Pilot study: To assess feasibility and tolerability of a minimal invasive implantable PEEK device for prevention of contralateral osteoporotic hip fracture.

A non-comparative multi-centre and international pilot study have been carried on Y-STRUT® (Hyprevention, France), an implantable medical device meant to reinforce the hip to reduce the risk of a contralateral hip fracture. Objectives of the study were to determine the feasibility and tolerance of the procedure. Methods Patients older than 60 years were recruited when presenting at the emergency departments with a low-energy pertrochanteric fracture on one side and with a fracture risk assessed for the contralateral side with BMD, T-Score or other bone quality evaluation tool, FRAX index, or fall risk assessment.

Middle Level IM-MS and CIU Experiments for Improved Therapeutic Immunoglobulin Subclass Fingerprinting.

Most of the current FDA and EMA approved therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are based on humanized or human IgG1, 2, or 4 subclasses and engineered variants. On the structural side, these subclasses are characterized by specific interchain disulfide bridge connections. Different analytical techniques have been reported to assess intact IgGs subclasses, with recently special interest in native ion mobility (IM) and collision induced unfolding (CIU) mass spectrometry (MS).

Efficacy of the Antibody-Drug Conjugate W0101 in Preclinical Models of IGF-1 Receptor Overexpressing Solid Tumors.

The insulin-like growth factor type 1 receptor (IGF-1R) is important in tumorigenesis, and its overexpression occurs in numerous tumor tissues. To date, therapeutic approaches based on mAbs and tyrosine kinase inhibitors targeting IGF-1R have only shown clinical benefit in specific patient populations. We report a unique IGF-1R-targeted antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), W0101, designed to deliver a highly potent cytotoxic auristatin derivative selectively to IGF-1R overexpressing tumor cells.

NanoLuc Luciferase - A Multifunctional Tool for High Throughput Antibody Screening.

Based on the recent development of NanoLuc luciferase (Nluc), a small (19 kDa), highly stable, ATP independent, bioluminescent protein, an extremely robust and ultra high sensitivity screening system has been developed whereby primary hits of therapeutic antibodies and antibody fragments could be characterized and quantified without purification. This system is very versatile allowing cellular and solid phase ELISA but also homogeneous BRET based screening assays, relative affinity determinations with competition ELISA and direct Western blotting. The new Nluc protein fusion represents a "swiss army knife solution" for today and future high throughput antibody drug screenings.

A novel role for junctional adhesion molecule-A in tumor proliferation: modulation by an anti-JAM-A monoclonal antibody.

To identify new potential targets in oncology, functional approaches were developed using tumor cells as immunogens to select monoclonal antibodies targeting membrane receptors involved in cell proliferation. For that purpose cancer cells were injected into mice and resulting hybridomas were screened for their ability to inhibit cell proliferation in vitro. Based on this functional approach coupled to proteomic analysis, a monoclonal antibody specifically recognizing the human junctional adhesion molecule-A (JAM-A) was defined.

Extending mass spectrometry contribution to therapeutic monoclonal antibody lead optimization: characterization of immune complexes using noncovalent ESI-MS.

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have taken on an increasing importance for the treatment of various diseases including cancers, immunological disorders, and other pathologies. These large biomolecules display specific structural features, which affect their efficiency and need, therefore, to be extensively characterized using sensitive and orthogonal analytical techniques. Among them, mass spectrometry (MS) has become the method of choice to study mAb amino acid sequences as well as their post-translational modifications.

Direct bacterial protein PAMP recognition by human NK cells involves TLRs and triggers alpha-defensin production.

Although human CD56(+)CD3(-) natural killer (NK) cells participate in immune responses against microorganisms, their capacity to directly recognize and be activated by pathogens remains unclear. These cells encode members of the Toll-like receptor (TLR) family, involved in innate cell activation on recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). We therefore evaluated whether the 2 bacterial protein PAMPs, the outer membrane protein A from Klebsiella pneumoniae (KpOmpA) and flagellin, which signal through TLR2 and TLR5, respectively, may directly stimulate human NK cells.

