New Way to Analyze Toxicity of Drug Candidates

A new technique has been developed to rapidly analyze the toxicity of promising compounds at an early stage in the drug-discovery process.

The technique uses a human enzyme chip called the MetaChip (metabolizing enzyme toxicology assay chip), developed by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley (USA) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY, USA). By combining human biocatalysts with pharmacologic screening, the MetaChip rapidly identifies organ-specific drug toxicity and possible adverse drug interactions, with the potential to provide full metabolite profiling.

The technique was described in the January 18, 2005, online early edition of the Proceedings of the [U.S.] National Academy of Sciences. According to the researchers' findings, the new approach works by successfully mimicking human metabolism at speeds consistent with high-throughput biologic activity screening. The development of the MetaChip technology is part of an ongoing collaborative research project seeking more efficient ways to identify and synthesize compounds that merit further development as possible new drugs.

"Our research will expand to include other cell types, compounds, and human enzymes responsible for drug metabolism, including the cytochrome P450s,” noted Jonathan Dordick, professor of chemical and biological engineering at Rensselaer. "The research results thus far indicate that this technique could be incorporated into an effective process for toxicity analysis at early stages in drug discovery.”





Related Links:
U. California, Berkeley
Rensselaer Polytechnic