📄 Category

pharmacology and toxicology

77 papers

Pharmacology and toxicology explore how substances interact with living systems, ranging from the development of life-saving medicines to understanding the dangers of chemical exposure. This field sits at the critical intersection of chemistry and biology, asking essential questions about how drugs work, how the body processes them, and what happens when things go wrong. It is a dynamic area where researchers constantly strive to improve patient safety while discovering new therapeutic possibilities.

At Gist.Science, we bridge the gap between complex research and public understanding by curating the latest preprints from bioRxiv in this vital category. Our team processes every new submission from bioRxiv as it appears, transforming dense scientific data into both plain-language overviews and detailed technical summaries. This ensures that whether you are a specialist or a curious reader, you can grasp the significance of these emerging findings without getting lost in jargon.

Below are the most recent pharmacology and toxicology papers from bioRxiv, each accompanied by our expert analysis to help you navigate the latest scientific breakthroughs.

📄 pharmacology and toxicology

Ergothioneine, alone or combined with vitamin K2, vitamin D3 and magnesium L-threonate, attenuates bone turnover, inflammatory and oxidative disturbances in ovariectomized mice

This study demonstrates that ergothioneine, either alone or combined with vitamins K2, D3, and magnesium L-threonate, effectively attenuates systemic oxidative stress, inflammation, and bone turnover disturbances in ovariectomized mice, successfully preserving distal-femoral trabecular area despite failing to fully restore tibial microarchitecture.

Liu, W., Tang, Y., Ding, W., Cao, J., Guo, C., Xiao, G.2026-06-25
📄 pharmacology and toxicology

Development of GS-441524 Derivatives as Potent SARS-CoV-2 Mac1 Inhibitors via a Direct-to-Biology Approach

Using a direct-to-biology approach with mix-and-read fluorescence polarization assays, researchers successfully converted the weak SARS-CoV-2 Mac1 inhibitor GS-441524 into the highly potent and broad-spectrum inhibitor KP-S54, while elucidating its binding mode through cocrystal structure analysis.

Peng, K., Chakraborty, S., Wallace, S. D., Noll, J. C. G., Shang, J., Lu, X., Choi, A., Whittaker, G., Fromme, J. C., Li (…)2026-06-25
📄 pharmacology and toxicology

Modular in vitro evaluation of Buparlisib-polymeric nanomedicines in 2D and 3D models of glioblastoma

This study evaluates modular polymeric nanomedicines of buparlisib in 2D and 3D glioblastoma models, demonstrating that while polymer conjugation reduces potency compared to the free drug, the redox-sensitive disulfide-linked formulation retains concentration-dependent activity and represents the most promising strategy for further development.

Havelkova, J., Petrenko, Y., Stehlikova, A., Marekova, D., Peskova, K., Pechar, M., Studenovsky, M., Etrych, T., Pola, R (…)2026-06-23
📄 pharmacology and toxicology

Exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid accelerates Drosophila melanogaster juvenile development and disrupts mitochondrial metabolism

This study demonstrates that exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) accelerates *Drosophila melanogaster* juvenile development and disrupts mitochondrial metabolism, leading to increased metabolic heat production and heightened sensitivity to environmental stressors in a dose- and context-dependent manner.

Kilbourn, E. A., Lowe, M. R., Panda, K., Bhaskaran, A., Zheng, G., Aalati, A. R., Malave, A., White, S., Graber, A., Zul (…)2026-06-17
📄 pharmacology and toxicology

Network Modeling Predicts How DYRK1A Inhibition Promotes Cardiomyocyte Cycling after Ischemic/Reperfusion Injury

This study combines computational network modeling and experimental validation to demonstrate that inhibiting DYRK1A promotes cardiomyocyte cell cycle re-entry and functional heart recovery following ischemic/reperfusion injury, identifying E2F1 as a key transcriptional driver of this regenerative process.

Murillo, B. C., Young, A., Wintruba, K. L., Eichert, A. J., Siejda, K., Hoenig, D., Bradley, L. A., Harris, B. N., Zhao (…)2026-06-11
📄 pharmacology and toxicology

Stereochemical identity of lipid nanoparticles modulates protein expression via internal lipid organization

This study demonstrates that the stereochemical identity of lipid nanoparticles, particularly the cis isomer of the ionizable lipid cKK-E12, significantly enhances protein expression by modulating internal lipid organization and structural phases, thereby revealing a critical yet overlooked determinant of RNA delivery efficacy.

Aschmann, D., Knol, R. a., Wijngaarden, S., Escalona-Rayo, O., Freire, R. V. M., Bertram, K., Tekkali, I., Bunzel, G., F (…)2026-06-09
📄 pharmacology and toxicology

Profiling the CFTR Variant Selectivity and Off-Target Interactions of VX-121

This study utilizes deep mutational scanning and computational methods to demonstrate that the CFTR corrector VX-121 generally enhances the expression of rare CF variants more effectively than VX-445, particularly for MSD1 mutations, while also revealing a specific variant (Y1032C) with reduced responsiveness and confirming that VX-121 avoids a key off-target interaction associated with VX-445.

Jhangiani, A. R., Olson, J. A., Tedman, A., Foye, C., Jackson, J. J., Winters, A. G., White, J. A., Perfetti, M., Abell (…)2026-06-04
📄 pharmacology and toxicology

Addiction-Like Severity Predicts Prolonged Oxycodone Withdrawal-Induced Allodynia in Genetically Diverse Rats

This study demonstrates that in genetically diverse rats, higher severity of addiction-like behaviors, particularly escalated oxycodone intake and motivation, predicts more intense and prolonged withdrawal-induced mechanical allodynia, suggesting that pain sensitivity during abstinence serves as a robust marker of addiction severity.

Plasil, S. L., Tieu, L., Qian, C., Taylor, N., Sneddon, E., Carrette, L. L., Brennan, M., Morgan, A., Othman, D., Bai, K (…)2026-05-18
📄 pharmacology and toxicology

Simpatico: accurate and ultra-fast virtual drug screening with atomic embeddings

Simpatico is an open-source, ultra-fast virtual screening tool that leverages atomic-level embeddings and nearest-neighbor retrieval to achieve state-of-the-art accuracy in predicting protein-ligand binding, significantly outperforming both traditional docking and existing embedding-based methods in speed and precision without requiring 3D pose estimation.

Gaiser, J., Wheeler, T. J.2026-05-13