Capturing and amplifying impurities from purified recombinant monoclonal antibodies via peptide library beads: a proteomic study

Capture and amplification of low-level contaminants in purified preparations of recombinant DNA products is described here in the case of mAb meant for human consumption. Such a process is based on treatment with a vastly heterogeneous ligand library composed of hexapeptides bound to a polyhydroxymethacrylate resin. Upon this treatment, a protein solution is recovered with "normalized" relative concentration ratios, in which high-abundance proteins are strongly reduced and rare proteins are highly concentrated. Upon 2-D map analysis, the relatively few spots present in control monoclonals were seen to increase in number, reaching >100 visible polypeptide chains in the pI/M(r) plane. Most of these newly emerged spots were subjected to MS analysis and were found to be composed mainly of three classes of proteins: those derived from proteins present in the culture broth (notably albumin and transferrin), fragments of the desired final product, covering M(r) ranges from as low as 5 up to 45 kDa and some aggregates of light and heavy chains of Igs (mostly dimers and trimers). This ligand library thus appears to be a formidable tool for exploring and bringing to the limelight the "hidden proteome".     

Invertebrate biodiversity affects predator fitness and hence potential to control pests in crops

Natural enemies that control pests usually allow farmers to avoid, or reduce, the use of pesticides. However, modern farming practices, that maximize yields, are resulting in loss of biodiversity, particularly prey diversity. Does this matter? Pests continue to thrive, and without alternative prey the predators should, perforce, concentrate their attentions upon the pests.We showed that a diverse diet significantly enhances predator fecundity and survival. Experiments were conducted using common generalist predators found in arable fields in Europe, the carabid beetle Pterostichus melanarius (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and the linyphiid spider Erigone atra (Araneae: Linyphiidae). We tested the hypothesis that mixed species diets were optimal, compared with restricted diets, with respect to parameters such as predator weights, egg weights, numbers of eggs laid, egg development times, egg hatching rates and predator survival. In carabids, an exclusive earthworm diet was as good as mixed diets containing earthworms for egg production and hatching, but less good than such mixed diets for increase in beetle mass and sustained egg laying. For spiders, aphids alone (Sitobion avenae) or with the Collembola Folsomia candida, drastically reduced survival. Aphids plus the Collembola Isotoma anglicana improved survival but only aphids with a mixed Collembola diet maximized numbers of hatching eggs.Predators offered only pests (slugs or aphids) had lowest growth rates and fecundity. We therefore demonstrated that conservation of a diversity of prey species within farmland, allowing predators to exploit a diverse diet, is essential if predators are to continue to thrive in crops and regulate agricultural pests.     

Assay of ochratoxin A in grape by high-pressure liquid chromatography coupled on line with an ESI-mass spectrometry

In this paper, we propose a method for detection of ochratoxin A (OTA) in grapes by using nano-reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (nano-RP-HPLC-ESI-MS). The method is rapid, highly sensitive and reproducible. OTA is extracted preferably from the entire acinus, rather than must; using chloroform at long incubation time period, lyophilized, resolubilized in acetonitrile (AcCN) and injected onto a reversed phase capillary or analytical column. Capillary columns are the method of choice because it requires a reduced amount of injected sample and consequently the chloroform necessary for OTA extraction, which is a toxic agent. This method gives a detection limit of femtog/ml, without resorting to an immunoaffinity clean-up or concentration, which makes it by far superior to any other method reported. Moreover, by using MS as a detection method it is possible, in the case of a complex matrix, to measure its molecular mass and to confirm the presence of OTA by MS-MS, which cannot be done by fluorescent detection. The method has a high sample extraction throughput (24/h) and has adequate precision (between batch C.V. <8%) and sensitivity (limit of detection (LOD)=1 pg/g; limits of quantification (LOQ)=2 pg/g) for OTA measured.     

Proteomics of light-harvesting proteins in different plant species. Analysis and comparison by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Photosystem II

An overview of the intact molecular masses and the hydrophobic properties of the photosystem II (PSII) light-harvesting proteins in 14 different plant species is presented. The protein separation and identification was achieved by means of reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry. The good correspondence of the molecular masses measured by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry with those deduced from the DNA sequence (0.008%-0.016% relative deviation in Arabidopsis) enabled the identification of the different protein types. Utilizing this correlation, it was possible in several cases to spot a gene product for the previously cloned genes. In PSII, all antenna proteins show hydrophobic properties considerably different within the same as well as among various species, in contrast to observations made previously with PSI. These differences might reflect a tuning of protein-protein interactions that play a role in inducing different supramolecular organizations of PSII: within the same species as a consequence of short-term adaptations, and among species for seasonal species adaptation. The relative antenna stoichiometry was readily established on the basis of relative peak areas of the separated proteins in the ultraviolet chromatograms. The correspondence found between the high copy number of genes with the gene products reveals that the genes are not silent in their protein expression. Moreover, the high copy number of gene products as well as protein heterogeneity observed in PSII suggest a possible plant strategy to realize the high degree of organization and interconnection of the light-harvesting systems under any environmental conditions.     

