An overview of toxicogenomics. (41/1551)

Toxicogenomics is a rapidly developing discipline that promises to aid scientists in understanding the molecular and cellular effects of chemicals in biological systems. This field encompasses global assessment of biological effects using technologies such as DNA microarrays or high throughput NMR and protein expression analysis. This review provides an overview of advancing multiple approaches (genomic, proteomic, metabonomic) that may extend our understanding of toxicology and highlights the importance of coupling such approaches with classical toxicity studies.  (+info)

Cambridge Healthtech Institute's 2nd Annual Conference on Pharmacogenomics Europe: presaging profits. (42/1551)

Pharmacogenomics promises to offer distinct strategic advantages to pharmaceutical companies, physicians, providers and patients. Cambridge Healthtech Institute's 2nd Annual Conference on 'Pharmacogenomics Europe: Presaging Profits' covered all aspects of pharmacogenomics and gave scientists from both academia and from pharmaceutical and biotech companies a great opportunity to discuss the latest progress in pharmacogenomic research. The meeting considered technologies for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) screening and expression profiling, bioinformatic tools for data evaluation and gave an overview on the state of affairs and novel approaches to implement pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics into drug development and medical treatment. The major strength of the meeting was the merging of scientists from many different disciplines, such as clinicians, pharmacologists, molecular biologists, engineers and bioinformatics experts, into one meeting.  (+info)

Gentris corporation. (43/1551)

Gentris Corporation is engaged in the development and rapid commercialization of innovative proprietary clinical pharmacogenomic products and services. The company provides global pharmaceutical research organizations with turn-key pharmacogenomic solutions to improve the efficiency and predictability of drug development. The ultimate benefit to these organizations is to shorten drug development cycles, improve new drug approval rates and allow marginal drugs to advance towards final approval. In the near future, the company will develop specialized, high quality, reliable diagnostic products, which will provide physicians and their patients with access to pharmacogenomic testing, as personalized medicine becomes the new standard of medical practice.  (+info)

A pharmacogenetic inducible approach to the study of NMDA/alphaCaMKII signaling in synaptic plasticity. (44/1551)

We recently introduced an inducible pharmacogenetic approach where pharmacological manipulations can be used to reveal recessive mutant phenotypes in a temporally controlled manner. This approach takes advantage of synergisms between pharmacological and genetic manipulations to alter the function of specific signaling pathways. For example, mice heterozygous for a point mutation (T286A) in the alpha-calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (alphaCaMKII) gene show normal learning and memory. However, a concentration of an NMDA receptor antagonist (CPP) that does not affect learning in wild-type (WT) littermates, reveals learning deficits in this heterozygote (alphaCaMKII(T286A+/-)). Here, we show that pretetanic application of a concentration of CPP (0.1 microM) ineffective in WT hippocampal slices induced deficits in alphaCaMKII(T286A+/-) slices in hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP), a mechanism thought to be involved in learning and memory. Importantly, posttetanic application of CPP (0.1 microM) had no effect on the expression or maintenance of LTP in hippocampal slices from alphaCaMKII(T286A+/-) mice. Thus, this pharmacogenetic approach allowed us to demonstrate that NMDA receptor-dependent autophosphorylation of alphaCaMKII is required during the induction but not maintenance of LTP. This ability to temporally induce recessive mutant phenotypes could be applicable to a broad range of problems and genetic systems.  (+info)

Pharmacogenetics of tardive dyskinesia: combined analysis of 780 patients supports association with dopamine D3 receptor gene Ser9Gly polymorphism. (45/1551)

