The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 13, 2009
Filed:
May. 10, 2004
Xianbin Tian, Chapel Hill, NC (US);
Peijin Zhang, Apex, NC (US);
Kim L. R. Brouwer, Chapel Hill, NC (US);
Xianbin Tian, Chapel Hill, NC (US);
Peijin Zhang, Apex, NC (US);
Kim L. R. Brouwer, Chapel Hill, NC (US);
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC (US);
Abstract
A method of screening a candidate compound for susceptibility to biliary excretion by a hepatocyte transport protein. The method includes the steps of providing a culture of hepatocytes comprising a transport protein, the culture having at least one bile canaliculus; exposing a candidate compound to the culture; and determining an amount of candidate compound in the at least one bile canaliculus, the amount of candidate compound in the at least one bile canaliculus indicating the susceptibility of the candidate compound to biliary excretion by the transport protein. In some embodiments determining the amount of candidate compound in the bile canaliculus comprises inhibiting expression of the transport protein, measuring the amount of candidate compound in the bile canaliculus and comparing amounts of compound in the canalicules with and without inhibition of the transport protein. A difference in the amount of candidate compound in the canaliculus indicates susceptibility of the candidate compound to biliary excretion by the transport protein. In one embodiment, expression of the transport protein is inhibited through introduction of a RNA having a sequence corresponding to a coding strand of the gene encoding the transport protein into the hepatocyte. Optionally, the culture of hepatocytes is a long-term culture in a sandwich configuration. The method is particularly applicable to the screening of multiple candidate compounds in a single effort.