Characterization of recombinant human C1 inhibitor secreted in milk of transgenic rabbits.

C1 inhibitor (C1INH) is a single-chain glycoprotein that inhibits activation of the contact system of coagulation and the complement system. C1INH isolated from human blood plasma (pd-hC1INH) is used for the management of hereditary angioedema (HAE), a disease caused by heterozygous deficiency of C1INH, and is a promise for treatment of ischemia-reperfusion injuries like acute myocardial or cerebral infarction. To obtain large quantities of C1INH, recombinant human C1INH (rhC1INH) was expressed in the milk of transgenic rabbits (12 g/l) harboring genomic human C1INH sequences fused to 5' bovine αS(1) casein promoter sequences.

Immunogenicity assessment of recombinant human c1-inhibitor: an integrated analysis of clinical studies.

Background And Objective: Recombinant human C1-inhibitor (rhC1INH) is used to treat acute angioedema attacks in hereditary angioedema (HAE) due to a genetic C1INH deficiency. Recombinant proteins in general may induce antibody responses and therefore evaluation of such responses in the target population is an essential step in the clinical development program of a recombinant protein. Here we report the assessment of the immunogenicity of rhC1INH in symptomatic HAE patients.

Therapeutic targeting of classical and lectin pathways of complement protects from ischemia-reperfusion-induced renal damage.

Ischemia-reperfusion injury is the major cause of delayed graft function in transplanted kidneys, an early event significantly affecting long-term graft function and survival. Several studies in rodents suggest that the alternative pathway of the complement system plays a pivotal role in renal ischemia-reperfusion injury. However, limited information is currently available from humans and larger animals.

Recombinant C1 inhibitor in brain ischemic injury.

Objective: C1 inhibitor (C1-INH) is an endogenous inhibitor of complement and kinin systems. We have explored the efficacy and the therapeutic window of the recently available human recombinant (rh) C1-INH on ischemic brain injury and investigated its mechanism of action in comparison with that of plasma-derived (pd) C1-INH.

Methods: rhC1-INH was administered intravenously to C57Bl/6 mice undergoing transient or permanent ischemia, and its protective effects were evaluated by measuring infarct volume and neurodegeneration.

N-glycans of recombinant human acid alpha-glucosidase expressed in the milk of transgenic rabbits.

Pompe disease is a lysosomal glycogen storage disorder characterized by acid alpha-glucosidase (GAA) deficiency. More than 110 different pathogenic mutations in the gene encoding GAA have been observed. Patients with this disease are being treated by intravenous injection of recombinant forms of the enzyme.

Influence of lactation parameters on the N-glycosylation of recombinant human C1 inhibitor isolated from the milk of transgenic rabbits.

The large-scale production of recombinant biopharmaceutical glycoproteins in the milk of transgenic animals is becoming more widespread. However, in comparison with bacterial, plant cell, or cell culture production systems, little is known about the glycosylation machinery of the mammary gland, and hence on the glycosylation of recombinant glycoproteins produced in transgenic animals. Here the influence is presented of several lactation parameters on the N-glycosylation of recombinant C1 inhibitor (rhC1INH), a human serum glycoprotein, expressed in the milk of transgenic rabbits.

N- and O-glycans of recombinant human C1 inhibitor expressed in the milk of transgenic rabbits.

Human C1 inhibitor (hC1INH) is a therapeutic N, O-glycoprotein with a growing number of clinical applications, but the current natural supplies are not likely to meet the clinical demands. Therefore, recombinant approaches are of interest, whereby specific attention has to be paid to the generated glycosylation patterns. Here, the N,O-glycoprotein was expressed in the mammary gland of transgenic rabbits and subjected to glycan analysis.

Partitioning of peptide-tagged proteins in aqueous two-phase systems using hydrophobically modified micelle-forming thermoseparating polymer.

Genetic engineering has been used to construct hydrophobically modified fusion proteins of cutinase from Fusarium solani pisi and tryptophan-containing peptides. The aim was to enhance the partitioning of the tagged protein in a novel aqueous two-phase system formed by only one water-soluble polymer. The system was based on a hydrophobically modified random copolymer of ethylene oxide (EO) and propylene oxide (PO) units, HM-EOPO, with myristyl groups (C(14)H(29)) at both ends.

Production of wild-type and peptide fusion cutinases by recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae MM01 strains.

