Engineered monoclonal antibody with novel antigen-sweeping activity in vivo.

Monoclonal antibodies are widely used to target disease-related antigens. However, because conventional antibody binds to the antigen but cannot eliminate the antigen from plasma, and rather increases the plasma antigen concentration by reducing the clearance of the antigen, some clinically important antigens are still difficult to target with monoclonal antibodies because of the huge dosages required. While conventional antibody can only bind to the antigen, some natural endocytic receptors not only bind to the ligands but also continuously eliminate them from plasma by pH-dependent dissociation of the ligands within the acidic endosome and subsequent receptor recycling to the cell surface.

In vitro study on the transport of zinc across intestinal epithelial cells using Caco-2 monolayers and isolated rat intestinal membranes.

The variety of physiologic and biologic functions of zinc is fascinating and could be applicable to medicine. Our previous studies demonstrated that the absorption of zinc after oral administration to rats is dose-dependent. In order to clarify the detailed mechanism of the dose-dependent in vivo absorption, the transport of zinc across intestinal epithelial cells was investigated using Caco-2 monolayers and isolated rat intestinal membranes.

The disposition and intestinal absorption of zinc in rats.

The variety of physiologic and biologic functions of zinc is expected to enable the development of zinc-related medicines. In this study, the distribution of endogenous zinc, the disposition after intravenous injection, and the intestinal absorption of zinc were investigated in vivo using rats from the viewpoints of pharmaceutical science and pharmacokinetics. High levels of endogenous zinc were observed in bone, testis, and liver.