Characterization and genetic control of the immune response to synthetic polypeptide antigens of defined geometry.

Both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses to the synthetic helical hapten-carrier conjugate poly-Glu-Tyr-Lys(TNP)-(Glu-Tyr-Ala)5 were found to be linked to the major histocompatibility locus in mice and guinea pigs. The responder mouse strains (H-2d haplotype) showed a primary IgM response with an IgG component appearing after the secondary immunization. The antibody response was accompanied by a positive DTH reaction in responder strains. Nonresponder mice (H-2b or H-2k haplotypes) showed neither IgM nor IgG antibodies and the DTH reaction was negative. Administration of the antigen as a complex with an immunogenic carrier was not effective in inducing a response in nonresponder mice. In guinea pig studies, it was found that strain 2 animals were able to mount an antibody response against the TNP-hapten and a DTH response against the polypeptide backbone. Strain 13 animals gave no anti-TNP antibodies at the lower dose levels and DTH activity was entirely negative for all doses of immunizing antigen. Replacement of the TNP hapten by the arsanilazo dipeptide derivative, BOC-gly-ARA-tyrosine, converted the nonresponder strain 13 guinea pigs into complete responders showing antibody and DTH reactions to both the hapten and the polypeptide backbone.     

Epitope-specific regulation. IV. In vitro studies with suppressor T cells induced by carrier/hapten-carrier immunization

Sequential immunization with a carrier molecule and a new epitope (hapten) conjugated to the carrier (carrier/hapten-carrier immunization) induces specific suppression for IgG antibody production to the new epitope (hapten) on the carrier. Once induced, this "epitope-specific" suppression persists and specifically suppresses subsequent in vivo IgG antibody responses to the hapten presented on the same or on an unrelated carrier molecule. In vitro studies presented here characterize the surface markers and specificity of suppressor T cells generated in carrier/hapten-carrier-immunized animals. Thus we show (1) that spleen cells from these donors suppress in vitro IgG anti-hapten antibody production by cocultured hapten-primed spleen cells; (2) that some but not all of the suppressor cells carry surface Lyt-2; (3) that at least some of the suppressor cells have receptors for the inducing hapten (DNP); and (4) that, unlike the suppression obtained in vivo, the in vitro suppression extends to IgG responses to unrelated carrier protein epitopes presented in association with the inducing hapten.     

Cooperation between Carrier-reactive and Hapten-sensitive Cells <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vitro</Emphasis>

THE mechanism, known as the carrier effect, whereby immunity to one or more determinant groups enhances the response to other determinants on the same multivalent antigen, was first recognized in delayed hypersensitivity to haptens, in which, for an appreciable response, the hapten must be coupled to the same protein carrier for priming and challenge^{1, 2}. Carrier specificity has also been demonstrated in the secondary antibody responses to hapten protein conjugates³. Two alternative hypotheses have been advanced to explain this specificity. The “local environment” hypothesis supposes that the hapten-sensitive cell recognizes both the hapten and the carrier determinants. However, the antihapten antibodies produced do not distinguish details of the carrier molecule and so do not reflect the specificity of the cellular receptor. Furthermore, inert spacer molecules inserted between hapten and carrier do not interfere with carrier specificity in the antibody response³. Reflecting current views on the cooperation between thymus-derived (T) and bone marrow derived (B) lymphocytes in the antibody response to various antigens⁴, the second hypothesis invokes two or more cells, one with receptors directed towards the hapten (hapten-sensitive cell), the others specific for the carrier molecule proper (carrier-reactive cells). Supporting this is the observation that pre-immunization to a particular protein carrier alone could potentiate the primary or secondary antihapten response to a hapten conjugated to that protein⁵. In an adoptive transfer system, moreover, the efficiency of antihapten antibody production by cells primed to a particular hapten-protein conjugate and stimulated with the hapten conjugated on a heterologous protein, is significantly enhanced by the introduction of cells primed to the heterologous carrier alone. Anti-carrier serum antibody does not cause such enhancement⁶. The carrier-reactive cells must therefore cooperate in increasing the efficiency of the hapten-sensitive cells in some way other than by providing humoral anti-carrier antibody. Recent work strongly suggests that carrier reactive cells are thymus-derived^{6, 7}.     