The outer membrane protein X from Escherichia coli exhibits immune properties.

Outer membrane proteins (OMP) are expressed in Gram-negative bacterial cell wall. OmpA from Klebsiella pneumoniae (KpOmpA) has been shown to bind and to activate selectively antigen presenting cells (APCs), eliciting protective CTL responses. In this study, we investigated whether OmpX, another member of the OMP family and structurally related to OmpA, exhibits the same immune properties.

Expression of recombinant proteins in a lipid A mutant of Escherichia coli BL21 with a strongly reduced capacity to induce dendritic cell activation and maturation.

Mutations in the Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Salmonella lpxM gene have been shown to result in strains which grow normally and which produce a non-myristoylated lipopolysaccharide (nmLPS) with strongly reduced endotoxicity. Using homologous recombination, we inactivated the lpxM gene in BL21 (DE3), a strain widely used for the production of recombinant proteins.

Functional assignment of motifs conserved in beta 1,3-glycosyltransferases.

The beta 1,3-glycosyltransferase enzymes identified to date share several conserved regions and conserved cysteine residues, all being located in the putative catalytic domain. To investigate the importance of these motifs and cysteines for the enzymatic activity, 14 mutants of the murine beta 1,3-galactosyltransferase-I gene were constructed and expressed in Sf9 insect cells. Seven mutations abolished the galactosyltransferase activity.

Immobilisation on polystyrene of diazirine derivatives of mono- and disaccharides: biological activities of modified surfaces.

The potential of surface glycoengineering for biomaterials and biosensors originates from the importance of carbohydrate-protein interactions in biological systems. The strategy employed here utilises carbene generated by illumination of diazirine to achieve covalent bonding of carbohydrates. Here, we describe the synthesis of an aryl diazirine containing a disaccharide (lactose).

Chemo-enzymatic synthesis of the Galili epitope Gal(alpha)(1-->3)Galbeta(1-->4)GlcNAc on a homogeneously soluble PEG polymer by a multi-enzyme system.

The alpha-Gal trisaccharide Gal(alpha)(1-->3)Galbeta(1-->4)GlcNAc 11 was synthesized on a homogeneously soluble polymeric support (polyethylene glycol, PEG) by use of a multi-enzyme system consisting of beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase (EC 2.4.1.

Improving solubility of catalytic domain of human beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase 1 through rationally designed amino acid replacements.

beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase 1 (beta4gal-T1, EC 2.4.1.

Exploring the acceptor substrate recognition of the human beta-galactoside alpha 2,6-sialyltransferase.

Human beta1,4-galactoside alpha2,6-sialyltransferase I (ST6GalI) recognition of glycoprotein acceptors has been investigated using various soluble forms of the enzyme deleted to a variable extent in the N-terminal half of the polypeptide. Full-length and truncated forms of the enzyme have been investigated with respect to their specificity for a variety of desialylated glycoproteins of known complex glycans as well as related proteins with different carbohydrate chains. Differences in transfer efficiency have been observed between membrane and soluble enzymatic forms, indicating that deletion of the transmembrane fragment induces loss of acceptor preference.

The C-disaccharide alpha-C(1-->3)-mannopyranoside of N-acetylgalactosamine is an inhibitor of glycohydrolases and of human alpha-1,3-fucosyltransferase VI. Its epimer alpha-(1-->3)-mannopyranoside of N-acetyltalosamine is not.

The radical C-glycosidation of (-)-(1S,4R,5R, 6R)-6-endo-chloro-3-methylidene-5-exo-(phenylseleno)-7-ox abi cyclo[2. 2.1]heptan-2-one ((-)-4) with 2,3,4, 6-tetra-O-acetyl-alpha-D-mannopyranosyl bromide gave (+)-(1S,3R,4R, 5R,6R)-6-endo-chloro-5-exo-(phenylseleno)-3-endo-(1',3',4', 5'-tetra-O-acetyl-2', 6'-anhydro-7'-deoxy-D-glycero-D-manno-heptitol-7'-C-yl)-7-oxabi cyc lo[ 2.

