title: Pharmacology of L-asparaginase and the effects of host and enzyme modification.
abstract: Pharmacology is the study of the properties of a drug with respect to its interaction with the host, toxicology, and with the disease, therapeutics. Since both the toxicology and therapeutic activity of L-asparaginase are presented by others at this symposium, I will give only a brief overview of the pharmacology of L-asparaginase with particular reference to how it differs from other chemotherapeutic agents. Primarily, I would like to discuss how it may be possible to modify some of the pharmacological constraints on the therapeutic responses to L-asparaginase by combining the enzyme with inhibitors of asparagine synthetase and by using polymer-modified forms of the enzyme.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001215:Asparaginase / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001216:Asparagine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D001217:Aspartate-Ammonia Ligase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D004351:Drug Resistance; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006207:Half-Life; D007940:Leukemia L5178 / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D011108:Polymers; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D001216:Asparagine; D001215:Asparaginase; D001217:Aspartate-Ammonia Ligase