Caco-2 cells method

The importance of drug ionization using cell-based methods such as Caco-2 in the in vitro prediction of in vivo absorption was discussed [45]. It was observed that when the apical pH used in Caco-2 studies was lowered from 7.4 to 6.0 a better correlation was obtained with in vivo data, demonstrating that careful selection of experimental conditions in vitro is crucial to produce a reUable model. Studies with Caco-2 monolayers also suggested that the ionic species might contribute considerably to overall drug transport [46]. 

Karlsson, J. P. Artursson, P., A method for the determination of cellular permeability coefficients and aqueous boundary layer thickness in monolayers of intestinal epithelial (Caco-2) cells grown in permeable filter chambers, Int. J. Pharm. 7, 55-64 (1991). 

Several mechanisms are involved in the permeability through Caco-2 cells. In order to obtain a more pure measure of membrane permeability, an experimental method based on ghost erythrocytes (red blood cells which have been emptied of their intracellular content) and diffusion constant measurements using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has been proposed [108]. 

In conclusion, there are several drawbacks to the use of Caco-2 cells in studies of active drug transport. Despite these drawbacks, we note that a recent comprehensive study comparing various P-glycoprotein drug efflux assays in drug discovery came to the conclusion that the Caco-2 transport assay is the method of choice, since it displays a biased responsiveness towards compounds with low or moderate permeability - in other words, towards compounds whose intestinal permeability is most likely to be significantly affected by drug efflux mechanisms [101]. 

Two main factors have guided the need for optimization of the early screening techniques on one hand the use of simple, quick and high-capacity cell monolayer methods, e.g., Caco-2 cell and MDCK and on the other hand the increased synthesis of more lipophilic, insoluble compounds from combinatorial libraries. This has created a vast number of different variants of cell-based assays and has resulted in variability among the data obtained. A need for optimization of as many as possible of the different parameters in order to increase the predictivity and throughput of the model has been suggested in the literature [98-100]. 

A very simple technique is to use a radiolabeled ligand (usually a well-known substrate) of the specific transporter of interest. A recent suggestion for functional quantitation of the apparent affinities (fQ values) to P-gp using Caco-2 cells and the substrate taxol has been published [143], The method can be described simply as (1) determination of b —> a transport of3 H -taxol in normal, untreated Caco-2 cells and (2) determination of b —> a transport of 3H-taxol in the presence of verapamil (0.2 mM). The difference between these two components represents the active transport via P-gp. The two concentrations of the test compound are chosen as approximately 0.25 x K, and 4.0 x K, and for the inhibition of taxol transport, and in the study of Gao et al. [143], 16 pM and 250 pM of the test compound were used... 

Passive diffusion through the lipid bilayer of the epithelium can be described using the partition coefficient between octanol/water (log P) and A log P (the difference between the partition into octanol/water and heptane/ethylene glycol or heptane/ octanol) [157, 158], The lipophilicity of the drug (log P) (or rather log D at a certain pH) can easily be either measured or calculated, and is therefore generally used as a predictor of drug permeability. Recently, a method using artificial membrane permeation (PAMPA) has also been found to describe the passive diffusion in a similar manner to the Caco-2 cell monolayers [159]. 

There are several approaches to estimating absorption using in vitro methods, notably Caco-2 and MDCK cell-based methods or using methods that assess passive permeability, for example the parallel artificial membrane permeation assay (PAMPA) method. These are reviewed elsewhere in this book. The assays are very useful, and usually have an important role in the screening cascades for drug discovery projects. However, as discussed below, the cell-based assays are not without their drawbacks, and it is often appropriate to use ex vivo and/or in vivo absorption assays. 

The Caco-2 permeability assay is usually performed in a Transwell device (Figure 18.1). The Transwell contains two compartments a donor and a receiver compartment. The apical donor compartment contains a porous membrane that supports the growth of the Caco-2 monolayer. Caco-2 cells are seeded on the porous membrane. Upon confluency of the cell culture, the compound is added into the donor compartment at a concentration range from one to several hundred micromolar. Samples are collected from the receiver compartment for up to 2 h, then LC-UV or LC-MS methods are used to quantify compound in each sample. The permeability coefficient of the compound is calculated based on the following equation ... 

The suitability and general applicability of an artificial membrane and PAMPA in vitro permeation methods were evaluated for their ability to predict drug absorption potential in comparison to Caco-2 cell literature data [57], A linear correlation (R2 = 0.957) was obtained between artificial membrane Papp and human absorption data, indicating the good predictive ability of the proposed method for HP compounds with greater differentiation of drugs with /a below 50% [57],... 

In vitro assays are increasingly being used. Some of the reasons are cost, availability of more rapid results, and avoidance of negative publicity. Assays such as cytochrome P-450 enzymes, the Ames test, and the mouse lymphoma tk test are in vitro methods. For absorption studies, Caco-2 (Exhibit 5.9) and Madin-Darby canine kidney cell assays are now routinely used. Hepatocyte cell lines with metabolism capacity are being developed to test drug metabolism and toxicity. All these examples show that, where possible, pharmaceutical firms are gradually dispensing with animal studies. 

Another in vitro method for permeability screening was parallel artificial membrane permeation assay (PAMPA) initially reported by Kansy. In a PAMPA permeability screen, the Caco-2 cell mono-layer membrane is replaced by an artificially generated membrane. Versions of different artificial membranes that lack active transporter systems and pores have been developed to mimic the in vivo transcellular intestinal epithelial cell barrier. Therefore, the PAMPA screen only measures the intrinsic... 

LC/MS/MS techniques with selective and sensitive detection methods make it possible to quantitatively analyze samples from Caco-2 cell and PAMPA buffer matrices. A high-throughput permeability screen with robust LC/MS technology can quickly generate information about structure-permeability relationships that are extremely valuable in the lead optimization phase for the selection of pre-clinical candidates with favorable oral bioavailability properties. 

R. M. Giuliani, S. Maggi, C. A. et al. Simultaneous LC-MS/MS determination of reference pharmaceuticals as a method for the characterization of the Caco-2 cell monolayer absorption properties. 

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