人血清白蛋白融合技术在药物长效化改造中的应用

人血清白蛋白(human serum albumin,HSA)融合技术是蛋白质药物长效化改造的一种通用技术,也是目前国内外生物制药研究的热点。在HSA融合技术的研究中,不同融合方式的融合蛋白活性的差异,提高HSA融合蛋白的表达产量以及HSA融合蛋白在表达过程中所出现的降解问题成为制约该技术发展的关键。现就人血清白蛋白融合技术在药物长效化改造应用中所涉及的融合方式以及融合蛋白的高效表达和降解问题进行了综述,希望为HSA融合技术的广泛应用提供一定的技术参考。     

白蛋白结合肽-多柔比星耦合物的设计、制备、表征及初步评价

为了改善多柔比星在血液中的循环半衰期,基于白蛋白在血浆中含量丰富、性质稳定、半衰期持久的特点,通过大肠杆菌体系重组表达了源于细菌表面蛋白中白蛋白结合肽段,并建立了纯化工艺,获得了纯度高于95%的重组白蛋白结合多肽,并证明重组多肽在体外能够迅速地与人血清白蛋白结合。通过与DOXO-EMCH分子化学耦联,制备获得重组白蛋白结合肽-多柔比星耦合物。A549细胞毒力实验结果显示耦合物的IC50浓度升高,药代动力学结果显示重组白蛋白结合肽能够显著延长多柔比星在血液中的循环半衰期,相对于多柔比星或DOXO-EMCH分别提高了5.6倍和3.8倍。荷瘤小鼠肿瘤生长抑制实验结果显示耦合物的抗肿瘤效力得到提升。证明了基于白蛋白结合机制可为小分子药物长效设计提供新的思路。     

人血清白蛋白药物输运过程中的催化作用研究

血清白蛋白(HSA)是人体中重要的药物结合蛋白。药物在体内和血清白蛋白可逆性地结合可以增强药物的生物兼容性、延长药物半衰期并达到缓释的效果。但是研究发现药物和白蛋白的结合有时也会形成负面的影响。本文以能和活性氧反应的化学发光试剂FCLA为分子探针,研究分析了HSA和药物的相互作用及产生的影响。实验发现,HSA能通过与FCLA分子的结合,对FCLA的氧化产生类似于酶催化效果,通过降低氧化反应所需的活化能加速了探针的氧化过程。研究结果表明,HSA和某些药物的结合能够引起药物抗氧化能力或抗药物交叉反应能力的改变,因此在利用HSA携带药物时,需要考虑结合所导致的药物稳定性的降低。该研究有助于揭示体内的药物动力学问题,指导合理用药,同时对于进行药物分子设计、开发新药也具有重要的指导意义。     

新型人血清白蛋白特异结合肽ML的筛选及鉴定

利用噬菌体展示技术筛选和鉴定新型人血清白蛋白(HSA)特异结合7肽,分析与垂体腺苷酸环化酶激活肽27(PACAP27)构成的融合多肽ML-PACAP27与HSA的亲和结合力,以确定筛选的7肽(ML1和ML2)在与其他药物多肽或蛋白融合状态下仍具有较高的HSA结合活力。利用噬菌体展示7肽库,经四轮筛选、筛选克隆的DNA测序、酶联免疫吸附技术分析(ELISA)初步鉴定筛选克隆与HSA的亲和作用,并利用等离子共振技术(SPR)定量测定合成的ML-PACAP27融合多肽与人血清白蛋白的亲和力常数。实验结果表明:经筛选获得2个与人血清白蛋白特异性结合的7肽序列,其氨基酸序列分别为:ML1:LKSCKPL和ML2:SLKSHAL;ELISA分析结果显示,含有ML1和ML2的噬菌体均可亲和结合HSA,而且ML2的亲和结合作用高于ML1;SPR分析结果显示,ML1-PACAP27和ML2-PACAP27与HSA的解离常数(KD)分别为:8.1×10-6mol/L和3.7×10-6mol/L,ML1-PACAP27与HSA的结合力高于ML1-PACAP27。筛选和鉴定了两个可与HSA特异性结合的7肽序列,该7肽序列可用于特异偶联HSA的长效分子药物的重组融合表达或设计,可为延长分子药物的半衰期及新型药物研发提供新工具。     

长效重组蛋白药物的研究进展

重组蛋白药物经静脉和皮下注射后通常半衰期较短,目前延长蛋白药物半衰期的方法主要基于三种原理：1、增大蛋白药物分子量;2、利用血浆药物平衡;3、减少免疫原性。本文针对构建突变体、PEG化修饰和与血清白蛋白融合三种延长重组蛋白药物半衰期的方法,及其已上市的和正在研发中的长效重组蛋白药物的特征、半衰期和免疫原性问题进行了综述。     

