A1 and A3 receptors: new insights into the role of small molecules and receptor dimerization.

Conversion of a non-selective adenosine receptor antagonist into A 3-selective high affinity fluorescent probes using peptide-based linkers (2013)
Journal Article
Vernall, A. J., Stoddart, L. A., Briddon, S. J., Ng, H. W., Laughton, C. A., Doughty, S. W., …Kellam, B. (2013). Conversion of a non-selective adenosine receptor antagonist into A 3-selective high affinity fluorescent probes using peptide-based linkers. Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, 11(34), 5673-5682. https://doi.org/10.1039/c3ob41221k

Advances in fluorescence-based imaging technologies have helped propel the study of real-time biological readouts and analysis across many different areas. In particular the use of fluorescent ligands as chemical tools to study proteins such as G pro... Read More about Conversion of a non-selective adenosine receptor antagonist into A 3-selective high affinity fluorescent probes using peptide-based linkers.

Adenosine-A3 receptors in neutrophil microdomains promote the formation of bacteria-tethering cytonemes (2013)
Journal Article
Corriden, R., Self, T., Akong-Moore, K., Nizet, V., Kellam, B., Briddon, S. J., & Hill, S. J. (2013). Adenosine-A3 receptors in neutrophil microdomains promote the formation of bacteria-tethering cytonemes. EMBO Reports, 14(8), https://doi.org/10.1038/embor.2013.89

The A3‐adenosine receptor (A3AR) has recently emerged as a key regulator of neutrophil behaviour. Using a fluorescent A3AR ligand, we show that A3ARs aggregate in highly polarized immunomodulatory microdomains on human neutrophil membranes. In additi... Read More about Adenosine-A3 receptors in neutrophil microdomains promote the formation of bacteria-tethering cytonemes.

Synthesis and in vitro and in vivo characterization of highly ?1-Selective ?-Adrenoceptor partial agonists (2013)
Journal Article
Mistry, S. N., Baker, J. G., Fischer, P. M., Hill, S. J., Gardiner, S. M., & Kellam, B. (2013). Synthesis and in vitro and in vivo characterization of highly ?1-Selective ?-Adrenoceptor partial agonists. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 56(10), https://doi.org/10.1021/jm400348g

β-Adrenoceptor antagonists boast a 50-year use for symptomatic control in numerous cardiovascular diseases. One might expect highly selective antagonists are available for the human β-adrenoceptor subtype involved in these diseases, yet few truly β1-... Read More about Synthesis and in vitro and in vivo characterization of highly ?1-Selective ?-Adrenoceptor partial agonists.

Synthesis and characterization of high-affinity 4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene-labeled fluorescent ligands for human ?-adrenoceptors (2011)
Journal Article
Baker, J. G., Adams, L. A., Salchow, K., Mistry, S. N., Middleton, R. J., Hill, S. J., & Kellam, B. (2011). Synthesis and characterization of high-affinity 4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene-labeled fluorescent ligands for human ?-adrenoceptors. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 54(19), 6874-6887. doi:10.1021/jm2008562

The growing practice of exploiting noninvasive fluorescence-based techniques to study G protein-coupled receptor pharmacology at the single cell and single molecule level demands the availability of high-quality fluorescent ligands. To this end, this... Read More about Synthesis and characterization of high-affinity 4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene-labeled fluorescent ligands for human ?-adrenoceptors.