Date of Award
1994
Document Type
Research Paper
Abstract
The use of the oral drugs dates back to the beginning of recorded time. Since the modern era, doctors and researchers have found the various physiological pathways by which they operate and function. Within the past fifty years, this research has proceeded to the cellular and molecular levels. Researchers have found that the drugs target specific components of the infected cells. These drugs interact by binding to three different types of target molecules. The chemicals target receptors found on extracellular proteins, macromolecules like enzymes, transport molecules, nucleic acids, and membrane lipids. With these new findings, new techniques and equipment have been developed and widely used. Some of this new research is currently being done at the pharmaceutical division of medical research at the USC Health Sciences Center. This is where I worked as a research assistant under the guidance of Dr. Vincent H. Lee and Dr. Wan-Ching Jean” Yen. Throughout the summer and fall of 1993, I was involved with research projects which involved the use and study of the pentapeptide known as 4- phenylazobenzyloxycarbonyl-Pro-Leu-Gly-Pro-D-Arg (see Fig 1). This protein was used for oral drug delivery studies and gastrointestinal penetration purposes. The projects were based on studies and gastrointestinal penetration purposes. The projects were based on studies of the transport of the Pz-Peptide and other similar analogs, the possible binding receptor for the protein on cellular membranes, and comparison studies of other penetrating enhancers through viable gastrointestinal membranes. The results and data from these experiments were then used to support and improve Dr. Lee and Dr. Yen’s hypothesis of the penetration of the Pz-Peptide. Studies of how the peptide penetrated the gastrointestinal lining may lead to designing drugs that are more effective in crossing the gastrointestinal tract. Thus, improving their therapeutic effect on patients.
Recommended Citation
Nakamura, J. (1994). Penetration of the Pz-peptide Through the Various Membranes of the Gastrointestinal Tract. Retrieved from https://poetcommons.whittier.edu/scholars/341