长效化融合蛋白药物及其药动学分析技术的研究进展

融合蛋白技术应用于生物制药行业已超过25年,其目的为改善原来天然蛋白的性质,从而具有新的理化特征和生物学功能,其中最为显著的特点是改善了小分子蛋白及多肽半衰期短的缺陷。基于该技术所诞生的融合蛋白类药物已成为当前生物药研发的热点。结合已上市融合蛋白类药物,通过与传统多肽蛋白类药物比较,重点突出融合蛋白类药物自身特点,主要从融合抗体Fc段和人血清白蛋白以延长小分子蛋白及多肽半衰期的角度对融合蛋白药物长效化策略进行评述;对融合蛋白类药物在体内的吸收、分布、代谢和排泄的显著特征进行概述;综述该类药物在体内的分析技术并指出当前分析技术的优缺点及发展方向,为长效化融合蛋白药物的设计、分析研究与开发提供依据和思路。     

蛋白多肽类药物长效化技术研究策略

多肽/蛋白质类药物普遍存在体内半衰期短的问题,使其应用受到了限制。近年来,蛋白质半衰期的研究取得了很大的进展,许多技术已经被提出并测试延长治疗性蛋白的作用时间,如与其他蛋白基因融合(免疫球蛋白域或血清蛋白,如白蛋白)、与聚合物结合(PEG化修饰、聚唾液酸化、HEP化等)。这些技术主要基于本身较长的半衰期及循环机制调控以延长多肽/蛋白质类药物的半衰期。针对上述的多种长效化方式及相关产品进行了综述与讨论,以期为此类药物的长效化研究提供思路。     

生长激素释放激素和人血清白蛋白融合蛋白的克隆表达

目的:通过与人血清白蛋白(HSA)融合,延长生长激素释放激素(GHRH)在体内的半衰期。方法:根据毕赤酵母偏爱密码子重新设计GHRH的核酸序列,并通过化学合成和重叠PCR法将GHRH的N端与HSA的C端通过一个11肽的接头连接,获得GHRH和HSA融合的全长基因序列。构建pPIC9-HSA-GHRH表达载体,电击转化毕赤酵母GS115感受态细胞,通过表型筛选和诱导表达实验得到蛋白表达工程菌,对表达产物进行分离纯化和生物学活性分析。结果:克隆了HSA-GHRH融合基因,构建了pPIC9-HSA-GHRH融合表达载体;电击转化后通过表型筛选和诱导表达实验得到蛋白表达工程菌;经分离纯化后,对表达产物的生物学活性分析显示其在体内有促进生长的作用。结论:与人血清白蛋白的融合有效地提高了GHRH的表达水平,并延长了GHRH的半衰期。     

重组胰高血糖素样肽-1与人血清白蛋白融合蛋白的纯化及活性研究

利用构建的重组菌株Pichia pastoris GS115/GLP-1/HSA,在10L发酵罐中表达了胰高血糖素样肽-1与人血清白蛋白融合蛋白(GLP-1/HSA),表达量为63.6mg/L。发酵液经中空纤维柱浓缩、疏水层析、阴离子交换层析和凝胶过滤分离纯化,获得了较高纯度的GLP-1/HSA,经HPLC分析纯度达95.8%。进一步的体内活性分析结果表明,GLP-1/HSA不仅具有天然GLP-1的生物活性,而且在给药后4h仍能发挥显著性降血糖作用。以上结果表明,利用Pichia pastoris分泌型表达系统和建立的分离纯化方法,能获得大量较高纯度的GLP-1/HSA,为进一步研究和开发能够用于糖尿病临床治疗的长效GLP-1类似物奠定了基础。     

人血清白蛋白和人干扰素α2b的融合蛋白在毕赤酵母中的表达

为了延长IFNα2b在血浆中的半衰期,构建了编码HSA和hIFNα2b的融合基因并在毕赤酵母中获得高效表达,工程菌经5L发酵罐培养后获得的含融合蛋白的培养液经超滤浓缩、蓝色葡聚糖凝胶层析、疏水柱层析以及阴离子柱层析,融合蛋白的纯度达到95%以上。该融合蛋白能与干扰素抗体和人血清白蛋白抗体结合,并表现出与重组干扰素α2b相似的抗病毒活性。以猕猴为动物模型,分别从静脉和皮下单剂量给药,给药浓度为90μg/kg时,在336h后血浆中仍可检测到融合蛋白。其静脉注射的血浆半衰期为101h,皮下注射的半衰期为68.2h。皮下注射的生物利用度为67.9%。IFNα2b与HSA融合后,明显的延长了血浆半衰期,显现了其良好的临床应用前景。     

A Unique Protease Cleavage Site Predicted in the Spike Protein of the Novel Pneumonia Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Potentially Related to Viral Transmissibility

正Dear Editor,In December 2019, a novel human coronavirus caused an epidemic of severe pneumonia(Coronavirus Disease 2019,COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei, China(Wu et al. 2020; Zhu et al. 2020). So far, this virus has spread to all areas of China and even to other countries. The epidemic has caused 67,102 confirmed infections with 1526 fatal cases     