Effect of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis infection on anti-hapten IgE antibody response in the mouse: I. Induction of carrier specific helper cells

Inoculation of infective larvae of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis into A/J, BALB/c, and SJL mice primed intraperitoneally (ip) 3 weeks before infection with 1 μg of dinitrophenylated keyhole limpet hemocyanin (DNP-KLH) mixed with 1 mg Al(OH)₃ induced a carrier effect on anti-DNP IgE and IgG₁ antibody responses when the experimental mice were secondarily immunized with an ip injection of 1 μg of DNP-coupled N. brasiliensis extract (DNP-Nb) plus alum 2 weeks after infection. The magnitude of the hapten specific antibody response did not correlate rigidly with the number of larvae in the inoculum. Thus, a dose of 100 larvae was as effective in inducing the carrier effect as a dose of 800 larvae. Kinetic studies in A/J and BALB/c mice revealed that the anti-DNP IgE antibody response reached a maximum titer 7 days after the secondary immunization. These studies also showed that the enhanced IgE antibody response persisted for more than 40 days, while the response in all control groups terminated prior to that time. Using the adoptive transfer system, it was demonstrated that lymphoid cells obtained from the spleens or the mesenteric lymph nodes of infected mice cooperated with DNP-KLH primed cells to produce hapten specific IgE and IgG, antibodies when the challenge was made with DNP-Nb but not when it was made with 1 μg DNP-ovalbumin, clearly indicating carrier specificity. The helper activity of the cells obtained from infected mice was completely abolished or greatly reduced by the in vitro treatment with anti-θ serum and complement. The helper cells with maximum activity were present as early as 14 days after inoculation. The level of helper activity gradually decreased after 14 days. The results indicate that N. brasiliensis infection is effective in inducing carrier specific helper cells of thymic origin (T cells) in anti-DNP antibody responses. These results confirm those obtained by other investigators and add the new observation that N. brasiliensis infection elicits special helper T cells which induce an enhancement as well as a prolongation of anti-DNP IgE antibody response.     

The immunogenicity of soluble haptenated polymers is determined by molecular mass and hapten valence

T cell-independent Ag are believed to stimulate antibody formation in the relative absence of Ag processing and T cell help. Previous studies on the type 2 T cell independent (TI-2) Ag DNP-polyacrylamide, have shown that when one systematically varies the molecular mass and hapten valence, the immunogenic potential of this type of molecule depends on definable molecular characteristics. It was found that to be immunogenic, these molecules had to exceed a threshold molecular mass of 100,000 Da and a threshold hapten valence of 20. The present study was undertaken to determine whether such findings could be generalized to other molecules belonging to the TI-2 class of Ag. The molecular characteristics of five chemically different fluoresceinated (FL)-polymers were systematically varied, and their ability to stimulate an IgM antihapten immune response was measured. The polymers used as carriers were carefully size-fractionated and consisted of one natural polymer (dextran), one modified natural polymer (carboxymethyl cellulose), and three synthetic polymers (Ficoll, polyvinyl alcohol, and polyacrylamide). The carriers varied in physical structure from the highly cross-linked Ficoll, to the somewhat branched dextran, to the linear polyacrylamide, carboxymethyl cellulose, and polyvinyl alcohol. Polymers were haptenated with FL and size-fractionated so as to yield a panel of molecules with varying molecular mass, hapten valence, and hapten density. Anti-FL IgM response to these haptenated polymers was measured in vivo after i.p. injection of the FL-polymer in saline, and measured in vitro after culture with unfractionated spleen cells from naive mice. In agreement with the previous studies on DNP-polyacrylamide, it was found that to be immunogenic, each of the FL-polymers had to exceed a comparable threshold value of molecular mass and of hapten valence. Optimal immunogenicity occurred when the FL-polymers had values of mass and hapten density lying within a predictable range. Immunogenicity decreased when these optimal parameters were substantially increased or decreased. We conclude that the immunogenicity of soluble haptenated polymers depends on predictable physical molecular characteristics, and is relatively independent of the chemical composition and conformation of the carrier polymer.     

