Kyeong-Ryoon Lee

Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology KRIBB | KRIBB · Laboratory of Pharmacokinetics

Calcitriol, a vitamin D3 metabolite, is approved for various indications because it is the bioactive form of vitamin D in the body. The purpose of this study was to predict the clinical significance of cytochrome P450 (CYP) induction by calcitriol using in vitro human cryopreserved hepatocytes, HepaRG experimental systems, and various pharmacokinet...

A physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model was developed for YH4808, a novel potassium-competitive acid blocker, using the SimCYP® Simulator based on the physicochemical, in vitro preclinical and clinical data of YH4808. The PBPK model was optimized using YH4808 concentrations obtained from the single-dose phase I clinical trial. Overall,...

We investigated whether human serum albumin (HSA) in suspended human hepatocytes would affect the uptake clearance of anionic drugs with high binding to HSA and improve the extrapolation of in vivo hepatic clearance from in vitro uptake clearance by the hepatocytes via the "albumin-mediated" hepatic uptake mechanism. The uptake clearances for total...

• The purpose of this study was to evaluate the acute effect of a small molecule inhibitor of DGAT-1 on triglycerides and cholesterol in polygenic type 2 diabetic TallyHo/JngJ (TH) mice. PF-04620110, a potent and selective DGAT-1 inhibitor, was used as a model compound in this study and which was administered to TH and ICR mice. • The concentration...

Hair loss is driven by multiple factors, including genetics. Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a condition in which treatments necessitate prolonged compliance with prescribed medications. We have developed IVL3001, a long-acting injectable (LAI) formulation of finasteride encapsulated within poly lactic-co-glycolic acid microspheres, to enhance the e...

The blood-brain-barrier (BBB) is made up of blood vessels whose permeability enables the passage of some compounds. A predictive model of BBB permeability is important in the early stages of drug development. The predicted BBB permeabilities of drugs have been confirmed using a variety of in vitro methods to reduce the quantities of drug candidates...

Background/aim: Fingolimod is a sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor modulator that prevents lymphocytes egress from lymphoid organs. It has been used as a disease-modifying drug for human multiple sclerosis and has shown better therapeutic effects than other conventional therapies. Therefore, this study was performed to obtain preclinical data of fin...

Organic cation transporter 2 (OCT2) is predominantly expressed in the basolateral membrane of renal proximal tubule cells and contributes to the renal excretion of various drugs such as metformin, cisplatin, oxaliplatin, cimetidine, and lamivudine. Cisplatin, an anticancer agent for various cancers, is a substrate of OCT2, and cisplatin-induced nep...

Enavogliflozin is a sodium-dependent glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor approved for clinical use in South Korea. As SGLT2 inhibitors are a treatment option for patients with diabetes, enavogliflozin is expected to be prescribed in various populations. Physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modelling can rationally predict the concentr...

Background Pharmacomicrobiomics, which has recently emerged as a new strategy for personalized medicine, is the investigation of the influence of microbial variability on drug pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and safety. The roles of gut microbiota in drug pharmacokinetics should be thoroughly investigated, given the significant implications of gut micr...

Understanding possible follow-up actions on in vitro findings helps determine the necessity of labeling for drug interactions. We analyzed information for in vitro findings on transporter-mediated interactions of drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research for the last five years (i.e., 2017-202...

Alpelisib is the first alpha-specific phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor indicated for the treatment of hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative, PI3K catalytic subunit alpha-mutated, advanced, or metastatic breast cancer. Substantial attempts have been made to extend its clinical use to other types o...

Background Fluconazole can be effective in the treatment of superficial mycoses in dogs. However, the pharmacokinetics of fluconazole have not yet been evaluated to determine its optimal dosing regimen. Objectives This study aimed to determine the plasma concentration of fluconazole after single and multiple administrations at two different dosage...

Drug interactions can induce significant clinical impacts, either by increasing adverse effects or by decreasing the therapeutic effect of drugs, and thus, need to be explored thoroughly. Clinically significant drug interactions can be induced by organic anion transporter 1 (OAT1) and OAT3 when concomitant medications competitively interact with th...

