Advanced Pharmaceutical Science and Technology in Estonia (Closed)

Editors

Institute of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tartu, Nooruse 1, 50411 Tartu, Estonia
Interests: electrospinning; nanofibers/microfibers; antibacterial and antimicrobial drugs; delivery systems; wound healing; wound infection; action mechanisms; in vitro/in vivo infection models; solid state characterization; process analytical technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Institute of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Tartu, Nooruse 1, 50411 Tartu, Estonia
Interests: antibacterial and antimicrobial drugs; paediatric medicines use; paediatric drug formulations; pharmacogenomics; pharmacokinetics

Topical Collection Information

Dear colleague,

Estonian researchers of different backgrounds (pharmacists, pharmacologists, gene technologists, physicist, chemists, material scientists, etc.) are conducting research in the field of pharmaceutical sciences and technology. Hence, several researchers in Estonia are the leaders of their field and continue to have an enormous impact on the development of pharmaceutical research globally. Several success stories in academia as well as in industry can be presented. For example, recent notable progress has been made on the development of novel drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 in Estonia. Furthermore, pharmaceutical applications of nanomaterials and nanotechnology have enabled the delivery of macromolecules, including RNA, DNA, proteins, and peptides (e.g., cell-penetrating peptides and tumor-penetrating peptides) as well as small-molecule drugs.

This topical collection will highlight the research in pharmaceutical sciences and technology currently ongoing in Estonia, both within academic and industrial institutions, in areas including but not limited to drug discovery and development, drug delivery, pharmacokinetics, drug metabolism and drug transport, physical pharmacy, pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine, pharmacy practice research, pharmacoepidemiology, and pharmaceutical natural products. 

This will be achieved by presenting a topical collection of research papers and review articles covering the recent progress and achievements in high-end pharmaceutical science.

Dr. Karin Kogermann
Dr. Jana Lass
Collection Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the collection website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pharmaceutics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • drug discovery and development
  • drug delivery
  • drug metabolism and drug transport
  • formulation design
  • manufacturing science
  • biotechnology
  • physical pharmacy
  • pharmacokinetics
  • pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine
  • pharmacy practice research
  • pharmacoepidemiology and pharmaceutical natural products

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

2023

Jump to: 2022

18 pages, 2276 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Molecular Players behind the Potentiation of Chemotherapy Effects by Durvalumab in Lung Adenocarcinoma Cell Lines
by Marika Saar, Jana Jaal, Alvin Meltsov, Tõnis Laasfeld, Helen Lust, Sergo Kasvandik and Darja Lavogina
Pharmaceutics 2023, 15(5), 1485; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics15051485 - 12 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1417
Abstract
Immune checkpoint inhibitors are increasingly used in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, yet the success of combination therapies is relatively limited. Thus, more detailed insight regarding the tumor molecular markers that may affect the responsiveness of patients [...] Read more.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors are increasingly used in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, yet the success of combination therapies is relatively limited. Thus, more detailed insight regarding the tumor molecular markers that may affect the responsiveness of patients to therapy is required. Here, we set out to explore the proteome of two lung adenocarcinoma cell lines (HCC-44 and A549) treated with cisplatin, pemetrexed, durvalumab, and the corresponding mixtures to establish the differences in post-treatment protein expression that can serve as markers of chemosensitivity or resistance. The mass spectrometry study showed that the addition of durvalumab to the treatment mixture resulted in cell line- and chemotherapeutic agent-dependent responses and confirmed the previously reported involvement of DNA repair machinery in the potentiation of the chemotherapy effect. Further validation using immunofluorescence also indicated that the potentiating effect of durvalumab in the case of cisplatin treatment was dependent on the tumor suppressor RB-1 in the PD-L1 weakly positive cells. In addition, we identified aldehyde dehydrogenase ALDH1A3 as the general putative resistance marker. Further studies in patient biopsy samples will be required to confirm the clinical significance of these findings. Full article
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2022