Lidocaine turns the surface charge of biological membranes more positive and changes the permeability of blood-brain barrier culture models

The surface charge of brain endothelial cells forming the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is highly negative due to phospholipids in the plasma membrane and the glycocalyx. This negative charge is an important element of the defense systems of the BBB. Lidocaine, a cationic and lipophilic molecule which has anaesthetic and antiarrhytmic properties, exerts its actions by interacting with lipid membranes. Lidocaine when administered intravenously acts on vascular endothelial cells, but its direct effect on brain endothelial cells has not yet been studied. Our aim was to measure the effect of lidocaine on the charge of biological membranes and the barrier function of brain endothelial cells. We used the simplified membrane model, the bacteriorhodopsin (bR) containing purple membrane of Halobacterium salinarum and culture models of the BBB. We found that lidocaine turns the negative surface charge of purple membrane more positive and restores the function of the proton pump bR. Lidocaine also changed the zeta potential of brain endothelial cells in the same way. Short-term lidocaine treatment at a 10 μM therapeutically relevant concentration did not cause major BBB barrier dysfunction, substantial change in cell morphology or P-glycoprotein efflux pump inhibition. Lidocaine treatment decreased the flux of a cationic lipophilic molecule across the cell layer, but had no effect on the penetration of hydrophilic neutral or negatively charged markers. Our observations help to understand the biophysical background of the effect of lidocaine on biological membranes and draws the attention to the interaction of cationic drug molecules at the level of the BBB.     

A test of discreteness-of-charge effects in phospholipid vesicles: measurements using paramagnetic amphiphiles

A new series of negatively charged, paramagnetic alkylsulfonate probes was synthesized and can be used to measure both the internal and the external surface potentials of model membrane systems. We tested for discreteness-of-charge effects in lipid membranes by comparing the surface potentials, estimated by use of these negatively charged amphiphiles, with that of a series of positively charged alkylammonium nitroxides in charged membranes. From the partitioning of these probes, the membrane surface potential was estimated in phosphatidylcholine membranes containing either phosphatidylserine or didodecyldimethylammonium bromide. The surface potentials, estimated with either positive or negative probes, were identical, within experimental error, in either positive or negative membranes, and they were well accounted for by a simple Gouy-Chapman-Stern theory. This symmetry, with respect to the sign of the charge, indicates that discreteness-of-charge effects are not significant in determining the potential-sensitive phase partitioning of these probes in model membranes. Thus, despite the fact that charge on membranes is discrete, models that assume a uniform density of charge in the plane of the membrane adequately account for the potentials measured by these amphiphilic probes.     

To flip or not to flip: lipid-protein charge interactions are a determinant of final membrane protein topology

The molecular details of how lipids influence final topological organization of membrane proteins are not well understood. Here, we present evidence that final topology is influenced by lipid–protein interactions most likely outside of the translocon. The N-terminal half of Escherichia coli lactose permease (LacY) is inverted with respect to the C-terminal half and the membrane bilayer when assembled in mutants lacking phosphatidylethanolamine and containing only negatively charged phospholipids. We demonstrate that inversion is dependent on interactions between the net charge of the cytoplasmic surface of the N-terminal bundle and the negative charge density of the membrane bilayer surface. A transmembrane domain, acting as a molecular hinge between the two halves of the protein, must also exit from the membrane for inversion to occur. Phosphatidylethanolamine dampens the translocation potential of negative residues in favor of the cytoplasmic retention potential of positive residues, thus explaining the dominance of positive over negative amino acids as co- or post-translational topological determinants.     

Effect of P64k presensitization on its efficacy as an immunological carrier in mice

Recently, we have successfully employed the meningococcal P64k protein as a carrier for weak immunogens. Here, we study if presensitization with it can affect the murine antibody response against the hapten chemically coupled to P64k. We found that priming with 10 microg of P64k did not induce epitope-specific suppression against two out of three synthetic peptides, from viral proteins, conjugated to this carrier. Depending on the anti-carrier antibody titers elicited in the presensitized mice, we observed or not a suppressed immune response against the third peptide. Presensitization with 100 microg of P64k resulted in epitope-specific suppression when lower doses of conjugate were administered. In summary, as described for other protein carriers, P64k could induce epitope-specific suppression in mice, but it depends on the hapten and the extent of carrier-specific immunity. Furthermore, this suppression can be overcome by increasing the amount of conjugate administered per dose in the presensitized animals.     

