Menny Benjamin

Gracilaria tikvahiae was selected for the extraction of active compounds, due to its characteristics as a local red algae (Rhodophyte) from a genus known in the literature for high-yielding extracts. Many of this specie’s natural compounds have not been characterized and tested in assays for bioactivity, thus presenting the opportunity for the bioassay-guided isolation of natural compounds to prevent physiological and molecular disorders that occur during pathogenic wound healing.

Opinion Article / Expert Opinion manuscript discussing algal roles in the environment while reviewing methodologies for fossil fuel alternatives.

Roughly 2.8% of annual hospitalizations are a result of adverse drug interactions in the United States, representing more than 245,000 hospitalizations. Drug–drug interactions commonly arise from major cytochrome P450 (CYP) inhibition. Various approaches are routinely employed in order to reduce the incidence of adverse interactions, such as altering drug dosing schemes and/or minimizing the number of drugs prescribed; however, often, a reduction in the number of medications cannot be achieved without impacting therapeutic outcomes. Nearly 80% of drugs fail in development due to pharmacokinetic issues, outlining the importance of examining cytochrome interactions during preclinical drug design. In this review, we examined the physiochemical and structural properties of small molecule inhibitors of CYPs 3A4, 2D6, 2C19, 2C9, and 1A2. Although CYP inhibitors tend to have distinct physiochemical properties and structural features, these descriptors alone are insufficient to predict major cytochrome inhibition probability and affinity. Machine learning based in silico approaches may be employed as a more robust and accurate way of predicting CYP inhibition. These various approaches are highlighted in the review.