Jump to: 2023

19 pages, 3114 KiB  
Article
Antibacterial and Antiviral Effects of Ag, Cu and Zn Metals, Respective Nanoparticles and Filter Materials Thereof against Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A Virus
by Anna-Liisa Kubo, Kai Rausalu, Natalja Savest, Eva Žusinaite, Grigory Vasiliev, Mihkel Viirsalu, Tiia Plamus, Andres Krumme, Andres Merits and Olesja Bondarenko
Pharmaceutics 2022, 14(12), 2549; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics14122549 - 22 Nov 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1872
Abstract
Due to the high prevalence of infectious diseases and their concurrent outbreaks, there is a high interest in developing novel materials with antimicrobial properties. Antibacterial and antiviral properties of a range of metal-based nanoparticles (NPs) are a promising means to fight airborne diseases [...] Read more.
Due to the high prevalence of infectious diseases and their concurrent outbreaks, there is a high interest in developing novel materials with antimicrobial properties. Antibacterial and antiviral properties of a range of metal-based nanoparticles (NPs) are a promising means to fight airborne diseases caused by viruses and bacteria. The aim of this study was to test antimicrobial metals and metal-based nanoparticles efficacy against three viruses, namely influenza A virus (H1N1; A/WSN/1933) and coronaviruses TGEV and SARS-CoV-2; and two bacteria, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The efficacy of ZnO, CuO, and Ag NPs and their respective metal salts, i.e., ZnSO4, CuSO4, and AgNO3, was evaluated in suspensions, and the compounds with the highest antiviral efficacy were chosen for incorporation into fibers of cellulose acetate (CA), using electrospinning to produce filter materials for face masks. Among the tested compounds, CuSO4 demonstrated the highest efficacy against influenza A virus and SARS-CoV-2 (1 h IC50 1.395 mg/L and 0.45 mg/L, respectively), followed by Zn salt and Ag salt. Therefore, Cu compounds were selected for incorporation into CA fibers to produce antiviral and antibacterial filter materials for face masks. CA fibers comprising CuSO4 decreased SARS-CoV-2 titer by 0.38 logarithms and influenza A virus titer by 1.08 logarithms after 5 min of contact; after 1 h of contact, SARS-COV-2 virus was completely inactivated. Developed CuO- and CuSO4-based filter materials also efficiently inactivated the bacteria Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The metal NPs and respective metal salts were potent antibacterial and antiviral compounds that were successfully incorporated into the filter materials of face masks. New antibacterial and antiviral materials developed and characterized in this study are crucial in the context of the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and beyond. Full article
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21 pages, 5234 KiB  
Article
Intrinsic Aqueous Solubility: Mechanistically Transparent Data-Driven Modeling of Drug Substances
by Mare Oja, Sulev Sild, Geven Piir and Uko Maran
Pharmaceutics 2022, 14(10), 2248; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics14102248 - 21 Oct 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1443
Abstract
Intrinsic aqueous solubility is a foundational property for understanding the chemical, technological, pharmaceutical, and environmental behavior of drug substances. Despite years of solubility research, molecular structure-based prediction of the intrinsic aqueous solubility of drug substances is still under active investigation. This paper describes [...] Read more.
Intrinsic aqueous solubility is a foundational property for understanding the chemical, technological, pharmaceutical, and environmental behavior of drug substances. Despite years of solubility research, molecular structure-based prediction of the intrinsic aqueous solubility of drug substances is still under active investigation. This paper describes the authors’ systematic data-driven modelling in which two fit-for-purpose training data sets for intrinsic aqueous solubility were collected and curated, and three quantitative structure–property relationships were derived to make predictions for the most recent solubility challenge. All three models perform well individually, while being mechanistically transparent and easy to understand. Molecular descriptors involved in the models are related to the following key steps in the solubility process: dissociation of the molecule from the crystal, formation of a cavity in the solvent, and insertion of the molecule into the solvent. A consensus modeling approach with these models remarkably improved prediction capability and reduced the number of strong outliers by more than two times. The performance and outliers of the second solubility challenge predictions were analyzed retrospectively. All developed models have been published in the QsarDB.org repository according to FAIR principles and can be used without restrictions for exploring, downloading, and making predictions. Full article
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