This study focused on the growth of Saccha-romyces cerevisiae MM01 recombinant strains and the respective production of three extracellular heterologous cutinases: a wild-type cutinase and two cutinases in which the primary structure was fused with the peptides (WP)(2) and (WP)(4), respectively. Different cultivation and strategies were tested in a 2-L shake flask and a 5-L bioreactor, and the respective cell growth and cutinase production were analyzed and compared for the three yeast strains. The highest cutinase productions and productivities were obtained in the fed-batch culture, where wild-type cutinase was secreted up to a level of cutinase activity per dry cell weight (specific cell activity) of 4.

Cutinase-peptide fusions in thermoseparating aqueous two-phase systems. Prediction of partitioning and enhanced tag efficiency by detergent addition.

It is of increasing importance to develop efficient purification methods for recombinant proteins where the number of steps can be minimised. The aim has been to establish a method for predicting the partitioning of the wild-type target protein in an aqueous two-phase system, and with this as basis, develop fusion tags and optimise the phase system for enhanced partitioning of the target protein. The surface of the lipolytic enzyme cutinase from Fusarium solani pisi was investigated with a computer program, Graphical Representation and Analysis of Surface Properties (GRASP).

NMR studies of Fusarium solani pisi cutinase in complex with phosphonate inhibitors.

The backbone dynamics of Fusarium solani pisi cutinase in complex with a phosphonate inhibitor has been studied by a variety of nuclear magnetic resonance experiments to probe internal motions on different time scales. The results have been compared with dynamical studies performed on free cutinase. In solution, the enzyme adopts its active conformation only upon binding the inhibitor.

Structural basis of the chiral selectivity of Pseudomonas cepacia lipase.

To investigate the enantioselectivity of Pseudomonas cepacia lipase, inhibition studies were performed with Sc- and Rc-(Rp,Sp)-1,2-dialkylcarbamoylglycero-3-O-p-nitrophenyl alkylphosphonates of different alkyl chain lengths. P. cepacia lipase was most rapidly inactivated by Rc-(Rp,Sp)-1,2-dioctylcarbamoylglycero-3-O-p-nitrophenyl octylphosphonate (Rc-trioctyl) with an inactivation half-time of 75 min, while that for the Sc-(Rp,Sp)-1,2-dioctylcarbamoylglycero-3-O-p-nitrophenyl octyl-phosphonate (Sc-trioctyl) compound was 530 min.

Crystal structure of cutinase covalently inhibited by a triglyceride analogue.

Cutinase from Fusarium solani is a lipolytic enzyme that hydrolyses triglycerides efficiently. All the inhibited forms of lipolytic enzymes described so far are based on the use of small organophosphate and organophosphonate inhibitors, which bear little resemblance to a natural triglyceride substrate. In this article we describe the crystal structure of cutinase covalently inhibited by (R)-1,2-dibutyl-carbamoylglycero-3-O-p-nitrophenylbutyl-phos phonate, a triglyceride analogue mimicking the first tetrahedral intermediate along the reaction pathway.

Phosphonate analogues of triacylglycerols are potent inhibitors of lipase.

1,2-Dioctylcarbamoylglycero-3-O-p-nitrophenyl alkylphosphonates, with alkyl being methyl or octyl, were synthesised and tested as irreversible inhibitors of cutinase from Fusarium solani pisi and Staphylococcus hyicus lipase. Rapid inactivation of these enzymes occurred with a concomitant release of one mole of p-nitrophenol per mole of enzyme. With both lipases a higher reactivity was observed when the alkyl substituent on the phosphonate is a methyl rather than an octyl chain.

Cutinase from Fusarium solani pisi hydrolyzing triglyceride analogues. Effect of acyl chain length and position in the substrate molecule on activity and enantioselectivity.

Triglyceride analogues were synthesized in which one of the primary acyl ester functions has been replaced by an alkyl group and the secondary acyl ester bond has been replaced by an acyl amino bond. The chain length at either position was varied, and both (R)- and (S)-enantiomers of each compound were synthesized. These pseudo triglycerides contain only one hydrolyzable ester bond, and they are ideally suited to studying the influence of the chain length at the 1-, 2-, and 3-position on lipase activity and on stereopreference.

Characterization of protein kinase C in early Xenopus embryogenesis.

Recently, we presented evidence that protein kinase C (PKC) is involved in mediating the endogenous signals that induced competent Xenopus ectoderm to differentiate to neural tissue. We report here that PKC is already strongly activated in neural-induced ectoderm from midgastrula embryos and that this activation runs parallel with an increase in the level of inositol phosphates. We further identify several proteins that are phosphorylated, both in natural neural-induced ectoderm and in TPA-treated ectoderm, suggesting that they are phosphorylated through the PKC route.