Polymer–Magnesium Aluminum Silicate Composite Dispersions for Improved Physical Stability of Acetaminophen Suspensions

The aims of this study were to characterize the morphology and size of flocculates and the zeta potential and rheological properties of polymer–magnesium aluminum silicate (MAS) composite dispersions and to investigate the physical properties of acetaminophen (ACT) suspensions prepared using the composite dispersions as a flocculating/suspending agent. The polymers used were sodium alginate (SA), sodium carboxymethylcellulose (SCMC), and methylcellulose (MC). The results showed that SA, SCMC, and MC could induce flocculation of MAS by a polymer-bridging mechanism, leading to the changes in the zeta potential of MAS and the flow properties of the polymer dispersions. The microscopic morphology and size of the flocculates was dependent on the molecular structure of the polymer, especially ether groups on the polymer side chain. The residual MAS from the flocculation could create a three-dimensional structure in the SA–MAS and SCMC–MAS dispersions, which brought about not only an enhancement of viscosity and thixotropic properties but also an improvement in the ACT flocculating efficiency of polymers. The use of polymer–MAS dispersions provided a higher degree of flocculation and a lower redispersibility value of ACT suspensions compared with the pure polymer dispersions. This led to a low tendency for caking of the suspensions. The SCMC–MAS dispersions provided the highest ACT flocculating efficiency, whereas the lowest ACT flocculating efficiency was found in the MC–MAS dispersions. Moreover, the added MAS did not affect ACT dissolution from the suspensions in an acidic medium. These findings suggest that the polymer–MAS dispersions show good potential for use as a flocculating/suspending agent for improving the rheological properties and physical stability of the suspensions

DNA methylation dynamics during B cell maturation underlie a continuum of disease phenotypes in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Charting differences between tumors and normal tissue is a mainstay of cancer research. However, clonal tumor expansion from complex normal tissue architectures potentially obscures cancer-specific events, including divergent epigenetic patterns. Using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing of normal B cell subsets, we observed broad epigenetic programming of selective transcription factor binding sites coincident with the degree of B cell maturation. By comparing normal B cells to malignant B cells from 268 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), we showed that tumors derive largely from a continuum of maturation states reflected in normal developmental stages. Epigenetic maturation in CLL was associated with an indolent gene expression pattern and increasingly favorable clinical outcomes. We further uncovered that most previously reported tumor-specific methylation events are normally present in non-malignant B cells. Instead, we identified a potential pathogenic role for transcription factor dysregulation in CLL, where excess programming by EGR and NFAT with reduced EBF and AP-1 programming imbalances the normal B cell epigenetic program