YH4808 is a novel potassium‐competitive acid blocker that is under clinical development to treat patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease and peptic ulcer diseases. In this study, the pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) profiles of YH4808 were modeled in healthy male volunteers who received a single oral dose of YH4808 at 30, 50, 100...

A physiologically based pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PBPK/PD) model for tegoprazan and its major metabolite M1 was developed to predict PK and PD profiles under various scenarios. The PBPK model for tegoprazan and M1 was developed and predicted using the SimCYP® simulator and verified using clinical study data obtained after a single administra...

Fexuprazan is a potassium-competitive acid blocker (P-CAB). The compounds in this newly developed drug family suppress intragastric acidity. As there are already other acid-suppressing drugs on the market, such as H2 antagonists and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), it would be informative to compare the biological effects of fexuprazan against anothe...

Olaparib is a first-in-class poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase oral inhibitor used to treat various tumors. In this study, we clarified the roles of ABCB1/Abcb1 and ABCG2/Abcg2 transporters in restricting olaparib distribution to the brain. Olaparib was efficiently transported by human ABCG2, human ABCB1, and mouse Abcg2 in vitro. In the in vivo disposi...

Background Transporters play crucial roles in the pharmacokinetics of drugs, consequently influencing efficacy and toxicity by unexpectedly altering drug concentrations. Epigenetic regulation by microRNAs (miRNAs) is a critical determinant of transporter function. Several miRNAs have been reported to regulate transporter expression via direct or in...

Niclosamide, which is an anti-tapeworm drug, was developed in 1958. However, recent studies have demonstrated the antiviral effects of niclosamide against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19. In this study, we developed and validated a quantitative analysis method for the determination of niclosamide in rat and dog plasma using liquid chrom...

Advanced technologies are required for generating human intestinal epithelial cells (hIECs) harboring cellular diversity and functionalities to predict oral drug absorption in humans and study normal intestinal epithelial physiology. We developed a reproducible two-step protocol to induce human pluripotent stem cells to differentiate into highly ex...

Fexuprazan is a new drug candidate in the potassium-competitive acid blocker (P-CAB) family. As proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), P-CABs inhibit gastric acid secretion and can be used to treat gastric acid-related disorders such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models predict drug interactions as...

The enzyme leucyl-tRNA synthetase (LRS) and the amino acid leucine regulate the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. Leucine-dependent mTORC1 activation depends on GTPase activating protein events mediated by LRS. In a prior study, compound BC-LI-0186 was discovered and shown to interfere with the mTORC1 signaling pathway by in...

Supinoxin is a novel anticancer drug candidate targeting the Y593 phospho-p68 RNA helicase, by exhibiting antiproliferative activity and/or suppression of tumor growth. This study aimed to characterize the in vitro and in vivo pharmacokinetics of supinoxin and attempt physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling in rats. Supinoxin has good...

Abstract Larotrectinib is an orally administered drug and the first and only selective pan-tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) inhibitor in clinical development to treat cancer patients harboring a neurotrophic receptor tyrosine kinase gene fusion. In this study, an analytical method to quantify the TRK inhibitor in mouse and human plasma was develop...

Aims: To genetically engineer the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica for de novo production of tetraacetylphytosphingosine (TAPS), a precursor of phytosphingosine, and optimization of fermentation conditions for high yield. Methods and results: We successfully constructed a TAPS-producing Y. lipolytica CE3 strain by co-expression of Wickerhamo...

Polo-like kinase-1 (Plk1) plays a key role in mitosis and has been identified as an attractive anticancer drug target. Plk1 consists of two drug-targeting sites, namely, N-terminal kinase domain (KD) and C-terminal polo-box domain (PBD). As KD-targeting inhibitors are associated with severe side effects, here we report on the pyrazole-based Plk1 PB...

Scytonemin is a yellow-green ultraviolet sunscreen pigment present in different genera of aquatic and terrestrial blue-green algae, including marine cyanobacteria. In the present study, the anti-inflammatory activities of scytonemin were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Topical application of scytonemin inhibited 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate...

The potential inhibitory effect of quercetin, a major plant flavonol, on breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) activity was investigated in this study. The presence of quercetin significantly increased the cellular accumulation and associated cytotoxicity of the BCRP substrate mitoxantrone in human cervical cancer cells (HeLa cells) in a concentr...

