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Discovery of α-Amidobenzylboronates as Highly Potent Covalent Inhibitors of Plasma Kallikrein (2024)
Journal Article
Allison, M., Davie, R. L., Mogg, A. J., Hampton, S. L., Emsley, J., & Stocks, M. J. (2024). Discovery of α-Amidobenzylboronates as Highly Potent Covalent Inhibitors of Plasma Kallikrein. ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 15(4), 501–509. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmedchemlett.3c00572

Hereditary angioedema (HAE), a rare genetic disorder, is associated with uncontrolled plasma kallikrein (PKa) enzyme activity leading to the generation of bradykinin swelling in subcutaneous and submucosal membranes in various locations of the body.... Read More about Discovery of α-Amidobenzylboronates as Highly Potent Covalent Inhibitors of Plasma Kallikrein.

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.

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).

Development of lipophilic ester prodrugs of dolutegravir for intestinal lymphatic transport (2023)
Journal Article
Chu, Y., Wong, A., Chen, H., Ji, L., Qin, C., Feng, W., …Gershkovich, P. (2023). Development of lipophilic ester prodrugs of dolutegravir for intestinal lymphatic transport. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 191, 90-102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpb.2023.08.015

The establishment of latent cellular and anatomical viral reservoirs is a major obstacle to achieving a cure for people infected by HIV. Mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) are one of the most important anatomical reservoirs of HIV. Suboptimal levels of an... Read More about Development of lipophilic ester prodrugs of dolutegravir for intestinal lymphatic transport.

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.

Design of Quorum Sensing Inhibitor–Polymer Conjugates to Penetrate Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms (2023)
Journal Article
Soukarieh, F., Gurnani, P., Romero, M., Halliday, N., Stocks, M., Alexander, C., & Cámara, M. (2023). Design of Quorum Sensing Inhibitor–Polymer Conjugates to Penetrate Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms. ACS Macro Letters, 12(3), 314-319. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmacrolett.2c00699

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global threat to public health with a forecast of a negative financial impact of one trillion dollars per annum, hence novel therapeutics are urgently needed. The resistance of many bacteria against current drugs i... Read More about Design of Quorum Sensing Inhibitor–Polymer Conjugates to Penetrate Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms.

Sebetralstat (KVD900): A Potent and Selective Small Molecule Plasma Kallikrein Inhibitor Featuring a Novel P1 Group as a Potential Oral On-Demand Treatment for Hereditary Angioedema (2022)
Journal Article
Davie, R. L., Edwards, H. J., Evans, D. M., Hodgson, S. T., Stocks, M. J., Smith, A. J., …Hampton, S. L. (2022). Sebetralstat (KVD900): A Potent and Selective Small Molecule Plasma Kallikrein Inhibitor Featuring a Novel P1 Group as a Potential Oral On-Demand Treatment for Hereditary Angioedema. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 65(20), 13629-13644. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.2c00921

Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare genetic disorder in which patients experience sudden onset of swelling in various locations of the body. HAE is associated with uncontrolled plasma kallikrein (PKa) enzyme activity and generation of the potent in... Read More about Sebetralstat (KVD900): A Potent and Selective Small Molecule Plasma Kallikrein Inhibitor Featuring a Novel P1 Group as a Potential Oral On-Demand Treatment for Hereditary Angioedema.

Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Lung-Retentive Prodrugs for Extending the Lung Tissue Retention of Inhaled Drugs (2022)
Journal Article
Ayre, J., Redmond, J. M., Vitulli, G., Tomlinson, L., Weaver, R., Comeo, E., …Stocks, M. J. (2022). Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Lung-Retentive Prodrugs for Extending the Lung Tissue Retention of Inhaled Drugs. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 65(14), 9802-9818. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.2c00416

A major limitation of pulmonary delivery is that drugs can exhibit suboptimal pharmacokinetic profiles resulting from rapid elimination from the pulmonary tissue. This can lead to systemic side effects and a short duration of action. A series of diba... Read More about Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Lung-Retentive Prodrugs for Extending the Lung Tissue Retention of Inhaled Drugs.