Theoretical considerations of the role of antigen structure in B cell activation

Thymus-independent antigens generally are polymeric molecules with repeating arrays of antigenic determinants. Immunological studies of the activity of haptenated thymus-independent antigens have shown that small changes in hapten density can transform a polymeric antigen from nonimmunogenic to immunogenic, and from immunogenic to tolerogenic. In this paper we compute the equilibrium configuration of a linear flexible, haptenated polymer absorbed to a B cell surface, and correlate configurational features of the molecule with its immunological functioning. A polymeric molecule bound to a cell generally will not lie entirely on the surface; rather there will be sections that form loops extending into solution, separated by tightly bound sections, or trains. Trains link antibody receptors on the B cell surface in a fashion that restricts their mobility. Thus trains cause restrictive cross-linking. Our computations show that there is a critical hapten density below which the polymer does not bind to the surface. At hapten densities slightly above the critical density, the polymer binds weakly to the surface with a configuration dominated by a few, rather long loops. These loops cross-link receptors, but do so without bringing the cross-linked receptors into close proximity and without substantially restricting their motion. Long loops thus cause unrestrictive cross-linking. As the hapten density increases, the average loop length decreases and the average train length increases. Thus cross-linking becomes restrictive. In this density range, immune stimulation is observed. At high hapten densities long trains form, separated by few, very short loops and almost all receptors are cross-linked. Consequently cross-linking may be overly restrictive, freezing receptors into place and generating an abundance of cross-linking or other signals that induce a state of immunological tolerance.     

Cholera Toxins: Immunogenicity of the Rabbit Ileal Loop Toxin and Related Antigens

A method of assay of immunogenic potency of the cholera gut toxin is described; it is based on the relation of dose of antigen to neutralizing antibody titer produced in the rabbit under defined conditions and allows quantification of immunogenicity as immunogenic units per milligram of protein. Evidence, based on immunogenicity and rabbit ileal loop toxicity, is presented which indicates that the positively charged fraction of liquid-culture supernatant fluid eluted in deionized water from diethylaminoethyl Sephadex, or in electrolyte from carboxymethyl Sephadex, is a complex made up of a nonantigenic toxic moiety, a nontoxic protein component which elicits the formation of toxin-neutralizing antibody, and an inactive fraction. The complex may also be dissociated in high-salt concentrations with apparent recombination of the toxic moiety with a nondialyzable constituent of peptone to give a negatively charged complex. The immunogenic component is found in nontoxic supernatant fluids of cultures grown at pH 6.5 or in media deficient in peptone. It is also present in the nontoxic fraction eluted from diethylaminoethyl Sephadex in electrolyte or in deionized water from carboxymethyl Sephadex. When separated from the positively charged toxic moiety, the net charge of the antigen is reduced as shown by immunoelectrophoresis. On primary fractionation, the antigen may be associated with a minor antigenic component of the negatively charged complex containing a major antigen eliciting vibriocidal antibody formation, but antisera to the toxin antigen preparations, either in this form or freed of antigenic contamination by recycling, do not contain vibriocidal antibody. It is suggested that this antigen be designated the T (toxin) antigen, and the antigen producing vibriocidal antibody the V antigen. These two antigens would appear to represent the major antigenic specificities associated with the antitoxic and antibacterial elements of the immune response to infection.     

The in vivo elimination of CD4+ T cells prevents the induction but not the expression of carrier-induced epitopic suppression.

Injection of mice with an immunogenic dose of carrier (keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH)) followed by immunization with hapten-carrier conjugate (TNP-KLH) selectively suppresses anti-hapten antibody response. In this study, the cellular basis of this epitopic suppression and also of the suppression induced by a high dose of carrier were analyzed by in vivo depletion of CD4+ or CD8+ T cell subsets by using mAb. The mAb treatments were performed either at the time of carrier priming or at the time of hapten-carrier immunization. The elimination of CD8+ T cells has not modified the anti-carrier antibody response, whether this treatment was performed at the time of KLH-priming or during TNP-KLH immunization. Moreover, the in vivo treatment with the anti-CD8 mAb did not modify the carrier-induced epitopic suppression induced either by a low immunogenic dose of KLH or by a high dose of this Ag. The elimination of CD4+ T cells at the time of KLH immunization has prevented the induction of a memory response to KLH, clearly establishing that CD4+ T cells are essential in memory B cell development to T-dependent Ag. Moreover, this treatment has totally abrogated the epitopic suppression induced either by low or high dosages of KLH. In contrast, the in vivo elimination of CD4+ T cells after carrier immunization did not abolish the secondary anti-carrier antibody response and did not prevent the expression of epitopic suppression. These data indicate that primed CD4+ T cells are required neither for memory B cell expression nor for the expression of suppression. Finally, once induced, the suppression can be evidenced after in vivo depletion of both primed CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. These data support the view that epitopic suppression is induced through the expansion of carrier-specific B cells and resulted from intramolecular antigenic competition between hapten and carrier epitopes.     