Tacrolimus is an immunosuppressive drug with a narrow therapeutic index and larger interindividual variability. We identified genetic variants to predict tacrolimus exposure in healthy Korean males using machine learning algorithms such as decision tree, random forest, and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression. rs776746...

Motolimod (VTX-2337) is an agonist of toll-like receptor 8. In this study, a novel and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed for quantifying motolimod in rat plasma and subsequently used in a pharmacokinetic study. Proteins were precipitated from plasma samples using acetonitrile prior to the analysis. GS-962...

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical monomer widely used in the production of hard plastics for food containers and personal items. Through improper industrial control and disposal, BPA has become a pervasive environmental contaminant, and toxicological studies have shown potent xenobiotic endocrine disruptor activity. Prenatal exposure in particular ca...

Cenobamate is a candidate drug that is being evaluated in a phase 3 clinical trial as an epilepsy treatment. In the present study, we developed and validated a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for assaying cenobamate in rat plasma. Acetonitrile was used for plasma protein precipitation, whereas carisbamate was used a...

In this study, we developed a method for the determination of Penicillium griseofulvum‐oriented pyripyropene A (PPPA), a selective inhibitor of acyl‐coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase 2, in mouse and human plasma and validated it using liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry. Pyripyropene A (PPPA) and an internal standard, carbamazepine,...

We previously reported that MDR-1339, an inhibitor of β-amyloid protein aggregation, was likely to be eliminated by biotransformation in rats. The objective of this study was to determine the chemical identity of metabolites derived from this aggregate inhibitor and to characterize the kinetics of formation of these metabolites in rats. Using high...

The effects of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and human serum albumin (HSA) on the unbound hepatic uptake clearance (PSu,inf) of the organic anion transporting polypeptide (Oatp/OATP) substrates 1-anilino-8-naphthalene sulfonate (ANS) and pitavastatin (PTV) were determined using primary cultured hepatocytes of rat and isolated hepatocytes of human, res...

1. We characterized the pharmacokinetics of tafamidis, a novel drug to treat transthyretin-related amyloidosis, in rats after intravenous and oral administration at doses of 0.3–3 mg/kg. In vitro Caco-2 cell permeability and liver microsomal stability, as well as in vivo tissue distribution and plasma protein binding were also examined. 2. After in...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the permeability of small molecules into the brain via the blood-brain barrier in zebrafish and to investigate the possibility of using this animal model as a screening tool during the early stages of drug discovery. Fifteen compounds were used to understand the permeation into the brain in zebrafish and...

CYP enzymes and hOATP1B1 are reported to be involved in the pharmacokinetics of lobeglitazone (LB), a new PPARγ agonist. Atorvastatin (ATV), a substrate for CYP3A and hOATP1B1, is likely to be co-administered with LB in patients with the metabolic syndrome. We report herein on a study of potential interactions between LB and ATV in rats. When LB wa...

The objective of this study was to examine the feasibility of functional expression of the human organic anion transporting polypeptide 1B1 (hOATP1B1) forms in the liver of the mouse. After the mouse received the gene of interest (i.e., luciferase as the reporter or hOATP1B1) via hydrodynamic gene delivery (HGD) method, the expression was found to...

We characterized the pharmacokinetics of enzalutamide, a novel anti-prostate cancer drug, in rats after intravenous and oral administration in the dose range 0.5-5 mg/kg. Tissue distribution, liver microsomal stability, and plasma protein binding were also examined. After intravenous injection, systemic clearance, volumes of distribution at steady...

As PI3K/Akt signaling is frequently deregulated in a wide variety of human tumors, PI3K inhibitors are an emerging class of drugs for cancer treatment. The monitoring of the drug behavior and distribution in the biological system can play an important role for targeted therapy and provide information regarding the response or resistance to availabl...

Inflammation plays a critical defensive role in the human body. However, excessive or aberrant inflammatory responses contribute to many acute and chronic diseases. The Nrf2-ARE pathway plays a pivotal role in the regulation of inflammatory markers, such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). Based on this concept,...