Vegetable oils composition affects the intestinal lymphatic transport and systemic bioavailability of co-administered lipophilic drug cannabidiol (2022)
Journal Article
Feng, W., Qin, C., Abdelrazig, S., Bai, Z., Raji, M., Darwish, R., …Gershkovich, P. (2022). Vegetable oils composition affects the intestinal lymphatic transport and systemic bioavailability of co-administered lipophilic drug cannabidiol. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 624, Article 121947. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2022.121947

Although natural sesame oil has been shown to facilitate the lymphatic delivery and oral bioavailability of the highly lipophilic drug cannabidiol (CBD), considerable variability remains an unresolved challenge. Vegetable oils differ substantially in... Read More about Vegetable oils composition affects the intestinal lymphatic transport and systemic bioavailability of co-administered lipophilic drug cannabidiol.

Distribution of a highly lipophilic drug cannabidiol into different lymph nodes following oral administration in lipidic vehicle (2022)
Journal Article
Jewell, A., Brookes, A., Feng, W., Ashford, M., Gellert, P., Butler, J., …Gershkovich, P. (2022). Distribution of a highly lipophilic drug cannabidiol into different lymph nodes following oral administration in lipidic vehicle. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 174, 29-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpb.2022.03.014

Efficient delivery of highly lipophilic drugs or prodrugs to the mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) can be achieved following oral administration with lipids. However, it remains unclear which specific MLN can be targeted and to what extent. Moreover, the... Read More about Distribution of a highly lipophilic drug cannabidiol into different lymph nodes following oral administration in lipidic vehicle.

Is oral lipid-based delivery for drug targeting to the brain feasible? (2022)
Journal Article
Brookes, A., Ji, L., Bradshaw, T. D., Stocks, M., Gray, D., Butler, J., & Gershkovich, P. (2022). Is oral lipid-based delivery for drug targeting to the brain feasible?. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 172, 112-122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpb.2022.02.004

This review outlines the feasibility of oral lipid-based targeted delivery of drugs to the brain, including permeation of the central nervous system's (CNS) protective blood–brain barrier (BBB). The structure of the BBB and disruption caused by varyi... Read More about Is oral lipid-based delivery for drug targeting to the brain feasible?.

Assessing lymphatic uptake of lipids using magnetic resonance imaging: A feasibility study in healthy human volunteers with potential application for tracking lymph node delivery of drugs and formulation excipients (2021)
Journal Article
Jewell, A., Williams, H., Hoad, C. L., Gellert, P. R., Ashford, M. B., Butler, J., …Gershkovich, P. (2021). Assessing lymphatic uptake of lipids using magnetic resonance imaging: A feasibility study in healthy human volunteers with potential application for tracking lymph node delivery of drugs and formulation excipients. Pharmaceutics, 13(9), Article 1343. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics13091343

Dietary lipids and some pharmaceutical lipid excipients can facilitate the targeted delivery of drugs to the intestinal lymphatics. Here, the feasibility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for imaging lipid uptake into the intestinal lymphatics was... Read More about Assessing lymphatic uptake of lipids using magnetic resonance imaging: A feasibility study in healthy human volunteers with potential application for tracking lymph node delivery of drugs and formulation excipients.

Concurrent reactive oxygen species generation and aneuploidy induction contribute to thymoquinone anticancer activity (2021)
Journal Article
Al-Hayali, M., Garces, A., Stocks, M., Collins, H., & Bradshaw, T. D. (2021). Concurrent reactive oxygen species generation and aneuploidy induction contribute to thymoquinone anticancer activity. Molecules, 26(17), Article 5136. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26175136

Thymoquinone (TQ) is the main biologically active constituent of Nigella sativa. Many studies have confirmed its anticancer actions. Herein, we investigated the different anticancer activities of, and considered resistance mechanisms to, TQ. MTT and... Read More about Concurrent reactive oxygen species generation and aneuploidy induction contribute to thymoquinone anticancer activity.

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.

Oral administration of tipranavir with long-chain triglyceride results in moderate intestinal lymph targeting but no efficient delivery to HIV-1 reservoir in mesenteric lymph nodes (2021)
Journal Article
Sheriston, C., Medrano-Padial, C., Qin, C., Fischer, P. M., Feng, W., Chu, Y., …Ling, B. (2021). Oral administration of tipranavir with long-chain triglyceride results in moderate intestinal lymph targeting but no efficient delivery to HIV-1 reservoir in mesenteric lymph nodes. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 602, Article 120621. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2021.120621

The introduction of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) led to substantial improvement in mortality and morbidity of HIV-1 infection. However, the poor penetration of antiretroviral agents to HIV-1 reservoirs limit the ability of the antiretrov... Read More about Oral administration of tipranavir with long-chain triglyceride results in moderate intestinal lymph targeting but no efficient delivery to HIV-1 reservoir in mesenteric lymph nodes.