Synthesis and characterization of hapten-protein conjugates for antibody production against small molecules

For the generation of antibodies against small hapten molecules, the hapten is cross-linked with some carrier protein to make it immunogenic. However, the formation of such conjugates is not always reproducible. This may lead to inconsistent hapten-protein stoichiometries, resulting in large variations in the generation of the desired antibodies. In the study described here the hapten (mercaptopropionic acid derivative of atrazine) was coupled to carrier protein at five different molar ratios. The hapten-protein conjugates prepared were characterized thoroughly by spectrophotometric absorption, fluorescence, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI), and gel electrophoresis methods, before being used for the immunization and assay purposes. Electrophoresis and fluorescence methods were very useful in detecting hapten-protein cross-linking while MALDI-MS and spectrophotometric detection provided qualitatively comparable hapten density. The production of specific antibodies was sought following the generation of appropriate hapten-protein conjugates. A high antibody titer with moderate antibody specificity was obtained with hapten density around 15 molecules per carrier protein. The study proved useful for monitoring the course of hapten-protein conjugation for the production of specific antibodies against small molecules.     

Activation of helper T cells by immune complexes.

Spleen cells from mice primed with dinitrophenylated human γ-globulin (DNP-HGG) did not mount a secondary anti-DNP response in diffusion chamber cultures upon stimulation with dinitrophenylated keyhole limpet hemocyanin (DNP-KLH). The same cells, however, responded to stimulation with DNP-KLH complexed with anti-KLH antibody of rabbit or mouse origin. There is an optimal antigen:antibody ratio at which the immune complexes (IC) must be formed for maximal activity. T cells are required for the immunogenic activity of IC, since T-cell-depleted cultures did not respond. It was found that IC made with carrier and anticarrier antibody stimulated the development of carrier-specific helper T cells in cultures of spleen cells, thymocytes, and nylon wool nonadherent spleen cells from nonimmune mice. In contrast, free carrier did not elicit helper T cells. IC made with carrier and the F(ab′)₂ fragment of anticarrier antibody were immunogenic, but those made with carrier and the Fab′ fragment of anticarrier antibody were not, suggesting that helper T-cell activation is triggered by crosslinking of antigen-specific surface receptors.     

Carrier-specific unresponsiveness in reaginic antibody formation. II. Suppression of hapten and carrier responsiveness in presensitized rats.

By inducing carrier-specific tolerance to sheep γ-globulin (SGG) in rats challenged with TNP-SGG in alum, it has been possible to study the effect of helper T-cell Unresponsiveness on IgE anti-TNP antibody formation. Rats primed to either the carrier (SGG) or the hapten (TNP as TNP-KLH) were treated with a single high dose (10 mg) of soluble SGG resulting in a suppression of both IgE anti-TNP and anti-SGG antibody which was maintained following a normally immunogenic secondary challenge with TNP-SGG in alum. This suppression was relatively long lasting, with no detectable IgE responsiveness to hapten or carrier observed for up to 8 weeks after tolerance induction. Suppressed animals were able to respond to the hapten when challenged with TNP-KLH, indicating that the induced effect did not directly involve the IgE antibody producing cells, but rather the carrier-specific helper cells. These results parallel our previous findings for IgM and IgG responses in a similar system. Such relatively long lasting and easily induced suppression in IgE antibody formation to specific protein antigens in primed animals may eventually provide a clinically useful means of allergic desensitization to large protein allergens.     

Lack of requirement for cell cooperation in the antibody response to DNP conjugated to levan.

The cellular basis of the antibody response to dinitrophenylated levan (DNP-LE) was investigated using a combination of in vivo and in vitro techniques. The results indicated that the induction of the primary response to DNP-LE is independent of the function of macrophages or T cells. However, these cells may regulate the response to DNP-LE (as for other T-independent antigens), as suggested by the prolongation of the response by adjuvants. No evidence of collaboration between carrier (LE)-reactive and hapten (DNP)-reactive B cells in the induction of the response to DNP-LE was obtained (either by inducing tolerance to LE (in vivo or in vitro) or culturing in the presence of excess LE). Thus DNP-LE, like other thymus-independent antigens (e.g., DNP-polymerized flagellin, DNP-Ficoll) may trigger B cells directly.     

