An Intra-Company Analysis of Inherent Particles in Biologicals Shapes the Protein Particle Mitigation Strategy Across Development Stages.

To better understand protein aggregation and inherent particle formation in the biologics pipeline at Novartis, a cross-functional team collected and analyzed historical protein particle issues. Inherent particle occurrences from the past 10 years were systematically captured in a protein particle database. Where the root cause was identified, a number of product attributes (such as development stage, process step, or protein format) were trended.

Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor-CXCR4 Receptor Interactions: EVIDENCE FOR PARTIAL ALLOSTERIC AGONISM IN COMPARISON WITH CXCL12 CHEMOKINE.

An emerging number of non-chemokine mediators are found to bind to classical chemokine receptors and to elicit critical biological responses. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is an inflammatory cytokine that exhibits chemokine-like activities through non-cognate interactions with the chemokine receptors CXCR2 and CXCR4, in addition to activating the type II receptor CD74. Activation of the MIF-CXCR2 and -CXCR4 axes promotes leukocyte recruitment, mediating the exacerbating role of MIF in atherosclerosis and contributing to the wealth of other MIF biological activities.

Targeting distinct tautomerase sites of D-DT and MIF with a single molecule for inhibition of neutrophil lung recruitment.

We report a new inflammatory activity for extracellular d-dopachrome tautomerase (D-DT), the recruitment of neutrophils to the lung on D-DT intratracheal installation of C57BL/6J mice with an EC50 of 5.6 μg. We also find that D-DT and macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) have additive effects in neutrophil recruitment.

A Plasmodium-encoded cytokine suppresses T-cell immunity during malaria.

The inability to acquire protective immunity against Plasmodia is the chief obstacle to malaria control, and inadequate T-cell responses may facilitate persistent blood-stage infection. Malaria is characterized by a highly inflammatory cytokine milieu, and the lack of effective protection against infection suggests that memory T cells are not adequately formed or maintained. Using a genetically targeted strain of Plasmodium berghei, we observed that the Plasmodium ortholog of macrophage migration inhibitory factor enhanced inflammatory cytokine production and also induced antigen-experienced CD4 T cells to develop into short-lived effector cells rather than memory precursor cells.

The D-dopachrome tautomerase (DDT) gene product is a cytokine and functional homolog of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF).

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a pivotal regulator of the immune response. Neutralization or genetic deletion of MIF does not completely abrogate activation responses, however, and deletion of the MIF receptor, CD74, produces a more pronounced phenotype than MIF deficiency. We hypothesized that these observations may be explained by a second MIF-like ligand, and we considered a probable candidate to be the protein encoded by the homologous, D-dopachrome tautomerase (D-DT) gene.

Impaired macrophage migration inhibitory factor-AMP-activated protein kinase activation and ischemic recovery in the senescent heart.

Background: Elderly patients are more sensitive than younger patients to myocardial ischemia, which results in higher mortality. We investigated how aging affects the cardioprotective AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathway.

Methods And Results: Ischemic AMPK activation was impaired in aged compared with young murine hearts.

The Golgi-associated protein p115 mediates the secretion of macrophage migration inhibitory factor.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a leaderless protein that is secreted from cells by a specialized, nonclassical export pathway. The release of MIF nevertheless is regulated and its production in response to different inflammatory, mitogenic, and hormonal stimuli plays an important role in diverse physiologic and pathologic processes. We report herein the identification of the Golgi complex-associated protein p115 as an intracellular binding partner for MIF.

A Leishmania ortholog of macrophage migration inhibitory factor modulates host macrophage responses.

Parasitic organisms have evolved specialized strategies to evade immune defense mechanisms. We describe herein an ortholog of the cytokine, macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), which is produced by the obligate intracellular parasite, Leishmania major. The Leishmania MIF protein, Lm1740MIF, shows significant structural homology with human MIF as revealed by a high-resolution x-ray crystal structure (1.