No abstract

No abstract

We have developed a high-throughput purification system to purify combinatorial libraries at a 50-100-mg scale with a throughput of 250 samples/instrument/day. We applied an accelerated retention window method to shorten the purification time and targeted one fraction per injection to simplify data tracking, lower QC workload, and simplify the postpurification processing. First, we determined the accurate retention time and peak height for all compounds using an eight-channel parallel LC/UV/MS system, and calculated the specific preparative HPLC conditions for individual compounds. The preparative HPLC conditions include the compound-specific gradient segment for individual compounds with a fixed gradient slope and the compound-specific UV or ELSD threshold for triggering a fraction collection device. A unique solvent composition or solvent strength was programmed for each compound in the preparative HPLC in order to elute all compounds at the same target time. Considering the possible deviation of the predicted retention time, a 1-min window around the target time was set to collect peaks above a threshold based on UV or ELSD detection. Dual column preparative instruments were used to maximize throughput. We have purified more than 500 000 druglike compounds using this system in the past 3 years. We report various components of this high-throughput purification system and some of our purification results.

The determination of GST levels in blood has been proposed to a marker of tumour burden in general, whereas level of the P1 isoenzyme has been identified as a prognostic factor for breast-cancer patients receiving no adjuvant chemotherapy. Particular glutathione S-transferase (GST) isoenzymes differ in their substrate specificity, however, and their presence or absence might therefore account for the resistance of tumours to particular chemotherapeutic drugs, as already established for cultured cell lines. Determination of the GST isoenzyme profile of a cancer tissue could have prognostic value in the selection of treatment if the levels ofexpression/activity show a degree of variation comparable with that exhibited by actual patient responses. Using reversed-phase h.p.l.c. to quantify affinity-isolated GSTs, we have analysed full isoenzyme profiles in the first large sample of matched normal and cancer human tissues (18 breast-cancer patients). In no patients did the tumour tissues express any isoenzymes that were not found in normal breast tissue. In addition to the GSTs, another enzyme, identified as enoyl-CoA isomerase, was regularly found in breast tissue cytosol following elution from a hexyl-glutathione affinity column. In most cases, the average level of GST was substantially elevated in the cancer tissues above the levels in normal breast tissue from the same patient. Furthermore, the relative levels of the isoenzymes were substantially more variable in the cancer samples than in the normal breast tissue, providing a plausible mechanism for the well established variable response to treatment.

No abstract