Relating the Surface Properties of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles (SPIONs) to Their Bactericidal Effect towards a Biofilm of Streptococcus mutans

This study was designed to determine the effects of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) on the biological activity of a bacterial biofilm (Streptococcus mutans). Our hypothesis was that the diffusion of the SPIONs into biofilms would depend on their surface properties, which in turn would largely be determined by their surface functionality. Bare, positively charged and negatively charged SPIONs, with hydrodynamic diameters of 14.6 ± 1.4 nm, 20.4 ± 1.3 nm and 21.2 ± 1.6 nm were evaluated. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) and electrophoretic mobility (EPM) measurements were used to confirm that carboxylic functional groups predominated on the negatively charged SPIONS, whereas amine functional groups predominated on the positively charged particles. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed the morphology and sizes of SPIONs. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and EPM measurements indicated that the surfaces of the SPIONs were covered with biomolecules following their incubation with the biofilm. Bare SPIONs killed bacteria less than the positively charged SPIONs at the highest exposure concentrations, but the toxicity of the bare and positively charged SPIONs was the same for lower SPION concentrations. The positively charged SPIONs were more effective in killing bacteria than the negatively charged ones. Nonetheless, electrophoretic mobilities of all three SPIONs (negative, bare and positively charged) became more negative following incubation with the (negatively-charged) biofilm. Therefore, while the surface charge of SPIONS was important in determining their biological activity, the initial surface charge was not constant in the presence of the biofilm, leading eventually to SPIONS with fairly similar surface charges in situ. The study nonetheless suggests that the surface characteristics of the SPIONS is an important parameter controlling the efficiency of antimicrobial agents. The analysis of the CFU/mL values shows that the SPIONs have the same toxicity on bacteria in solution in comparison with that on the biofilm.     

Charged membrane surfaces impede the protein-mediated transfer of glycosphingolipids between phospholipid bilayers

A lipid transfer protein that facilitates the transfer of glycolipids between donor and acceptor membranes has been investigated using a fluorescence resonance energy transfer assay. The glycolipid transfer protein (23-24 kDa, pI 9.0) catalyzes the high specificity transfer of lipids that have sugars beta-linked to either a ceramide or a diacylglycerol backbone, such as simple glycolipids and gangliosides, but not the transfer of phospholipids, cholesterol, or cholesterol esters. In this study, we examined the effect of different charged lipids on the rate of transfer of anthrylvinyl-labeled galactosylceramide (1 mol %) from a donor to acceptor vesicle population at neutral pH. Compared to neutral donor vesicle membranes, introduction of negatively charged lipid at 5 or 10 mol % into the donor vesicles significantly decreased the transfer rate. Introduction of the same amount of negative charge into the acceptor vesicle membrane did not impede the transfer rate as effectively. Also, positive charge in the donor vesicle membrane was not as effective at slowing the transfer rate as was negative charge in the donor vesicle. Increasing the ionic strength of the buffer with NaCl significantly reversed the charge effects. At neutral pH, the transfer protein (pI congruent with 9.0) is expected to be positively charged, which may promote association with the negatively charged donor membrane. Based on these and other experiments, we conclude that the transfer process follows first-order kinetics and that the off-rate of the transfer protein from the donor vesicle surface is the rate-limiting step in the transfer process.     

Effects of liposomal encapsulation on the antioxidant activity of lipophilic prodrugs of idebenone

Context: Increasing the lipophilicity and/or amphiphilicity of drugs is a potential strategy to improve loading and retention in lipid-based carriers, such as liposomes or lipid nanoparticles.

Objective: Idebenone (IDE), an antioxidant compound structurally related to coenzyme Q, or amphiphilic prodrugs of IDE with lipoamino acids, were loaded in neutral or negatively charged SUVET unilamellar liposomes to achieve a controlled release.

Methods: Technological properties of these systems in the presence of loaded drugs were evaluated in terms of vesicle size, homogeneity, and surface charge, as well as in vitro drug release. The effect of liposomal carrier on the in vitro antioxidant activity of the prodrugs was evaluated from using different biochemical assays on murine astrocyte cultures.

Results and discussion: Although a good loading efficiency was obtained, liposomes were not able to release efficiently the encapsulated drugs, at least in the in vitro serum-free conditions used for the biological tests. However, in some cases, such as in the comet assay, encapsulation of IDE prodrugs in liposomes allowed for the improvement of their protective activity, compared to the free compounds, against the oxidative damage induced on cultured astrocytes.

Conclusions: Experimental in vitro data suggested that the high affinity shown by these lipophilic IDE derivatives for the liposomal carriers negatively affect their biological activity.