Natural sesame oil is superior to pre-digested lipid formulations and purified triglycerides in promoting the intestinal lymphatic transport and systemic bioavailability of cannabidiol (2021)
Journal Article
Feng, W., Qin, C., Chu, Y. J., Berton, M., Lee, J. B., Zgair, A., …Gershkovich, P. (2021). Natural sesame oil is superior to pre-digested lipid formulations and purified triglycerides in promoting the intestinal lymphatic transport and systemic bioavailability of cannabidiol. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 162, 43-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpb.2021.02.013

© 2021 Elsevier B.V. Lipid-based formulations play a significant role in oral delivery of lipophilic drugs. Previous studies have shown that natural sesame oil promotes the intestinal lymphatic transport and oral bioavailability of the highly lipophi... Read More about Natural sesame oil is superior to pre-digested lipid formulations and purified triglycerides in promoting the intestinal lymphatic transport and systemic bioavailability of cannabidiol.

Targeted delivery of lopinavir to HIV reservoirs in the mesenteric lymphatic system by lipophilic ester prodrug approach (2020)
Journal Article
Qin, C., Chu, Y., Feng, W., Fromont, C., He, S., Ali, J., …Gershkovich, P. (2021). Targeted delivery of lopinavir to HIV reservoirs in the mesenteric lymphatic system by lipophilic ester prodrug approach. Journal of Controlled Release, 329, 1077-1089. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2020.10.036

© 2020 Elsevier B.V. The combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) can efficiently suppress HIV replication, but the cessation of cART usually results in viral rebound, mostly due to the presence of viral reservoirs. The mesenteric lymphatic system, inc... Read More about Targeted delivery of lopinavir to HIV reservoirs in the mesenteric lymphatic system by lipophilic ester prodrug approach.

Model-Informed Drug Discovery and Development in Pulmonary Delivery: Biopharmaceutical Pharmacometric Modeling for Formulation Evaluation of Pulmonary Suspensions (2020)
Journal Article
Sou, T., Soukarieh, F., Williams, P., Stocks, M. J., Cámara, M., & Bergström, C. A. S. (2020). Model-Informed Drug Discovery and Development in Pulmonary Delivery: Biopharmaceutical Pharmacometric Modeling for Formulation Evaluation of Pulmonary Suspensions. ACS Omega, 5(40), 25733-25746. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.0c03004

Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society. For respiratory conditions, targeted drug delivery to the lungs could produce higher local concentrations with reduced risk of adverse events compared to systemic administration. Despite the increasing inte... Read More about Model-Informed Drug Discovery and Development in Pulmonary Delivery: Biopharmaceutical Pharmacometric Modeling for Formulation Evaluation of Pulmonary Suspensions.

Novel quinazolinone inhibitors of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing transcriptional regulator PqsR (2020)
Journal Article
Grossman, S., Soukarieh, F., Richardson, W., Liu, R., Mashabi, A., Emsley, J., …Stocks, M. J. (2020). Novel quinazolinone inhibitors of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing transcriptional regulator PqsR. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 208, Article 112778. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmech.2020.112778

© 2020 The Authors Rising numbers of cases of multidrug- and extensively drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa over recent years have created an urgent need for novel therapeutic approaches to cure potentially fatal infections. One such approach is v... Read More about Novel quinazolinone inhibitors of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing transcriptional regulator PqsR.

Development and validation of a cost-effective and sensitive bioanalytical HPLC-UV method for determination of lopinavir in rat and human plasma (2020)
Journal Article
Qin, C., Feng, W., Chu, Y. J., Lee, J. B., Berton, M., Bettonte, S., …Gershkovich, P. (2020). Development and validation of a cost-effective and sensitive bioanalytical HPLC-UV method for determination of lopinavir in rat and human plasma. Biomedical Chromatography, 34(11), Article e4934. https://doi.org/10.1002/bmc.4934

© 2020 The Authors. Biomedical Chromatography published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd A simple, sensitive and cost-effective HPLC-UV bioanalytical method for determination of lopinavir (LPV) in rat and human plasma was developed and validated. The plasm... Read More about Development and validation of a cost-effective and sensitive bioanalytical HPLC-UV method for determination of lopinavir in rat and human plasma.

