SignificanceIndoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO1) is a heme protein that catalyzes the dioxygenation of tryptophan. Cells expressing this activity are able to profoundly alter their surrounding environment to suppress the immune response. Cancer cells exploit this pathway to avoid immune-mediated destruction. Through a range of kinetic, structural, and cellular assays, we show that two classes of highly selective inhibitors of IDO1 act by competing with heme binding to apo-IDO1. This shows that IDO1 is dynamically bound to its heme cofactor in what is likely a critical step in the regulation of this enzyme. These results have elucidated a previously undiscovered role for the ubiquitous heme cofactor in immune regulation, and it suggests that other heme proteins in biology may be similarly regulated.

SPRYCEL (dasatinib; Bristol-Myers Squibb, Princeton, NJ) is a multiple kinase inhibitor that potently inhibits Bcr-Abl, Src family (Src, Lck, Yes, Fyn), c-Kit, EPHA2, and platelet-derived growth factor receptor ␤ kinases (Lombardo et al., 2004;Shah et al., 2004;Das et al., 2006). It is currently approved in the United States and European Union to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia tumors in patients who are resistant or intolerant to imatinib mesylate (Gleevec, Novartis, Basel, Switzerland). Unlike imatinib mesylate, which binds to the closed confirmation of Bcr-Abl kinase, dasatinib was designed to bind to both the open and closed form of the enzyme (Shah et al., 2004;Tokarski et al., 2006). Because of this binding property and the ability to inhibit multiple kinases, including Src, dasatinib is effective in tumors that are resistant to imatinib mesylate (O'Hare et al., 2005;Schittenhelm et al., 2006). Clinical studies have shown that dasatinib shows clinical response in patients with CML or Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia who are resistant or intolerant to imatinib mesylate treatment Hochhaus et al., 2006;Talpaz et al., 2006;Quintas-Cardama et al., 2007).Numerous in vitro and in vivo studies have been conducted with dasatinib in nonclinical species to understand its absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) properties and gauge the suitability of these species as toxicological models Kamath et al., 2008). The metabolic profiles from in vitro studies in liver microsomes, and hepatocytes showed good correlation with the in vivo profiles generated after a single p.o. dose of [14 C]dasatinib to rats and monkeys. The primary metabolites of dasatinib Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at

Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK), a non-receptor tyrosine kinase, is a member of the Tec family of kinases and is essential for B cell receptor (BCR) mediated signaling. BTK also plays a critical role in the downstream signaling pathways for the Fcγ receptor in monocytes, the Fcε receptor in granulocytes, and the RANK receptor in osteoclasts. As a result, pharmacological inhibition of BTK is anticipated to provide an effective strategy for the clinical treatment of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. This article will outline the evolution of our strategy to identify a covalent, irreversible inhibitor of BTK that has the intrinsic potency, selectivity, and pharmacokinetic properties necessary to provide a rapid rate of inactivation systemically following a very low dose. With excellent in vivo efficacy and a very desirable tolerability profile, 5a (branebrutinib, BMS-986195) has advanced into clinical studies.

A two-step degradation-reconstruction approach to the carbon-14 radiolabeling of alkyl carboxylic acids is presented. Simple activation via redox-active ester formation was followed by nickelmediated decarboxylative carboxylation to afford a range of complex compounds with ample isotopic incorporations for drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic studies. The practicality and operational simplicity of the protocol was demonstrated by its use in an industrial carbon-14 radiolabeling setting.

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An LC-MS/MS assay was developed and fully validated for the simultaneous quantitation of two coadministered human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), mAb-A and mAb-B of IgG4 subclass, in monkey serum. The total serum proteins were digested with trypsin at 50 °C for 30 min after methanol denaturation and precipitation, dithiothreitol reduction, and iodoacetamide alkylation. The tryptic peptides were chromatographically separated with a C18 column (2.1 × 100 mm, 1.7 μm) with mobile phases of 0.1% formic acid in water and acetonitrile. Four peptides, a unique peptide for each mAb and two confirmatory peptides from different antibody domains, were simultaneously quantified by LC-MS/MS in the multiple reaction-monitoring mode. Stable isotopically labeled peptides with flanking amino acids on C- and N-terminals were used as internal standards to minimize the variability during sample processing and detection. The LC-MS/MS assay showed lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) at 5 μg/mL for mAb-A and 25 μg/mL for mAb-B. The intra- and interassay precision (%CV) was within 10.0% and 8.1%, respectively, and the accuracy (%Dev) was within ±5.4% for all the peptides. Other validation parameters, including sensitivity, selectivity, dilution linearity, processing recovery and matrix effect, autosampler carryover, run size, stability, and data reproducibility, were all evaluated. The confirmatory peptides played a critical role in confirming quantitation accuracy and the integrity of the drugs in the study samples. The robustness of the LC-MS/MS assay and the data agreement with the ligand binding data demonstrated that LC-MS/MS is a reliable and complementary approach for the quantitation of coadministered antibody drugs.

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]brivanib alaninate to intact rats, bile duct-cannulated (BDC) rats, intact monkeys, BDC monkeys, and humans. Fecal excretion was the primary route of elimination of drug-derived radioactivity in animals and humans. In BDC rats and monkeys, the majority of radioactivity was excreted in bile. Brivanib alaninate was rapidly and completely converted via hydrolysis to brivanib in vivo. The area under the curve from zero to infinity of brivanib accounted for 14.2 to 54.3% of circulating radioactivity in plasma in animals and humans, suggesting that metabolites contributed significantly to the total drug-related radioactivity. In plasma from animals and humans, brivanib was a prominent circulating component. All the metabolites that humans were exposed to were also present in toxicological species. On the basis of metabolite exposure and activity against VEGF and FGF receptors of the prominent human circulating metabolites, only brivanib is expected to contribute to the pharmacological effects in humans. Unchanged brivanib was not detected in urine or bile samples, suggesting that metabolic clearance was the primary route of elimination. The primary metabolic pathways were oxidative and conjugative metabolism of brivanib.