• 3D printing
  
• Metabolic Stability
  
• Determination of endogenous substances
  
• Determination of other organic substances
  
• Other research
  
• Detailed pricing
  
• Contact

3D printing

3D printers

Core Facility uses various 3D printing technologies, and one of the main goals of the activity is to facilitate the access of employees, PhD students, and students to this technology and enable the design and production of three-dimensional objects, with the support of experienced scientists. This technology is not limited only to the production of commercially unavailable devices or teaching aids, but also allows for printing models of the patient’s organs created using the mapping of the MRI/PET scan performed before the procedure.

The idea behind the creation of the unit is not only to enable the creation of technical solutions that are innovative or difficult to obtain commercially due to high cost or long waiting times. The unit also offers substantive and advisory assistance, including at the stage of creating a model in 3D modeling software. We also provide knowledge in the field of selecting the right material for printing (giving priority to selected aspects: mechanical strength, chemical properties, biocompatibility or aesthetics).

The facility was established as part of the Research University program.

The facility’s mission

The mission of the facility is to provide various types of services to members of the University community, with particular emphasis on its priority research areas.

• computer base with specialized CAD (computer-aided design) software enabling digital design of new research solutions,
  
• 3D printers that allow a quick, precise, and reproducible production of the designed objects,
  
• substantive and organizational support.
  Organizational support is key to enabling the continuity of the work of the laboratory, ensuring the safety of its users, and monitoring its functioning. On the merits, the workshop coordinator provides expertise in the selection of materials, maintains the functionality of the devices, and supports the computer design process.
  The unit also serves didactic purposes, promoting the university’s scientific activity, or carrying out commercial orders commissioned by external entities.

The unit provides the following services:

• production of sorbents with personalized shapes from thermoplastic materials
• production of laboratory equipment
• assistance in the design of three-dimensional models
• substantive assistance in the operation of 3D printing devices
  

3D printing articles (pdf file, 307 kB)

Metabolic stability

The team of the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry of the MUG offers metabolic stability tests of drug candidates using the in vitro method, using the microsomal subcellular fraction. In a typical assay, microsomes obtained from human liver play the role of a biotransformation catalyst. The potential drug to be tested is incubated under strictly controlled conditions in the presence of the enzyme preparation and appropriate cofactors. Immediately after the start of incubation and at the defined measuring points (maximum incubation time is 2 hours), a sample is taken and then analyzed using the LC-MS technique. The metabolic half-life is determined on the basis of the obtained chromatograms.

Addressees of the offer

• Research teams dealing with the synthesis of new substances with potential application in medicine
• Innovative pharmaceutical companies

The service includes

• Selection of enzymatic incubation parameters
• Performing a control to determine the chemical stability under incubation conditions
• Development of the methodology of determination of the submitted compounds using the LC-MS technique
• Determination of the metabolic half-life

What are the metabolic stability tests for?

• They allow to determine the behavior of a potential drug against the human xenobiotic metabolizing system
• The stability of the candidate drug is a favorable feature due to its interaction with the molecular target
• Metabolic stability is one of the key factors influencing the pharmacokinetics of a drug
• Metabolites formed as a result of biotransformation may have an influence on the therapeutic effect as well as possible side effects

What are the possibilities of extending the proposed offer

The scheme presented above, including the determination of the metabolic half-life, may be supplemented with additional tests, including:
• Determination of cytochrome P-450 isoenzymes responsible for biotransformation
• Determining the possibility of the formation of reactive metabolites that interact with cellular nucleophiles
• Development of a model of the relationship between the chemical structure and metabolic stability within a given series of compounds

Metabolic stability articles (pdf file, 200 kB)

Determination of endogenous substances

The bioanalytical section offers the following endogenous substances:
• amino acids by liquid chromatography
• biogenic amines, their precursors and metabolites using both liquid chromatography with mass detection (LC-MS, LC-MS / MS) and capillary electrophoresis (CE).
• steroid hormones and their metabolites using both liquid chromatography with mass detection (LC-MS, LC-MS / MS) and capillary electrophoresis (CE).
• analysis of organic compounds using capillary electrophoresis coupled with LIF detection.

Liquid chromatograph with mass detector

Liquid chromatograph with triple-quadrupole mass detector

Apparatus for Capillary Electrophoresis

Specification of bioanalytical analyzes performed with LC (pdf file, 707 kB)
Specification of bioanalytical analyzes performed with CE (pdf file, 679 kB)

Labeling of other organic substances

As part of the analysis of other organic substances, the following tests are performed:
• mass measurement using the ESI technique
• substance identification by “soft” and “hard” fragmentation
• analysis of volatile substances by gas chromatography with mass detection (GC-MS)
• analysis of organic compounds using capillary electrophoresis coupled with LIF detection.

Gas chromatograph with mass detector

Other Research

• optimization of the conditions for the separation of analyte mixtures, including the selection of parameters for the preparation of the sample for analysis (extraction), as well as chromatographic and electrophoretic conditions (DryLab, chemometric optimization),
• validation of analytical methods and statistical and chemometric processing of results,
• study of the relationship between the structure and activity (QSAR), chromatographic retention (QSRR) and metabolic stability (QSMSR) of a given series of chemical compounds using chemometric techniques and specialized software: ACD, Dragon, HyperChem, Gaussian, SIMCA
• pharmacokinetic studies in the determination of drugs and their metabolites,
• stability and stability testing of pharmaceutical preparations,
• ELISA tests,
• study of bioavailability and bioequivalence of pharmaceutical preparations.

Detailed pricing for MUG

Contact

Dagmara Kroll

Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Medical University of Gdańsk
al. Gen. J. Hallera 107
80-416 Gdańsk
+48 603 609 180
dagmara.kroll@gumed.edu.pl