Cancer chemoprevention with natural phytochemical compounds is an emerging strategy to prevent, impede, delay, or cure cancer. This chapter reviews the basic methods used to study the cancer chemopreventive potential of dietary phytochemicals acting by activating the transcriptional factor, nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2 or NFE2L...

In this study, we developed a method for the determination of PF-04620110 (2-{(1r,4r)-4-[4-(4-amino-5-oxo-7,8-dihydropyrimido[5,4-f][1,4]oxazepin-6(5H)-yl)phenyl]cyclohexyl}acetic acid), a novel diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 (DGAT-1) inhibitor, in rat plasma and validated it using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Rat pl...

A method for assaying a novel phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor, 2-aryl-7(3′,4′-dialkoxyphenyl)-pyrazolo [1,5-alpha] pyrimidine (PDE-310), was developed and validated in rat plasma using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS-MS). Rat plasma samples were processed by liquid–liquid extraction with ethyl acetate and injected onto the LC–MS...

Several in vivo and in vitro studies have assessed methods of evaluating the cardio toxicity of compounds during drug development due to its importance for predicting human toxicity. However, in vivo/in vitro relationships have not yet been reported using a zebrafish model. This study determined the bradycardia of 15 compounds by evaluating the cha...

1. This study evaluated the pharmacokinetics of the novel TAZ modulator TM-25659 in rats following intravenous and oral administration at dose ranges of 0.5-5 mg/kg and 2-10 mg/kg, respectively. Plasma protein binding, plasma stability, liver microsomal stability, CYP inhibition, and transport in Caco-2 cells were also evaluated. 2. After intraveno...

FK-3000 can inhibit proliferation of carcinomas and arrest the growth of carcinoma cells through cytotoxic (apoptosis induction) and cytostatic (cell cycle arrest) effects. A rapid and sensitive assay was developed and validated using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) for FK-3000 in rat plasma. FK-3000 was extracted with ethyl acetate...

A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) assay was developed and validated for the quantification of lurasidone, an atypical antipsychotic drug, in rat plasma, bile, and urine. Rat plasma, bile, or urine samples were processed by liquid–liquid extraction and injected onto an LC-MS system for the quantification of lurasidone and ziprasidone...

The objectives of this study were to investigate the allele frequencies and linkage disequilibrium (LD) in the organic anion transporting polypeptide 1B3 (OATP1B3) in the Korean population and to examine the functional consequences. Using samples from 48 Koreans, direct sequencing was carried out to determine the allele frequencies and LD of OATP1B...

TM-25659 compound, a novel TAZ modulator, is developed for the control of bone loss and obesity. TAZ is known to bind to a variety of transcription factors to control cell differentiation and organ development. A selective and sensitive method was developed for the determination of TM-25659 concentrations in rat plasma. The drug was measured by liq...

A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) assay was developed and validated for the quantification of cilnidipine, a calcium channel antagonist, in human plasma. Plasma samples were processed by liquid-liquid extraction and the analyte, along with nimodipine (an internal standard), and analyzed using selected ion monitoring (SIM) for detect...

KR-66223 is a novel dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor that is under development for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. We studied the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics of KR-66223 in rats, monkeys, and dogs to predict PK/PD profiles in humans. KR-66223 exhibited a moderate volume of distribution (0.3-1.8 L/kg), moderate syst...

An assay method for the determination of oltipraz, a candidate drug for the treatment of liver fibrosis and liver cirrhosis, was developed in rat plasma using a fast-flow protein precipitation (FF-PPT) method coupled with LC-MS/MS for quantification to reduce the labor and to improve the speed of analysis. The applicability of the assay to pharmaco...

The objective of this study was to characterize the systemic and tissue kinetics of 2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-5-(3-methoxypropyl) benzofuran (SNU-0039), an inhibitor of β-amyloid protein aggregation, in rats. Simultaneous fitting of the data to polyexponential equations indicated that the systemic clearance and steady state volume of distribution wer...

This study aimed to characterise the pharmacokinetics of lurasidone, a new atypical anti-psychotic drug, in rats after intravenous and oral administration at dose range 0.5-2.5 and 2.5-10 mg/kg, respectively. Moreover, tissue distribution, liver microsomal stability and plasma protein binding were estimated. After intravenous injection, systemic cl...

