Human liver microsomes (HLM) are a commonly used tool to study drug metabolism in vitro. Typical experiments conducted using suspensions of HLM can be challenging to separate from the incubation solution without lengthy ultracentrifugation steps. Magnetizable beads coated with silica (MGBS) were found to bind strongly to HLM, which could then be isolated and purified using a magnet. Binding of HLM to the MGBS (HLM-MGBS) was demonstrated to be mediated by strong interactions between microsomal phospholipids and MGBS, as artificially prepared phosphatidylcholine (PC) liposomes could be more efficiently captured by the MGBS. HLM-MGBS complexes retained functional cytochrome P450 and uridine-diphosphate-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) activity as indicated by CYP2C8-mediated amodiaquine de-ethylation, CYP3A4mediated midazolam 1'hydroxylation, UGT1A1-mediated glucuronidation of estradiol, UGT1A9-mediated glucuronidation of propofol, and UGT2B7-mediated glucuronidation of zidovudine. When comparing suspension HLM alone with HLM-MGBS complexes containing equivalent amounts of HLM, the intrinsic clearance (CL int ) of CYP450 substrates was comparable; however, CL int of UGT1A1, UGT1A9, and UGT2B7 was increased in the HLM-MGBS system between 1.5-and 6-fold. HLM-MGBS used in an incubation could also be readily replaced with fresh HLM-MGBS to maintain the presence of active enzymes. Thus, HLM-MGBS demonstrate increased in vitro metabolic efficiency and manipulability, providing a new platform for determination of accurate metabolic parameters. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTThe following work describes the strong binding of HLM to magnetizable beads. In addition, the preservation of enzyme activity on the bound HLM provides a novel means to conduct preclinical metabolism studies.

Long-term hepatocyte culture systems such as HepatoPac are well suited to evaluate the metabolic turnover of low clearance (CL) drugs because of their sustained metabolic capacity and longerterm viability. Erythromycin (ERY), a moderate, mechanism-based inhibitor of CYP3A, was evaluated as a tool in the HepatoPac model to assess contribution of CYP3A to the clearance of drug candidates. ERY inhibited CYP3A activity by 58% and 80% at 3 and 10 mM, respectively, for up to 72 hours. At 30 mM, ERY inhibited midazolam hydroxylation by >85% for the entire 144-hour duration of the incubation. Alprazolam CL int was inhibited 58% by 3 mM of ERY, 75% by 15 mM of ERY, 89% by 30 mM of ERY, and 94% by 60 mM of ERY. ERY (30 mM) did not markedly affect CL int of substrates for several other major cytochrome P450 isoforms evaluated and did not markedly inhibit uridine diphosphoglucuronosyl transferase (UGT) isoforms 1A1, 1A3, 1A4, 1A6, 1A9, 2B7, or 2B15 as assessed using recombinant UGTs. ERY only mildly increased CYP3A4 gene expression by 2.1-fold (14% of rifampicin induction) at 120 mM, indicating that at effective concentrations for inhibition of CYP3A activity (30-60 mM), arylhydrocarbon receptor, constitutive androstane receptor, and pregnane-X-receptor activation are not likely to markedly increase levels of other drug-metabolizing enzymes or transporters. ERY at concentrations up to 60 mM was not toxic for up to 6 days of incubation. Use of ERY to selectively inhibit CYP3A in high-functioning, long-term hepatocyte models such as HepatoPac can be a valuable strategy to evaluate the contribution of CYP3A metabolism to the overall clearance of slowly metabolized drug candidates. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTThis work describes the use of erythromycin as a selective inhibitor of CYP3A to assess the contribution of CYP3A in the metabolism of compounds using long-term hepatocyte cultures.

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