Curcuminoids as inhibitors of thioredoxin reductase: A receptor based pharmacophore study with distance mapping of the active site

Curcumin is the yellow pigment of turmeric that interacts irreversibly forming an adduct with thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), an enzyme responsible for redox control of cell and defence against oxidative stress. Docking at both the active sites of TrxR was performed to compare the potency of three naturally occurring curcuminoids, namely curcumin, demethoxy curcumin and bis-demethoxy curcumin. Results show that active sites of TrxR occur at the junction of E and F chains. Volume and area of both cavities is predicted. It has been concluded by distance mapping of the most active conformations that Se atom of catalytic residue SeCYS498, is at a distance of 3.56 from C13 of demethoxy curcumin at the E chain active site, whereas C13 carbon atom forms adduct with Se atom of SeCys 498. We report that at least one methoxy group in curcuminoids is necessary for interation with catalytic residues of thioredoxin. Pharmacophore of both active sites of the TrxR receptor for curcumin and demethoxy curcumin molecules has been drawn and proposed for design and synthesis of most probable potent antiproliferative synthetic drugs.     

Comparative morphology of the carpel in the Liliaceae: Hewardieae, Petrosavieae, and Tricyrteae

The young pistils in the melanthioid tribes, Hewardieae, Petrosavieae and Tricyrteae, are uniformly tricarpellate and syncarpous. They lack raphide idioblasts. All are multiovulate, with bitegmic ovules. The Petrosavieae are marked by the presence of septal glands and incomplete syncarpy. Tepals and stamens adhere to the ovary in the Hewardieae and the Petrosavieae but not in the Tricyrteae. Two vascular bundles occur in the stamens of the Hewartlieae and Tricyrtis latifolia. Ventral bundles in the upper part of the ovary of the Hewardieae are continuous with compound septal bundles and placental bundles in the lower part. Putative ventral bundles occur in the alternate position in the Tricyrteae and putative placental bundles in the opposite. position in the Petrosavieae. The dichtomously branched stigma in each carpel of the Tricyrteae is supplied by a bifurcated dorsal bundle.     

Enterovirus 71 3C proteolytically processes the histone H3 N-terminal tail during infection

Highlights
1. The N-terminal tail of histone H3 is specifically cleaved during EV71 infection.
2. Viral protease 3C is identified as a protease responsible for proteolytically processing the N-terminal H3 tail.
3. Our finding reveals a new epigenetic regulatory mechanism for Enterovirus 71 in virus-host interactions.     

Detection of EBV and HHV6 in the Brain Tissue of Patients with Rasmussen’s Encephalitis

Rasmussen’s encephalitis (RE) is a rare pediatric neurological disorder, and the exact etiology is not clear. Viral infection may be involved in the pathogenesis of RE, but conflicting results have reported. In this study, we evaluated the expression of both Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human herpes virus (HHV) 6 antigens in brain sections from 30 patients with RE and 16 control individuals by immunohistochemistry. In the RE group, EBV and HHV6 antigens were detected in 56.7% (17/30) and 50% (15/30) of individuals, respectively. In contrast, no detectable EBV and HHV6 antigen expression was found in brain tissues of the control group. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in 20.0% (6/30) of individuals. In particular, a 4-year-old boy had a typical clinical course, including a medical history of viral encephalitis, intractable epilepsy, and hemispheric atrophy. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in neurons and astrocytes in the brain tissue, accompanied by a high frequency of CD8⁺ T cells. Our results suggest that EBV and HHV6 infection and the activation of CD8⁺ T cells are involved in the pathogenesis of RE.     

Perinatal Vertical Transmission of Chikungunya Virus in Ruili,a Town on the Border between China and Myanmar

正Dear Editor,Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an arbovirus in the family of Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus, is transmitted by the A.aegyptii or A. albopictus mosquito, and causes disease in humans characterized by fever, rash, and arthralgia (Silva and Dermody 2017; Suhrbier 2019). It was first reported in 1953 in Tanzania, and caused only a few outbreaks and sporadic cases in Africa and Asia in last century. However, in the epidemic in 2004, CHIKV acquired mutations that conferred enhanced transmission by the A. albopictus mosquito(Schuffenecker et al. 2006). Since then, it has successively caused outbreaks in Africa, the Indian Ocean, South East Asia, the South America, and Europe (Zeller et al. 2016).     

Development of a Novel Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Method for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2

In conclusion, the novel visual RT-LAMP assay is a simple, rapid, and sensitive approach for detection of SARS-CoV-2, and it is ready for application in primary care and community hospitals or health care centers, and even patients' own houses in response to the current SARS-CoV-2 epidemic because the assay does not require sophisticated equipment and skilled personnel. Furthermore, it is also ready to be used in fields for screening samples from wild animals and environments to facilitate the identification of potential intermediate hosts that mediate the cross-species transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from bats to humans.