7 new peer-reviewed papers & 2 methods book chapters QPatch or Qube 384 in Q4

9 new publications were published in Q4 using QPatch or Qube 384.

Two book chapters in the Springer-Nature published methods book ‘Patch Clamp Electrophysiology’ (co-edited by Drs. Mark Dallas & Damian Bell) were written by Sophion scientists, one on Qube perforated patch-clamp, the other on optogenetics using the Opto Qube 384. These chapters add to the growing methods & capabilities available on the Qube.

The remaining 7 were a nice mix of pharma (ESTEVE, Taisho, Quentis Therapeutics, Orion Pharma), a CRO-academic collaboration (NMI-TT/University of Konstanz) & academia (University of Queensland, University of Texas). They also cover a broad range of ion channel science: pain, cancer, gram negative bacterial infectious diseases, cardiac safety, neurotoxicity & venoms.

One exotic highlight came out from a collaboration between the Vetter, Craik & Durek labs at the University of Queensland (Gilding et al., Sci.Adv., 2020), who provide yet another very thorough investigation of the weird & wonderful Australian venomous species. Whilst you’re probably aware of the venomous fauna (snakes, scorpions, spiders, fish-hunting cone snails) even the flora Down Under can be venomous: here they fractionate, chemically define, preform behavioural studies & electrophysiologically determine activity against the Nav1.7 ion channel of the venom of Australian stinging tree. A single sting from this tree can be excruciatingly painful & may last for weeks, even months, as reported in Nature’s Research Highlights.

Boddum, K., Skafte-Pedersen, P., Rolland, J. F., & Wilson, S. (2021). Optogenetics and Optical Tools in Automated Patch Clamping. In Methods in Molecular Biology.

Rosholm, K. R., Boddum, K., & Lindquist, A. (2021). Perforated Whole-Cell Recordings in Automated Patch Clamp Electrophysiology. In Methods in Molecular Biology.

Díaz, J. L., García, M., Torrens, A., Caamaño, A. M., Enjo, J., Sicre, C., Lorente, A., Port, A., Montero, A., Yeste, S., Álvarez, I., Martín, M., Maldonado, R., de laPuente, B., Vidal-Torres, A., Cendán, C. M., Vela, J. M., & Almansa, C. (2020). EST64454: a Highly Soluble σ 1 Receptor Antagonist Clinical Candidate for Pain Management.

Loser, D., Schaefer, J., Danker, T., Möller, C., Brüll, M., Suciu, I., Ückert, A. K., Klima, S., Leist, M., & Kraushaar, U. (2020). Human neuronal signaling and communication assays to assess functional neurotoxicity.

Gilding, E. K., Jami, S., Deuis, J. R., Israel, M. R., Harvey, P. J., Poth, A. G., Rehm, F. B. H., Stow, J. L., Robinson, S. D., Yap, K., Brown, D. L., Hamilton, B. R., Andersson, D., Craik, D. J., Vetter, I., & Durek, T. (2020). Neurotoxic peptides from the venom of the giant Australian stinging tree.

Otsomaa, L., Levijoki, J., Wohlfahrt, G., Chapman, H., Koivisto, A. P., Syrjänen, K., Koskelainen, T., Peltokorpi, S. E., Finckenberg, P., Heikkilä, A., Abi-Gerges, N., Ghetti, A., Miller, P. E., Page, G., Mervaala, E., Nagy, N., Kohajda, Z., Jost, N., Virág, L., … Papp, J. G. (2020). Discovery and characterization of ORM-11372, a novel inhibitor of the sodium-calcium exchanger with positive inotropic activity.

García, M., Virgili, M., Alonso, M., Alegret, C., Farran, J., Fernández, B., Bordas, M., Pascual, R., Burgueño, J., Vidal-Torres, A., Fernández De Henestrosa, A. R., Ayet, E., Merlos, M., Vela, J. M., Plata-Salamán, C. R., & Almansa, C. (2020). Discovery of EST73502, a Dual μ-Opioid Receptor Agonist and σ1Receptor Antagonist Clinical Candidate for the Treatment of Pain.

Soth, M. J., Le, K., Di Francesco, M. E., Hamilton, M. M., Liu, G., Burke, J. P., Carroll, C. L., Kovacs, J. J., Bardenhagen, J. P., Bristow, C. A., Cardozo, M., Czako, B., De Stanchina, E., Feng, N., Garvey, J. R., Gay, J. P., Do, M. K. G., Greer, J., Han, M., … Jones, P. (2020). Discovery of IPN60090, a Clinical Stage Selective Glutaminase-1 (GLS-1) Inhibitor with Excellent Pharmacokinetic and Physicochemical Properties.

Ushiyama, F., Takashima, H., Matsuda, Y., Ogata, Y., Sasamoto, N., Kurimoto-Tsuruta, R., Ueki, K., Tanaka-Yamamoto, N., Endo, M., Mima, M., Fujita, K., Takata, I., Tsuji, S., Yamashita, H., Okumura, H., Otake, K., & Sugiyama, H. (2021). Lead optimization of 2-hydroxymethyl imidazoles as non-hydroxamate LpxC inhibitors: Discovery of TP0586532.