Anti-hirudin monoclonal antibodies directed toward discontinuous epitopes of the hirudin amino-terminal and epitopes involving the carboxy-terminal hirudin amino acids.

A panel of eight monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) was obtained against recombinant hirudin variant 2 (rHV2). Specificities of the eight MAbs indicate that four of them recognize C-terminal amino acid residues (Group A) and four are directed against discontinuous epitopes and recognize a determinant (or determinants) within the 43 N-terminal residues (Group B). Using these antibodies recombinant hirudins missing one or more C-terminal amino acids can be distinguished from molecules with an intact C-terminus either in enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) or by immunoaffinity chromatography.

Characterization of the deamidated forms of recombinant hirudin.

Recombinant hirudin variant rHV2-Lys 47 (MW = 6906.5) was intentionally deamidated by incubation in pH 9 phosphate buffer at 37 degrees C. Anion-exchange HPLC analysis showed that 11 forms could be generated.

Purification from human cerebrospinal fluid of insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs). Isolation of IGFBP-2, an altered form of IGFBP-3 and a new IGFBP species.

Cerebrospinal fluid insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (CSF IGFBPs) characteristically have a preferential affinity for IGF-II, which is largely accounted for by a 32-30 kDa IGFBP(Ka = 10(11) M-1) previously purified from human CSF, with an N-terminal sequence unlike any other IGFBP identified at the time. We have now used procedure (including ammonium sulphate precipitation, acidic gel filtration, affinity chromatography and reverse phase chromatography) and purified three further IGFBPs to homogeneity from child CSF. Apart from the 32-30-kDa form, the predominant IGFBP in CSF is a 34-kDa form (non-reduced in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis).

Isolation of recombinant hirudin by preparative high-performance liquid chromatography.

The purification of recombinant hirudin variant 2-Lys47 (rHV2-Lys47), produced by a genetically engineered yeast strain, is described. rHV2-Lys47 expressed and secreted into the culture medium was the starting material for the purification process of hirudin from the culture broth after cell harvesting by centrifugation. Initial purification of the product by preparative reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using step-gradient elution, followed by precipitation of rHV2-Lys47 in the presence of acetone, removed most of the contaminants from the culture medium.

Mass spectrometry analyses of recombinant hirudins (7 kDa).

The use of liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry (LSIMS) in the characterization of related recombinant 7-kDa peptides illustrates the adequacy of average mass measurement by scanning at low resolution. The difficulty in using the high-resolution technique in the case of poor LSIMS sensitive peptides is discussed, as well as the fact that it does not give, for these molecular weights, any real advantage. The average (or chemical) molecular weights of three recombinant hirudin molecules, hirudin variant 2 (rHV2, 6892.

Physical map of DNA from a new cauliflower mosaic virus strain.

The restriction enzymes AluI, BamHI, BglII, EcoRI, HindIII, and SalI have been used to characterize and map a new cauliflower mosaic virus strain (Cabb-S). These fragments have been ordered by examining their overlapping regions after double enzymatic digestion. The single SalI cleavage site was chosen as the point of origin.