Inflammatory reaction to the human bot-fly,Dermatobia hominis,in infested and reinfested mice

Two groups of mice were infested with first stage larvae of the human bot-fly, Dermatobia hominis (Linnaeus Jr) (Diptera: Oestridae). In the first group, skin biopsies were carried out 1, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 18 days after infestation. The second group was also infested but had all the larvae removed 5 days after infestation. The mice in the latter group were reinfested 4 weeks later and skin biopsies were carried out 1, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 18 days after reinfestation. In the first group, an inflammatory reaction began slowly, the neutrophils being the main inflammatory cells, eosinophils being scarce. The reaction progressed with time, developing a necrotic halo around the larvae containing inflammatory cells surrounded by fibroblasts. The inflammation invaded the adjacent tissue. In the second group, the inflammatory reaction was intense on the day immediately after reinfestation, the pattern being changed by the presence of a large number of eosinophils. Activated fibroblasts surrounding the necrotic area around the larvae appeared 3 days after reinfestation in the second group and 7 days after infestation in the first group. The results demonstrated that the previous contact with the antigens elicited the early arrival of eosinophils, probably through the chemotactic factors liberated by mast cells in the anaphylactic reaction.     

Involvement of active oxygen species in degradation of light-harvesting proteins under light stresses

This paper presents evidence for light-mediated degradation of isolated light-harvesting proteins (Lhc2) and involvement of oxygen free radicals in the process. The time course of light harvesting photodestruction is much slower than that of D1 protein (requiring hours for complete breakdown). By use of mass spectrometry and amino acid sequencing, it has been revealed that the primary cleavages take place in the hydrophilic portion of the NH(2) region where oxygen-containing radicals attack randomly and not at specific sites. Moreover, these chlorophyll binding proteins are completely fragmented. From the effectiveness of scavengers and the preliminary electron paramagnetic resonance measurements reported, it appears that singlet oxygen is involved as a short-lived species, and hydroxyl and alkoxyl radicals act at higher light intensity or over a longer time, whereas hydrogen peroxide and superoxide anions are not observed. Antenna proteins appear more resistance to photodestruction in their monomeric form than in trimeric form, while minor antenna are highly sensitive. However, the organization of both minor and major proteins in the photosystem II supracomplex affords some photoprotection. Interestingly, leaves exposed to strong light contained degraded major antenna, unlike those kept in the dark, which is consistent with studies on the illumination of isolated proteins, supporting the hypothesis that active oxygen species play a role in vivo in the short-term acclimative adaptation of plants.     

The effect of macromolecular polyanions on the functional properties of human hemoglobin.

The binding of dextran sulphate and heparin to human hemoglobin and their effect on the properties of gas transport have been investigated. Both dextran sulphate and heparin are strongly bound by oxy-hemoglobin as well as deoxyhemoglobin and the stoichiometry of the binding (polyanion/tetrameric hemoglobin) is less than unity; sedimentation analysis gives indication for the existence of octomers. The oxygen affinity of hemoglobin is decreased, to the same extent, by both dextran sulphate and heparin. This effect is pH-dependent. In addition the polyanions affect the position and the magnitude of the Bohr effect. In the presence of dextran sulphate the recombination of hemoglobin with carbon monoxide after flash photolysis is biphasic and the fraction of quickly reacting material increases with dilution of the protein.     

Encapsulation of proteins into human erythrocytes: a kinetic investigation

Moderate osmotic shocks of human erythrocytes by hypotonic dialysis (0.06 mosmol/kg) induce cell swelling and formation of pores, without causing apparent lysis. Using 125I-labeled macromolecules of different molecular weight and net charge, we followed the kinetics and efficiency of their encapsulation into erythrocytes. After a 20-30 min period of cell dialysis, macromolecules of up to 50 kDa begin diffusing into the swollen cells by a process which can be described by a first-order two-compartment kinetics. Adsorption to the external cell surface was insignificant, while adsorption to the inner membrane surface was substantial (15-20%) only for positively charged proteins, at physiological pH. After resealing, pores of a 12-14 kDa cut-off might remain open allowing some release of entrapped material (20-30%), depending on the final cytocrit, while the remaining might be associated with inner membrane or cytosolic components. Although the method of hypotonic dialysis is known to affect minimally the biophysical and immunological properties of red blood cell membranes, the interaction of encapsulated material with cell constituents would need to be further assessed when considering red cells as macromolecular carriers.