I. Novel Instructional Technology Tools in Teaching Pharmaceutical Analysis Laboratories. II. New Approaches Towards the Synthesis of Sugar Amino-Acids.

Abstract

I. Maintaining high standards of science training is important for pharmacy graduates to practice knowledgeably, responsibly, and confidently. Instrumentation and resource constraints are maximal in the pharmaceutical analysis laboratory due to the nature of the experiments that need to be conducted and the need to provide as much individualized learning experience as possible. Therefore, the 1st year PharmD students perform the laboratory exercises in subgroups, rotating each week in three tri-weekly cycles. Although this arrangement optimizes space, instrument and resources utilization, it creates inevitable educational gaps related to each subgroup's experiment. More specifically, there are gaps with the lectures' progress and the necessary pre-laboratorial instruction for each experiment. Therefore, online instructional tutorials and technique-demos as well as accompanying online quizzes were prepared and delivered through a secure course-website. Each student had to view the tutorials and pass the quizzes before coming to the laboratory. In addition, virtual laboratories were designed as an additional aid for some experiments. As shown by student surveys, these changes were well-received and improved many aspects of this class. II. Most cancer mortality results after it has metastasized from its primary growth site and spread to remote sites. Metastasis is a complex succession of events that the cancer cell manages to accomplish as the disease progresses. One necessary step is the breakdown of the physical barriers, such as endothelial basal membrane and extra-cellular matrix. In order to achieve this, cancer cells express heparanase, a beta-endoglucuronidase that breaks down the glycan part of heparan sulfate, which is a basic constituent of these physical barriers. Amino-sugars have been shown to inhibit this type of carbohydrate-processing enzymes by virtue of their transition state mimicry. Since the substrate of heparanase carries acidic moieties, its inhibitors also carry acidic groups. Few efficient synthetic routes are available for the synthesis of sugar amino-acids. The feasibility of the use of an unprecedented intramolecular SN2’Mitsunobu reaction and alpha-aminomethyl radical cyclizations is explored for the synthesis of alpha- and beta- sugar amino-acids respectively.