Complete enzymic synthesis of the mucin-type sialyl Lewis x epitope, involved in the interaction between PSGL-1 and P-selectin.

Sialyl Lewis x (sLe(x)) is an established selectin ligand occurring on N- and O-linked glycans. Using a completely enzymic approach starting from p-nitrophenyl N-acetyl-alpha-D-galactosaminide (GalNAc(alpha1-pNp as core substrate, the sLe(x)-oligosaccharide Neu5Ac(alpha2-3)Gal(beta1-4)[Fuc(alpha1-3)]GlcNAc(beta1-6)[Gal(bet a1-3)]GalNAc(alpha1-pNp, representing the O-linked form, was synthesized in an overall yield of 32%. In a first step, Gal(beta1-3)GalNAc(alpha1-pNp was prepared in a yield of 52% using UDP-Gal and an enriched preparation of beta3-galactosyltransferase (EC 2.

Secretion and purification of recombinant beta1-4 galactosyltransferase from insect cells using pFmel-protA, a novel transposition-based baculovirus transfer vector.

The palette of transfer vectors available for generation of recombinant baculoviruses based on transposition-mediated recombination has been enlarged by constructing the pFmel-protA vector. The pFmel-protA plasmid includes the honeybee melittin secretion signal and a Staphylococcus aureus protein A fusion protein tag, which allows the secretion and purification of recombinant proteins. Using this system, the human beta1-4 galactosyltransferase-I protein was expressed in Sf9 insect cells at a level ranging from 22 to 28 U (4.

Expression of functional soluble forms of human beta-1, 4-galactosyltransferase I, alpha-2,6-sialyltransferase, and alpha-1, 3-fucosyltransferase VI in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris.

The cDNAs encoding soluble forms of human beta-1, 4-galactosyltransferase I (EC 2.4.1.

UDP-N-Acetyl-alpha-D-glucosamine as acceptor substrate of beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase. Enzymatic synthesis of UDP-N-acetyllactosamine.

The capacity of UDP-N-acetyl-alpha-D-glucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) as an in vitro acceptor substrate for beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase (beta4GalT1, EC 2.4.1.

The yeast expression system for recombinant glycosyltransferases.

Glycosyltransferases are increasingly being used for in vitro synthesis of oligosaccharides. Since these enzymes are difficult to purify from natural sources, expression systems for soluble forms of the recombinant enzymes have been developed. This review focuses on the current state of development of yeast expression systems.

Antibody recognition of epitopes on wild-type and mutant beta-(1-->4)-galactosyltransferase-1.

The epitopes present on beta-(1-->4)-galactosyltransferase-1 (beta 4Gal-T1) have been explored using a panel of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) raised against the soluble form of the human enzyme. Reactivity of the antibodies with site-specific and truncated mutants of human beta 4Gal-T1 suggests the presence of a major immunogenic epitope cluster consisting of four epitopes within the stem region and mapping between amino acids 42 and 115. The catalytic activity of the enzyme is increased in the presence of stem region-specific antibody.

Expression and purification of His-tagged beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase in yeast and in COS cells.

His6-tag technology has been introduced for easy purification of recombinant proteins expressed in Escherichia coli. Aiming at extending this technology to purification of glycoproteins expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae or in animal cells, respectively, we adapted this protocol to recombinant soluble beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase (rgal-T). A His6-tag was introduced to the N-terminus of the protein (hisGal-T).

Recombinant soluble beta-1,4-galactosyltransferases expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Purification, characterization and comparison with human enzyme.

beta-1,4-Galactosyltransferase (Gal-T, EC 2.4.1.

Overproduction and properties of the mannuronate alginate lyase AlxMB.

In previous studies (Malissard et al., FEMS Microbiol. Lett.