Hit Identification of New Potent PqsR Antagonists as Inhibitors of Quorum Sensing in Planktonic and Biofilm Grown Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2020)
Journal Article
Soukarieh, F., Liu, R., Romero, M., Roberston, S. N., Richardson, W., Lucanto, S., …Stocks, M. J. (2020). Hit Identification of New Potent PqsR Antagonists as Inhibitors of Quorum Sensing in Planktonic and Biofilm Grown Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Frontiers in Chemistry, 8, Article 204. https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2020.00204

© Copyright © 2020 Soukarieh, Liu, Romero, Roberston, Richardson, Lucanto, Oton, Qudus, Mashabi, Grossman, Ali, Sou, Kukavica-Ibrulj, Levesque, Bergström, Halliday, Mistry, Emsley, Heeb, Williams, Cámara and Stocks. Current treatments for Pseudomonas... Read More about Hit Identification of New Potent PqsR Antagonists as Inhibitors of Quorum Sensing in Planktonic and Biofilm Grown Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Codrug Approach for the Potential Treatment of EML4-ALK Positive Lung Cancer (2019)
Journal Article
Garces, A. E., Al-Hayali, M., Lee, J. B., Li, J., Gershkovich, P., Bradshaw, T. D., & Stocks, M. J. (2020). Codrug Approach for the Potential Treatment of EML4-ALK Positive Lung Cancer. ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 11(3), 316-321. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmedchemlett.9b00378

We report on the synergistic effect of PI3K inhibition with ALK inhibition for the possible treatment of EML4-ALK positive lung cancer. We have brought together ceritinib (ALK inhibitor) and pictilisib (PI3K inhibitor) into a single bivalent molecule... Read More about Codrug Approach for the Potential Treatment of EML4-ALK Positive Lung Cancer.

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.

Class 1 PI3K clinical candidates and recent inhibitor design strategies: a medicinal chemistry perspective (2018)
Journal Article
Garces, A. E., & Stocks, M. J. (2019). Class 1 PI3K clinical candidates and recent inhibitor design strategies: a medicinal chemistry perspective. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 62(10), 4815-4850. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b01492

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases (PI3Ks) are a family of lipid kinases that phosphorylate the 3-OH of the inositol ring of phosphoinositides, and deregulation of this pathway has implications in many diseases. The search for novel PI3K inhibitors has b... Read More about Class 1 PI3K clinical candidates and recent inhibitor design strategies: a medicinal chemistry perspective.

Model-based drug development in pulmonary delivery: pharmacokinetic analysis of novel drug candidates for treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection (2018)
Journal Article
Sou, T., Kukavica-Ibrulj, I., Soukarieh, F., Halliday, N., Levesque, R. C., Williams, P., …Bergström, C. A. (2019). Model-based drug development in pulmonary delivery: pharmacokinetic analysis of novel drug candidates for treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 108(1), 630-640. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xphs.2018.09.017

Antibiotic resistance is a major public health threat worldwide. In particular, about 80% of cystic fibrosis patients have chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) lung infection resistant to many current antibiotics. We are therefore developing a novel c... Read More about Model-based drug development in pulmonary delivery: pharmacokinetic analysis of novel drug candidates for treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection.

Lipophilic activated ester prodrug approach for drug delivery to the intestinal lymphatic system (2018)
Journal Article
Lee, J. B., Zgair, A., Malec, J., Kim, T. H., Kim, M. G., Ali, J., …Gershkovich, P. (2018). Lipophilic activated ester prodrug approach for drug delivery to the intestinal lymphatic system. Journal of Controlled Release, 286, 10-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2018.07.022

The intestinal lymphatic system plays an important role in the pathophysiology of multiple diseases including lymphomas, cancer metastasis, autoimmune diseases, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. It is thus an important compartment for... Read More about Lipophilic activated ester prodrug approach for drug delivery to the intestinal lymphatic system.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing systems as drug discovery targets: current position and future perspectives (2018)
Journal Article
Soukarieh, F., Williams, P., Stocks, M. J., & Camara, M. (in press). Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing systems as drug discovery targets: current position and future perspectives. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b00540

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious threat to public health globally, manifested by the frequent emergence of multi-drug resistant pathogens that render current chemotherapy inadequate. Health organizations worldwide have recognized the sever... Read More about Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing systems as drug discovery targets: current position and future perspectives.

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.

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.