Variability among individuals in their therapeutic response to psychotropic drugs and in susceptibility to adverse effects is considerable. Pharmacogenetics addresses the contribution of genetic factors to this variability. An important focus of interest in pharmacogenetics has been on candidate genes that play a role in susceptibility to the antipsychotic drug-induced adverse effect, tardive dyskinesia (TD). Four published studies have reported an association between a serine (ser) to glycine (gly) polymorphism in exon 1 of the dopamine D3 receptor gene (DRD3) and TD; three failed to replicate this finding and one found an insignificant trend. We examined the association in a pooled sample of 780 patients (317 with TD and 463 without TD) drawn from 6 research centers, who were divided into 8 groups based on their population origin. The analysis employed stepwise logistic regression so as to allow confounding effects of group, age, and gender to be taken into account. TD was significantly associated with DRD3 gly allele carrier status (x(2)=4.46, df 1, p =.04) and with DRD3 genotype (x(2)=6.62, df 2, p =.04) over and above the effect of group. Similar positive effects were observed when controlling for age and gender (x(2)=5.02, df 1, p =.02 for gly allele carrier status; x(2) = 7.51, df 2, p =.002 for genotype). Examining abnormal involuntary movement scores as a continuous variable, we found that patients homozygous for the gly allele had significantly higher scores than ser-gly heterozygotes (p =.006) or ser-ser homozygotes (p <.0001). We also performed a meta-analysis that included, besides the groups in the combined analysis, three other published studies on DRD3 and TD. The Mantel-Haenszel pooled odds ratio for DRD3 gly allele carrier status increasing susceptibility to TD was 1.33 (95% CI 1.04-1.70, p =.02); the cumulative pooled estimate showed an odds ratio of 1.52 (95% CI 1.08-1.68, p <.0001). These findings support a small but significant contribution of the DRD3 ser9gly polymorphism to TD susceptibility that is demonstrable over and above population effects and the effect of age and gender on the phenotype.  (+info)

Pharmacogenetic challenges for the health care system. (46/1551)

Pharmacogenetics--the effect of genotype on drug response--holds the promise of safer and more effective drug therapy. Genetic tests would be routinely given to patients prior to prescription of a drug, with therapeutic decisions based on the patient's drug-response profile. This paper examines the operational changes and the ethical, legal, and policy challenges that pharmacogenetic medicine poses for key actors in the health care system. Adaptation by drug companies, regulatory agencies, physicians, patients, insurers, and public funding agencies will be necessary to integrate pharmacogenetic medicine into health care.  (+info)

Pharmacogenomics. (47/1551)

Pharmacogenomics, a revolutionary chapter in the history of pharmacology, has received new impetus from the development and accessibility of molecular biotechnologies, notably DNA chips. The longstanding notion of responders/non-responders has given way to a more organic approach, where idiosyncrasy becomes an obsolete concept. This is a major step towards predictive, individualized medicine. In this review, several applications of pharmacogenomics are considered. Genetic polymorphisms of metabolization reactions, mainly with cytochrome P450, explain most of the cases described today. More fundamental and innovative studies have tried to link the structure of receptors or transporters and drug response. A leading topic in neuropsychopharmacology is the relation between the polymorphism of dopaminergic receptors and the efficacy of, or adverse reaction to, neuroleptics. In asthma, the structure of the beta2-adrenergic receptor has been associated with response to treatment. Intrinsic genetic predisposition also plays an important role in cardiovascular diseases, and the role of ion channel mutations will be discussed. Research in oncological molecular epidemiology has explored the connection between the predisposition to certain cancers and specific enzymatic equipment hindering the detoxification of potentially carcinogenic exogenous compounds, or, on the contrary, promoting metabolic activation implicated in the formation of reactive compounds. The search for determinants of addictive behavior is another vast field of pharmacogenomics. Finally, we consider the impact of pharmacogenomics on the methodology of drug development in preclinical and clinical trials. Progress in methods of phenotyping/genotyping should promote diagnosis, guide the choice of drug for an individual (benefit/risk ratio), and determine dosage and regimen.  (+info)

Cytotoxic agents in the era of molecular targets and genomics. (48/1551)

Cancer treatment is evolving due to the development of molecularly targeted agents and the utilization of pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics to identify patients who are at an increased risk for toxicity or may be uniquely responsive to cytotoxic therapies. By identifying polymorphisms in the human genome that confer changes in the ability to metabolize or activate cancer agents, a more patient-specific treatment approach can be initiated. Molecularly targeted therapies such as PS-341, flavopiridol, Iressa, and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor antibodies may help to overcome resistance to cytotoxic therapies by lowering the apoptotic threshold and increasing cytotoxicity. Using molecularly targeted agents in combination with traditional cytotoxic agents may increase the percentage of patients who achieve disease stabilization and prolonged survival. With the development of genetic tools and genotyping of tumor and patient prior to initiating treatment, antitumor efficacy may be increased with a substantial reduction in toxicity.  (+info)