Special Issue Alert: Transporter-drug interactions and transporter-mediated toxicity in the liver/hepatocyte

Drug Metabolism Reviews

August 2010 Vol. 42, No. 3.

From the Editor-in-Chief:

In the last 20 years, transporters have become the target of many investigations. Their roles in the disposition and development of drugs have been recognized by scientific researchers, drug authorities, and clinicians. The wide substrate specificity or "unspecificity" of these proteins, their presence in many membranes, and their contribution to pharmacokinetics have produced a lot of, as yet, unanswered questions. It has turned out that these proteins may also be the base of drug-drug interactions in human therapy. The investigation of mutations of transporters may contribute to understanding the mechanism of some human diseases. Transporters are also potential targets of new drugs. This special issue edited by Dr. Laszlo Vereczkey, contains seven articles that may be of interest to people dealing with the structure, regulation, activity, and clinical significance of these proteins.

Jack Hinson

Impact of predictive pharmacokinetics

The implementation of studies aiming at predicting ADME properties at preclinical drug discovery stages has been central in the effort to reduce attrition rates.
In a clear and authoritative article reviewing the development, over the past three decades, of Discovery Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics research, Dr Summerfield analyses the key elements which moved the field forward and anticipates how new paradigms, such as translational medicine and systems thinking, will push it further.
He concludes that, although the predictive metabolism and pharmacokinetics approach already proved successful, a strong impact on drug pipelines will only be achieved when pharmacodynamics and toxicology are integrated in a similar way to drug discovery programmes.
The article will be available in the March issue of Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery