Computational Modeling of Drug Disposition
GUIDED BY :
DR. SEEMA ROHILLA
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
SUBMITTED BY :
ARMAN DALAL
02-M-20
M. PHARM 2nd SEMESTER
Hindu College of Pharmacy, Sonipat
 Introduction
 Modeling techniques
1. Absorption
2. Distribution
3. Excretion
Contents
• Drug discovery has focused almost exclusively on
efficacy and selectivity against the biological target. Half
of drug candidates fail the phase II and phase III clinical
trials because of undesirable drug pharmacokinetics
properties, including absorption, distribution, metabolism,
excretion, and toxicity (ADMET).
• Caco-2(human colon adenocarcinoma) and
MDCK(Madin-Darby Canine Kidney) cell monolayers are
widely used to simulate membrane permeability as an in
vitro estimation of in vivo absorption.
Introduction
• These in vitro results have enabled the training of in silico
models, which could be applied to predict the ADMET
properties of compounds even before they are synthesized.
• Fueled by the ever-increasing computational power and
significant advances of in silico modeling algorithms,
numerous computational programs that aim at modeling
drug ADMET properties have emerged.
Caco - 2 is an immortalized cell line of human colorectal
adenocarcinoma cells. It is primarily used as a model of the intestinal
epithelial barrier.
In culture, Caco-2 cells spontaneously differentiate into a
heterogeneous mixture of intestinal epithelial cells. It was developed in
1977 by Jorgen Fogh at the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer
Research.
Caco – 2 :-
Caco-2 cells ready-to-use in the
in-vitro systems
MDCK(Madin-Darby Canine Kidney)
MDCK (Madin-Darby canine kidney) cell line was derived in 1958
by S.H. Madin and N.B. Darby from a kidney of a normal cocker
spaniel.
Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cells are a model mammalian
cell line used in biomedical research. MDCK cells are used for a wide
variety of cell biology studies including cell polarity, cell-cell
adhesions, collective cell motility, as well as responses to growth
factors.
Cocker Spaniel
MDCK Cell line
A comprehensive list of available commercial
ADMET modeling software has been provided
till date.
Drug Disposition
 Any alternation in the drug’s bioavailability is reflected
in its pharmacological effects.
 Others processes that play a role in the therapeutic
activity of a drug are distribution and elimination.
 Together, they are known as drug disposition.
Quantitative
approaches
Qualitative
approaches
Types :
ModelingTechniques
• It is represented by pharmacophore modeling and flexible
docking studies investigate the structural requirements for the
interaction between drugs and the targets that are involved in
ADMET processes.
• These are especially useful when there is an accumulation of
knowledge against a certain target.
• For example: a set of drugs known to be transported by a
transporter would enable a pharmacophore study to elucidate
the minimum required structural features for transport.
• The availability of a protein’s 3-D structure, from X-ray
crystallisation or homology modeling, would assist flexible
docking of the active ligand to derive important interactions
between the protein and the ligand.
Quantitative Approaches
 Three widely used automated pharmacophore
perception tools:
1. DISCO (DIStance Comparison)
2. GASP(Genetic Algorithm Similarity Program)
3. Catalyst/HIPHOP
 All three programs attempt to determine common
features based on the superposition of active
compounds with different algorithms.
• It is represented by quantitative structure activity
relationship (QSAR) and quantitative structure property
relationship(QSPR) studies utilize multivariate analysis to
correlate molecular descriptors with ADMET- related
properties.
• A diverse range of molecular descriptors can be calculated
based on the drug structure.
• Some of these descriptors are closely related to a physical
property and are easy to comprehend (e.g. Molecular
weight) whereas the majority of the descriptors are of
quantum mechanical concepts or interaction energies at
dispersed space points that are beyond simple
physicochemical parameters
Qualitative Approaches
• When calculating correlations, it is important to
select the molecular descriptors that represents the
type of interactions contributing to the targeted
biological property.
• A set of descriptors that specifically target ADME
related properties has been proposed by Cruciani and
colleagues.
• The majority of published ADMET models are
generated based on 2D descriptors.
• Even though the alignment dependent 3D
descriptors that are relevant to the targeted
biological activity tend to generate the most
predictive models.
• A wide selection of statistical algorithms is available
to researchers for correlating field descriptors with
ADMET properties including simple multiple linear
regression(MLR), multivariate partial least squares
(PLS) and the non linear regression type algorithms
such as artificial neural network (ANN) and support
vector machine(SVM).
• Because of its convenience and good patient compliance,
oral administration is the most preferred drug delivery
form.
• As a result, much of the attention of in silico approaches
is focused on modeling drug oral absorption, which
mainly occurs in the human intestine.
• In general, drug bioavailability and absorption is the
result of the interplay between drug solubility and
intestinal permeability.
Drug Absorption
Solubility
• A drug generally must dissolve before it can be absorbed from the
intestinal lumen.
• To predict the solubility of compound even before synthesizing it, in
silico modeling can be implemented.
•There are mainly two approaches to model solubility Based on the
underlying physiological processes
1. Dissolution process
2. Empirical approach
• The dissolution process involves the breaking up of solute from its
crystal lattice and the association of the solute with solvent molecules.
• Empirical approaches represented by QSPR utilize multivariate analysis
to identify correlations between molecular descriptors and solubility.
Intestinal Permeation
• Intestinal permeation describes the ability of drugs to
cross the intestinal mucosa separating the gut lumen from
the portal circulation.
• It is an essential process for drugs to pass the intestinal
membrane before entering the systemic circulation to
reach their target site of action.
• The process involves both passive and active transport.
• It is a complex process that is difficult to predict solely
based on molecular mechanism.
• As a result, most current models aim to simulate in vitro
membrane permeation of caco-2, MDCK, which have
been a useful indicator of in vivo drug absorption.
Other Consideration
• The ionization state will affect both solubility and permeability
which results in the influence of the absorption profile of a
compound.
• Several commercially available program provide pKa estimation
based on the input structure, including SCS pKa (ChemSilico,
Tewksbury, MA), Pallas/pKalc (CompuDrug, Sedona,AZ), etc
• Both influx and efflux transporters are located in intestinal
epithelial cells and can either increase or decrease oral absorption.
• Distribution is an important aspect of drug’s pharmacokinetic
profile.
• The structural and physiochemical properties of a drug
determine the extent of distribution, which is mainly reflected
by three parameters:
1. volume of distribution (Vd)
2. plasma-protein binding (PPB)
3. blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability.
Drug Distribution
Volume of Distribution
• Vd is a measure of relative partitioning of drug
between plasma and tissue, an important
proportional constant, when combined for a drug is
a major determinant of how often the drug should
be administered.
• However, because of the scarcity of in vivo data
and complexity of the underlying processes,
computational models that are capable of
prediction Vd based solely on computed
descriptors are still under development.
Plasma Protein Binding
• Drugs binding to a variety of plasma proteins such as serum
albumin, as unbound drug primarily contributes to
pharmacological efficacy.
• The effect of PPB is an important consideration when
evaluating the effective (unbound) drug plasma
concentration.
• The models proposed to predict PPB should not rely on the
binding data of only one protein when predicting plasma
protein binding because it is a composite parameter
reflecting interactions with multiple protein.
Blood Brain Barrier
• The BBB maintains the restricted extracellular environment
in the central nerve system.
• The evaluation of drug penetration through the BBB is an
integral part of drug discovery and development process.
• Again, because of the few experimental data derived from
inconsistent protocols, most BBB permeation prediction
models are of limited practical use despite intensive efforts.
• Most approaches model log blood/brain (logBB), which is a
measurement of the drug partitioning between blood and
brain tissue.
• The excretion or clearance of a drug is quantified by
plasma clearance, which is defined as plasma volume
that has been cleared completely free of drug per unit of
time.
• Together with Vd, it can assist in the calculation of drug
half- life, thus determining the dosage regimen.
• Hepatic and renal clearances are the two main
components of plasma clearance.
Drug Excretion
• No model has been reported that is capable of predicting
plasma clearance solely from computed drug structures.
• Current modeling efforts are mainly focused on estimating
in vivo clearance from in vitro data.
• Just like other pharmacokinetic aspects, the hepatic and
renal clearance process is also complicated by presence of
active transporters.
Via Large
Intestine
Computational modeling of drug disposition

Computational modeling of drug disposition

  • 1.
    Computational Modeling ofDrug Disposition GUIDED BY : DR. SEEMA ROHILLA ASSISTANT PROFESSOR SUBMITTED BY : ARMAN DALAL 02-M-20 M. PHARM 2nd SEMESTER Hindu College of Pharmacy, Sonipat
  • 2.
     Introduction  Modelingtechniques 1. Absorption 2. Distribution 3. Excretion Contents
  • 3.
    • Drug discoveryhas focused almost exclusively on efficacy and selectivity against the biological target. Half of drug candidates fail the phase II and phase III clinical trials because of undesirable drug pharmacokinetics properties, including absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET). • Caco-2(human colon adenocarcinoma) and MDCK(Madin-Darby Canine Kidney) cell monolayers are widely used to simulate membrane permeability as an in vitro estimation of in vivo absorption. Introduction
  • 4.
    • These invitro results have enabled the training of in silico models, which could be applied to predict the ADMET properties of compounds even before they are synthesized. • Fueled by the ever-increasing computational power and significant advances of in silico modeling algorithms, numerous computational programs that aim at modeling drug ADMET properties have emerged.
  • 5.
    Caco - 2is an immortalized cell line of human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells. It is primarily used as a model of the intestinal epithelial barrier. In culture, Caco-2 cells spontaneously differentiate into a heterogeneous mixture of intestinal epithelial cells. It was developed in 1977 by Jorgen Fogh at the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research. Caco – 2 :- Caco-2 cells ready-to-use in the in-vitro systems
  • 6.
    MDCK(Madin-Darby Canine Kidney) MDCK(Madin-Darby canine kidney) cell line was derived in 1958 by S.H. Madin and N.B. Darby from a kidney of a normal cocker spaniel. Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cells are a model mammalian cell line used in biomedical research. MDCK cells are used for a wide variety of cell biology studies including cell polarity, cell-cell adhesions, collective cell motility, as well as responses to growth factors. Cocker Spaniel MDCK Cell line
  • 7.
    A comprehensive listof available commercial ADMET modeling software has been provided till date.
  • 9.
  • 10.
     Any alternationin the drug’s bioavailability is reflected in its pharmacological effects.  Others processes that play a role in the therapeutic activity of a drug are distribution and elimination.  Together, they are known as drug disposition.
  • 11.
  • 12.
    • It isrepresented by pharmacophore modeling and flexible docking studies investigate the structural requirements for the interaction between drugs and the targets that are involved in ADMET processes. • These are especially useful when there is an accumulation of knowledge against a certain target. • For example: a set of drugs known to be transported by a transporter would enable a pharmacophore study to elucidate the minimum required structural features for transport. • The availability of a protein’s 3-D structure, from X-ray crystallisation or homology modeling, would assist flexible docking of the active ligand to derive important interactions between the protein and the ligand. Quantitative Approaches
  • 13.
     Three widelyused automated pharmacophore perception tools: 1. DISCO (DIStance Comparison) 2. GASP(Genetic Algorithm Similarity Program) 3. Catalyst/HIPHOP  All three programs attempt to determine common features based on the superposition of active compounds with different algorithms.
  • 14.
    • It isrepresented by quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) and quantitative structure property relationship(QSPR) studies utilize multivariate analysis to correlate molecular descriptors with ADMET- related properties. • A diverse range of molecular descriptors can be calculated based on the drug structure. • Some of these descriptors are closely related to a physical property and are easy to comprehend (e.g. Molecular weight) whereas the majority of the descriptors are of quantum mechanical concepts or interaction energies at dispersed space points that are beyond simple physicochemical parameters Qualitative Approaches
  • 15.
    • When calculatingcorrelations, it is important to select the molecular descriptors that represents the type of interactions contributing to the targeted biological property. • A set of descriptors that specifically target ADME related properties has been proposed by Cruciani and colleagues. • The majority of published ADMET models are generated based on 2D descriptors.
  • 16.
    • Even thoughthe alignment dependent 3D descriptors that are relevant to the targeted biological activity tend to generate the most predictive models. • A wide selection of statistical algorithms is available to researchers for correlating field descriptors with ADMET properties including simple multiple linear regression(MLR), multivariate partial least squares (PLS) and the non linear regression type algorithms such as artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector machine(SVM).
  • 20.
    • Because ofits convenience and good patient compliance, oral administration is the most preferred drug delivery form. • As a result, much of the attention of in silico approaches is focused on modeling drug oral absorption, which mainly occurs in the human intestine. • In general, drug bioavailability and absorption is the result of the interplay between drug solubility and intestinal permeability. Drug Absorption
  • 21.
    Solubility • A druggenerally must dissolve before it can be absorbed from the intestinal lumen. • To predict the solubility of compound even before synthesizing it, in silico modeling can be implemented. •There are mainly two approaches to model solubility Based on the underlying physiological processes 1. Dissolution process 2. Empirical approach • The dissolution process involves the breaking up of solute from its crystal lattice and the association of the solute with solvent molecules. • Empirical approaches represented by QSPR utilize multivariate analysis to identify correlations between molecular descriptors and solubility.
  • 22.
    Intestinal Permeation • Intestinalpermeation describes the ability of drugs to cross the intestinal mucosa separating the gut lumen from the portal circulation. • It is an essential process for drugs to pass the intestinal membrane before entering the systemic circulation to reach their target site of action. • The process involves both passive and active transport. • It is a complex process that is difficult to predict solely based on molecular mechanism. • As a result, most current models aim to simulate in vitro membrane permeation of caco-2, MDCK, which have been a useful indicator of in vivo drug absorption.
  • 24.
    Other Consideration • Theionization state will affect both solubility and permeability which results in the influence of the absorption profile of a compound. • Several commercially available program provide pKa estimation based on the input structure, including SCS pKa (ChemSilico, Tewksbury, MA), Pallas/pKalc (CompuDrug, Sedona,AZ), etc • Both influx and efflux transporters are located in intestinal epithelial cells and can either increase or decrease oral absorption.
  • 25.
    • Distribution isan important aspect of drug’s pharmacokinetic profile. • The structural and physiochemical properties of a drug determine the extent of distribution, which is mainly reflected by three parameters: 1. volume of distribution (Vd) 2. plasma-protein binding (PPB) 3. blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability. Drug Distribution
  • 26.
    Volume of Distribution •Vd is a measure of relative partitioning of drug between plasma and tissue, an important proportional constant, when combined for a drug is a major determinant of how often the drug should be administered. • However, because of the scarcity of in vivo data and complexity of the underlying processes, computational models that are capable of prediction Vd based solely on computed descriptors are still under development.
  • 27.
    Plasma Protein Binding •Drugs binding to a variety of plasma proteins such as serum albumin, as unbound drug primarily contributes to pharmacological efficacy. • The effect of PPB is an important consideration when evaluating the effective (unbound) drug plasma concentration. • The models proposed to predict PPB should not rely on the binding data of only one protein when predicting plasma protein binding because it is a composite parameter reflecting interactions with multiple protein.
  • 29.
    Blood Brain Barrier •The BBB maintains the restricted extracellular environment in the central nerve system. • The evaluation of drug penetration through the BBB is an integral part of drug discovery and development process. • Again, because of the few experimental data derived from inconsistent protocols, most BBB permeation prediction models are of limited practical use despite intensive efforts. • Most approaches model log blood/brain (logBB), which is a measurement of the drug partitioning between blood and brain tissue.
  • 31.
    • The excretionor clearance of a drug is quantified by plasma clearance, which is defined as plasma volume that has been cleared completely free of drug per unit of time. • Together with Vd, it can assist in the calculation of drug half- life, thus determining the dosage regimen. • Hepatic and renal clearances are the two main components of plasma clearance. Drug Excretion
  • 32.
    • No modelhas been reported that is capable of predicting plasma clearance solely from computed drug structures. • Current modeling efforts are mainly focused on estimating in vivo clearance from in vitro data. • Just like other pharmacokinetic aspects, the hepatic and renal clearance process is also complicated by presence of active transporters.
  • 33.