A single-dose glass ampoule was developed for ease of administration. When glass ampoules are opened, resulting in contamination by particulate matter. Reducing its contamination may minimize the risk in patients due to particulates. This study reports on an attempt to reduce insoluble particulate contamination by developing methods for the precise...

Decursinol is a major coumarin derived from the roots of Angelica gigas and has various pharmacological effects against inflammation, angiogenesis, nociceptive pain and Alzheimer's disease. In vitro and in vivo studies were conducted to characterize the metabolism and pharmacokinetics of decursinol. Decursinol exhibited high stability to oxidative...

The objective of this study was to characterize the systemic and tissue kinetics of DMB, an inhibitor of β-amyloid protein aggregation synthesized by our research group, in rats for the purpose of predicting its pharmacokinetics in humans. In rats, the clearance and volume of distribution were not dependent on the intravenous dose, in the range fro...

The aim of this study was to study the feasibility of predicting tissue to plasma partition coefficients in vivo by in vitro studies Tissue to plasma partition coefficients (Kd) for five tissues (i.e., liver, brain, kidney heart and lung) were determined from in vivo and in vitro studies for three model drugs (i.e., ranitidine, quinine and theophyl...

The objective of this study was to examine the feasibility of functional expression of polymorphic OATP1B1s in vivo in the mouse liver. Hydrodynamic gene delivery (HGD) (viz, gene delivery with a rapid intravenous injection of a large volume) with plasmid DNA containing OATP1B1 genes (i.e., wild-type or 521T/C variant form) was used to express the...

The objective of the present study was to develop a rapid and sensitive method for the determination of zabofloxacin, a novel, broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone antibiotic, in rat plasma. Rat plasma samples were deproteinized with methanol, and then were injected into an LC-MS system for quantification. Zabofloxacin and enrofloxacin, which served as a...

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the relative contribution of the direct pathway in overall brain transport for 17 model drugs with different physicochemical properties after nasal administrations and to identify factors that govern the fraction of the dose transported to the brain via the direct pathway (F(a, direct)). When the model...

The objective of this study was to characterize the mechanism that controls the transport of donepezil into the brain. The apparent brain uptake clearance (CL(app,br)) was decreased as a function of the dose of donepezil, suggesting an involvement of a saturable transport process via transporter(s) in the penetration across the blood-brain barrier...

An analytical procedure was developed/validated for the quantification of artesunate (ARTS) and a metabolite, dihydroartemisinin (DHA), in human plasma. Plasma samples were processed by solid-phase extraction and analyzed by LC-MS. The detector response was specific and linear for ARTS and DHA concentrations in the range of 5–1000 ng/mL. Intra-/int...

The human organic anion transporting polypeptide1B3 (OATP1B3, also known as OATP8) is expressed specifically in the liver and thought to be responsible for transporting variety of endo-/enxo-genous chemicals into the liver. However, the pharmacogenetic significance for the anion transporter has not been fully delineated in the literature. Therefore...

Recently, it was shown that intranasal administration, compared with other administration routes, of certain drugs led to an enhanced transport to the brain. However, in the literature, physicochemical characteristics of drugs, necessary for an enhanced delivery from the nose to the brain, has not been systemically studied. Therefore, the objective...

Decursinol, a major coumarin from the roots of Angelica gigas Nakai, have been known to possess numerous pharmacological against inflammation, angiogenesis, nociceptive pain, and alzheimers disease in various animal models. Recently, it marketed as a functional food in USA and Europe for minor pain relief. In vitro and in vivo studies were conducte...

It is now generally accepted that Biopharmaceutical Classification System (BCS) was shown to be practically useful in the development of oral formulation of drugs. Since pharmaceutical basis for the classification, viz, membrane permeability and aqueous solubility, is also relevant in the characteristics of BBB penetration, BCS may have certain app...

2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-5-(3-methoxypropyl)benzofuran is an experimental new drug candidate for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. In the literature, the pharmacokinetic characteristics of the compound (e.g., absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion) was not reported. Therefore, the objective of this study was to characterize the kinet...