In Silico and in Vitro-Guided Identification of Inhibitors of Alkylquinolone-Dependent Quorum Sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2018)
Journal Article
Soukarieh, F., Vico Oton, E., Dubern, J., Gomes, J., Halliday, N., de Pilar Crespo, M., …Cámara, M. (2018). In Silico and in Vitro-Guided Identification of Inhibitors of Alkylquinolone-Dependent Quorum Sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Molecules, 23(2), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules23020257

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a major opportunistic pathogen in cystic fibrosis, wound and nosocomial infections, posing a serious burden to public health, due to its antibiotic resistance. The P. aeruginosa Pseudomonas Quinolone System (pqs) quorum sens... Read More about In Silico and in Vitro-Guided Identification of Inhibitors of Alkylquinolone-Dependent Quorum Sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

From UTP to AR-C118925, the discovery of a potent non nucleotide antagonist of the P2Y2 receptor (2017)
Journal Article
Kindon, N., Davis, A., Dougall, I., Dixon, J., Johnson, T., Walters, I., …Stocks, M. (2017). From UTP to AR-C118925, the discovery of a potent non nucleotide antagonist of the P2Y2 receptor. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 27(21), 4849-4853. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bmcl.2017.09.043

The G protein-coupled P2Y2 receptor, activated by ATP and UTP has been reported as a potential drug target for a wide range of important clinical conditions, such as tumor metastasis, kidney disorders, and in the treatment of inflammatory conditions.... Read More about From UTP to AR-C118925, the discovery of a potent non nucleotide antagonist of the P2Y2 receptor.

Discovery of AZD-2098 and AZD-1678, two potent and bioavailable CCR4 receptor antagonists (2017)
Journal Article
Kindon, N., Andrews, G., Baxter, A., Cheshire, D., Hemsley, P., Johnson, T., …Stocks, M. J. (in press). Discovery of AZD-2098 and AZD-1678, two potent and bioavailable CCR4 receptor antagonists. ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 8(9), 981–986. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmedchemlett.7b00315

N-(5-Bromo-3-methoxypyrazin-2-yl)-5-chlorothiophene-2-sulfonamide 1 was identified as a hit in a CCR4 receptor antagonist high throughput screen (HTS) of a sub-set of the AstraZeneca compound bank. As a hit with a lead-like profile, it was an excelle... Read More about Discovery of AZD-2098 and AZD-1678, two potent and bioavailable CCR4 receptor antagonists.

Ipratropium is ‘luminally recycled’ by an inter-play between apical uptake and efflux transporters in Calu-3 bronchial epithelial cell layers (2017)
Journal Article
Panduga, V., Stocks, M. J., & Bosquillon, C. (2017). Ipratropium is ‘luminally recycled’ by an inter-play between apical uptake and efflux transporters in Calu-3 bronchial epithelial cell layers. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 532(1), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2017.08.112

The mechanism by which quaternized anticholinergic bronchodilators permeate the airway epithelium remains controversial to date. In order to elucidate the role of drug transporters, ipratropium bidirectional transport as well as accumulation and rele... Read More about Ipratropium is ‘luminally recycled’ by an inter-play between apical uptake and efflux transporters in Calu-3 bronchial epithelial cell layers.

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.

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.

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.

Linifanib – a multi-targeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor and a low molecular weight gelator (2015)
Journal Article
Marlow, M., Al-Ameedee, M., Smith, T., Wheeler, S., & Stocks, M. J. (in press). Linifanib – a multi-targeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor and a low molecular weight gelator. Chemical Communications, 51, https://doi.org/10.1039/c5cc00454c

In this study we demonstrate that linifanib, a multi-targeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, with a key urea containing pharmacophore, self-assembles into a hydrogel in the presence of low amounts of solvent. We demonstrate the role of the urea... Read More about Linifanib – a multi-targeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor and a low molecular weight gelator.

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.

Discovery of AZD3199, An Inhaled Ultralong Acting ?2 Receptor Agonist with Rapid Onset of Action (2014)
Journal Article
Stocks, M., Alcaraz, L., Bailey, A., Bonnert, R., Cadogan, E., Christie, J., …Young, A. (2014). Discovery of AZD3199, An Inhaled Ultralong Acting β2 Receptor Agonist with Rapid Onset of Action. ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 5(4), 416-421. https://doi.org/10.1021/ml4005232

A series of dibasic des-hydroxy ?2 receptor agonists has been prepared and evaluated for potential as inhaled ultra-long acting bronchodilators. Determination of activities at the human ?-adrenoreceptors demonstrated a series of highly potent and se... Read More about Discovery of AZD3199, An Inhaled Ultralong Acting ?2 Receptor Agonist with Rapid Onset of Action.