Breast cancer classification based on immunohistochemical (IHC) parameters makes a better prognostic definition possible. Both the basal type and the HER2 type breast carcinomas present more unfavourable histopathological and IHC characteristics, as well as a worse survival and less relapse time, while the luminal type breast carcinomas show more benign characteristics and a better prognosis.

B-1 lymphocytes represent a distinct B cell subset with characteristic features that include self-renewing capacity and unusual mitogenic responses. B-1 cells differ from conventional B cells in terms of the consequences of phorbol ester treatment: B-1 cells rapidly enter S phase in response to phorbol ester alone, whereas B-2 cells require a calcium ionophore in addition to phorbol ester to trigger cell cycle progression. To address the mechanism underlying the varied proliferative responses of B-1 and B-2 cells, we evaluated the expression and activity of the G1 cell cycle regulator, cyclin D2, and its associated cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks). Cyclin D2 expression was upregulated rapidly, within 2–4 h, in phorbol ester–stimulated B-1 cells, in a manner dependent on intact transcription/translation, but was not increased in phorbol ester– stimulated B-2 cells. Phorbol ester–stimulated cyclin D2 expression was accompanied by the formation of cyclin D2–Cdk4, and, to a lesser extent, cyclin D2–Cdk6, complexes; cyclin D2– containing complexes were found to be catalytically functional, in terms of their ability to phosphorylate exogenous Rb in vitro and to specifically phosphorylate endogenous Rb on serine780 in vivo. These results strongly suggest that the rapid induction of cyclin D2 by a normally nonmitogenic phorbol ester stimulus is responsible for B-1 cell progression through G1 phase. The ease and rapidity with which cyclin D2 responds in B-1 cells may contribute to the proliferative features of this subset.

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Two new xanthone antibiotics, citreamicin delta (1) and epsilon (2), with potent activity against Gram-positive pathogens including multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MDRSA) were discovered. Compounds 1 and 2 exhibited MIC values < 1 microg/mL versus a number of resistant strains. The compounds were obtained from EtOAc extracts of Streptomyces vinaceus and were purified by countercurrent chromatography and reversed-phase HPLC. Their structures were elucidated using primarily NMR and mass spectroscopy.

Aquaporins (AQPs) are a family of membrane proteins that function as channels facilitating water transport in response to osmotic gradients. These play critical roles in several normal physiological and pathological states and are targets for drug discovery. Selective inhibition of the AQP1 water channel may provide a new approach for the treatment of several disorders including ocular hypertension/glaucoma, congestive heart failure, brain swelling associated with a stroke, corneal and macular edema, pulmonary edema, and otic disorders such as hearing loss and vertigo. We developed a high-throughput assay to screen a library of compounds as potential AQP1 modulators by monitoring the fluorescence dequenching of entrapped calcein in a confluent layer of AQP1-overexpressing CHO cells that were exposed to a hypotonic shock. Promising candidates were tested in a Xenopus oocyte-swelling assay, which confirmed the identification of two lead classes of compounds belonging to aromatic sulfonamides and dihydrobenzofurans with IC50s in the low micromolar range. These selected compounds directly inhibited water transport in AQP1-enriched stripped erythrocyte ghosts and in proteoliposomes reconstituted with purified AQP1. Validation of these lead compounds, by the three independent assays, establishes a set of attractive AQP1 blockers for developing novel, small-molecule functional modulators of human AQP1.

Resistance to currently available antibiotics has become a widely recognized crisis in the medical community. To address this, many companies and researchers are refocusing their attention towards natural products, which have an excellent track record of producing effective antibacterial drugs. The AMRI natural product library was screened for activity against multi-drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MDRSA). The active samples were counter screened for cytotoxicity against the human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cell line to determine an in vitro therapeutic index (in vitro TI). Those samples with a high in vitro TI were selected for fractionation and dereplication. This led to the discovery of a new anthracycline structure. This metabolite, named mutactimycin E (1), exhibited moderate activity against several gram positive organisms. Here we report the isolation, structure elucidation and biological activities of this new compound. Keywords mutactimycin, anthracycline, antibiotic, AmycolatopsisIt has been known for some time that resistance to existing antibiotics is increasing. This is particularly true in hospital settings, but is also found in community-acquired infections. This development, when coupled with the decision by many pharmaceutical companies to abandon antibacterial research in the 1980's and 1990's, resulted in the absence of new antibiotics to combat current resistance mechanisms. In an effort to address this urgent need, we began a screening campaign to identify novel antibiotics from our natural product library. Natural products, particularly those produced by microbial fermentation, were the direct source or inspiration for almost all antibiotics used today and remain the richest source for new antibacterial compound series. Our extensive library consisting of over 280,000 samples was screened for activity against a multi-drug resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 43300). The hits arising out of this assay were then tested against the human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2 to filter out those samples where activity was the result of general cytotoxicity. The resulting subset of samples possessing selectivity for the bacterial target were then fractionated on an HPLC system employing UV, evaporative light scattering, and MS detectors. The eluted fractions were collected into 96-well microtiter plates and submitted for bioassay. Active compounds were subsequently dereplicated on the basis of MS and UV data.One of the hits resulting from our efforts originated from the EtOAc extract of Amycolatopsis strain 17128. A scaledup fermentation of the active strain and subsequent purification of the active compound by reverse phase HPLC yielded mutactimycin E (1) as an orange solid (Fig. 1). LC/MS data for 1 indicated a molecular weight of 560 Daltons. This piece of information along with the UV spectrum was used to search internal and external databases [1]. Analysis of the hits from this search indicated

Through medicinal chemistry lead optimization studies focused on calculated properties and guided by X-ray crystallography and computational modeling, potent pan-JNK inhibitors were identified that showed submicromolar activity in a cellular assay. Using in vitro ADME profiling data, 9t was identified as possessing favorable permeability and a low potential for efflux, but it was rapidly cleared in liver microsomal incubations. In a mouse pharmacokinetics study, compound 9t was brain-penetrant after oral dosing, but exposure was limited by high plasma clearance. Brain exposure at a level expected to support modulation of a pharmacodynamic marker in mouse was achieved when the compound was coadministered with the pan-cytochrome P450 inhibitor 1-aminobenzotriazole.