Caco-2 assays

Yamashita et al. [82] also studied the effect of BSA on transport properties in Caco-2 assays. They observed that the permeability of highly lipophilic molecules could be rate limited by the process of desorption off the cell surface into the receiving solution, due to high membrane retention and very low water solubility. They recommended using serum proteins in the acceptor compartment when lipophilic molecules are assayed (which is a common circumstance in discovery settings). 

Yamashita et al. [82] added up to 10 mM taurocholic acid, cholic acid (cmc 2.5 mM), or sodium laurel sulfate (SLS low ionic strength cmc 8.2 mM) to the donating solutions in Caco-2 assays. The two bile acids did not interfere in the transport of dexamethasone. However, SLS caused the Caco-2 cell junctions to become leakier, even at the sub-CMC 1 mM level. Also, the permeability of dexamethasone decreased at 10 mM SLS. 

Yamashita et al. [82] tested the effect of PEG400, DMSO, and ethanol, with up to 10% added to solutions in Caco-2 assays. PEG400 caused a dramatic decrease (75%) in the permeability of dexamethasone at 10% cosolvent concentration DMSO caused a 50% decrease, but ethanol had only a slight decreasing effect. 

In PAMPA measurements each well is usually a one-point-in-time (single-timepoint) sample. By contrast, in the conventional multitimepoint Caco-2 assay, the acceptor solution is frequently replaced with fresh buffer solution so that the solution in contact with the membrane contains no more than a few percent of the total sample concentration at any time. This condition can be called a physically maintained sink. Under pseudo-steady state (when a practically linear solute concentration gradient is established in the membrane phase see Chapter 2), lipophilic molecules will distribute into the cell monolayer in accordance with the effective membrane-buffer partition coefficient, even when the acceptor solution contains nearly zero sample concentration (due to the physical sink). If the physical sink is maintained indefinitely, then eventually, all of the sample will be depleted from both the donor and membrane compartments, as the flux approaches zero (Chapter 2). In conventional Caco-2 data analysis, a very simple equation [Eq. (7.10) or (7.11)] is used to calculate the permeability coefficient. But when combinatorial (i.e., lipophilic) compounds are screened, this equation is often invalid, since a considerable portion of the molecules partitions into the membrane phase during the multitimepoint measurements. 

It is important to remember that Eqs. (7.10) and (7.11) are both based on assumptions that (1) sink conditions are maintained, (2) data are taken early in the transport process (to further assure sink condition), and (3) there is no membrane retention of solute. In discovery settings where Caco-2 assays are used, the validity of assumption 3 is often untested. 

Caco-2 assay permeabilities corrected for the UWL usually include Pu determined as a function of the stirring speed (since the cells are not stable over a wide pH range), as in Eq. (7.57) [511-514,552,578]... 

The trend in the industry has been to automate the Caco-2 permeability assay using semi- or fully automated procedures. With such a system it is possible to obtain a throughput in order of approximately 400-500 compounds per week. Automated Caco-2 assay systems are commercially available through Tecan/BD Bioscience and Bohdan Mettler Toledo. In addition, automated systems for maintenance of cell cultures are commercially available, while totally automated systems for both maintenance and culturing of cells grown on permeable filter supports are under development, e.g., by companies such as The Automation Partnership. 

Here, we briefly describe the automated Caco-2 assay used at the research site in AstraZeneca R D Molndal. The solubility of the test compounds is measured (or theoretically predicted) before they are run in the Caco-2 assay. In order to be able to make correct determinations of the permeability coefficient, the substance must be dissolved when added to cell monolayer in the transport experiment. Compounds with insufficient solubility are therefore not tested. We generally apply a test concentration of 10 pM, but in specific projects or under certain circumstances a concentration of only 1 pM is applied. The test compounds are first prepared in DM SO solution (1 mM) on a parent plate and are then diluted in transport buffer to give a final drug concentration of 10 pM (solution containing 1% DMSO) when added to the cell monolayers. 

Several higher throughput in vitro assays may be used to assess various DMPK properties of NCEs. One common parameter is that HPLC/MS/MS is the method of choice for the analytical step.11 17 26 These higher throughput assays include the Caco-2 assay, p450 enzyme inhibition assay, and in vitro stability assay. Each assay has different requirements and solutions and they will be described individually. 

The human colon adenocarcinoma cell line (Caco-2) assay is still commonly used to measure the potential for a compound to be absorbed. It measures the permeability potential because permeability is a component of the absorption process,3 27 31 Multiple reports discuss the use of HPLC/MS/MS to support the Caco-2 assay.32 38... 

An important DMPK property of a NCE is oral bioavailability (F) of the compound in various pre-clinical species.3 The oral bioavailability of a compound is dependent on several factors including intestinal permeability (estimated by the Caco-2 assay) and hepatic clearance (estimated with an in vitro metabolic stability assay).3 30 The metabolic stability assay is typically performed by incubating test compounds in liver microsomes or hepatocytes. The results can provide estimates of in vivo stability in terms of metabolic liabilities.3 8 59 62 Several authors described this assay as an important tool for the rapid assessment of the DMPK properties of NCEs.3 6 8111819 26 44 59 62-65... 

It has to be pointed out that prediction failures of general ADME models are often related to two major sources namely the quality of experimental data used to derive the model and the interpretation of the final model. These problems are discussed in depth by Stouch et al. (2003). Some models fail as they were built from data collected from different sources and laboratories. Although this might work for some robust standardized ADME assay, it could produce incomparable data for others. Such problems have been reported for example for Caco-2 assays from different laboratories. Even if the experimental... 

As for the standard CACO-2 assay, very often one time point determinations are performed in triplicate using incubator conditions (37 °C, 2 h). 

A dataset comprised of 129 molecules, 100 Sanofi-Aventis proprietary compounds and 29 publicly available compounds, was studied in order to obtain a 3D quantitative structure-property relationship (3D-QSPR) model able to identify the structural features that a molecule should possess in order to be recognized as a substrate of Pgp. All the chosen compounds have an efflux ratio in a Caco-2 assay greater than one, which normally implies that the molecules are Pgp substrates. 

Caco-2 cells are currently used at all levels of pharmaceutical research and development. Automation technologies allow tissue culture labs to easily maintain a large number of Caco-2 cells as well as to perform numerous permeability studies without the introduction of many common human errors. Combinatorial chemistry provides vast arrays of compounds, and Caco-2 assays can be used to assess potential permeability and metabolic issues before much money is invested in the candidate.6... 

Blood Brain Barrier Application of Caco-2 Assay Measure LogPS (permeability x surface area) to estimate ability of compounds to cross blood brain barrier... 

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