Ace Therapeutics offers a comprehensive suite of services to support the development of amino acid-based drugs for liver diseases. We can assist in designing and synthesizing novel amino acid analogs and derivatives, optimizing their delivery to the liver, and evaluating their efficacy and safety in vitro and in vivo. Our team has extensive experience in developing and characterizing preclinical models of liver disease, including NAFLD, ALD, viral hepatitis, and fibrosis, allowing for rigorous testing of potential therapeutics.
Introduction to Amino Acid-Based Drug for the Treatment of Liver Disease
Amino acids, especially branched-chain amino acids, have been shown to have activities that affect gene expression, protein metabolism, hepatocyte apoptosis and regeneration and even inhibit hepatocyte proliferation. Therefore, they have a powerful potential in the treatment of liver diseases. Current research has found that supplementation with branched-chain amino acids can be effective in the treatment of cirrhosis, liver fibrosis, and hepatic encephalopathy.
Figure 1. Glycine-based treatment ameliorates impaired glycine biosynthesis in NAFLD mice. (Rom O., et al. 2020)
What Can We Do?
We offer a comprehensive service to support the discovery of amino acids with therapeutic activity and provide different modification services and preclinical evaluation of drugs to improve and fully assess the efficacy of drug candidates.
- Establish different methods for the separation of amino acids, including solubility methods, isoelectric point precipitation, special reagent precipitation, adsorption, and ion exchange methods.
- Refine amino acids by crystallization, recrystallization, and solubility methods.
- Screen the regulatory processes involved in amino acids by high throughput techniques such as gene microarrays, protein microarrays, etc.
- Provide different drug screening platforms to discover amino acid drugs with potential therapeutic activity.
- Provide different liver disease models for evaluating the therapeutic effects of amino acid drugs.
Our Capacity for Amino Acid Preparation
We provide the corresponding preparation services for the 4 methods.
Hydrolysis method
We hydrolyze proteins by acids, bases, and enzymes into a variety of amino acid mixtures, which are then separated and purified to obtain a variety of amino acids for medicinal use. Commonly used amino acids produced by hydrolysis include L-cystine, L-arginine, L-leucine, L-isoleucine, L-histidine, L-proline, and L-serine.
Fermentation method
We use the action of enzymes in microbial cells to convert organic matter in the culture medium into amino acids. We have modified microbial cells using cell fusion technology and genetic recombination technology to cultivate a variety of high-yield amino acid hybrid strains and genetically engineered bacteria for amino acid production.
Enzyme conversion method
We use the action of specific enzymes to convert certain compounds into the corresponding amino acids. The amino acids commonly produced by enzymatic conversion include DL-methionine, DL-phenylalanine, DL-tryptophan, DL-alanine, and DL-threonine.
Chemical synthesis method
We can synthesize alpha amino acids through chemical reactions such as ammonolysis, hydrolysis, condensation, substitution, and hydrogenation reduction. The main synthesis methods are general synthesis and asymmetric synthesis.
Based on our research experience in the field of liver disease research, Ace Therapeutics is committed to providing you with high quality and efficient amino acid drug development services. If you would like to learn more about our services, please feel free to contact us.
Reference
- Rom O., et al. Glycine-based treatment ameliorates NAFLD by modulating fatty acid oxidation, glutathione synthesis, and the gut microbiome. Sci Transl Med. 2020, 12(572):eaaz2841.
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Our products and services are for research use only and can not be used for diagnostic or other purposes.
