[PEGylated recombinant L-asparaginase from Erwinia carotovora: Production, properties, and potential applications].

N-hydroxysuccinimide ester of monomethoxy polyethylene glycol hemisuccinate was synthesized. It acylated amino groups in a molecule of recombinant L-asparaginase from Erwinia carotovora. A method of L-asparaginase modification by the obtained activated polyethylene glycol derivative was developed. The best results were produced by modification of the enzyme with a 25-fold excess of reagent relative to the enzyme tetramer. The modified L-asparaginase was isolated from the reaction mixture by gel filtration on Sepharose CL-6B. The purified bioconjugate did not contain PEG unbound to the protein, demonstrated high catalytic activity, and exhibited antiproliferative action on cell cultures.

[Bacterial recombinant L-asparaginases: properties, structure and anti-proliferative activity].

For more than 40 years L-asparaginases are used in combined therapy of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children and the range of tumors sensitive to these enzymes constantly extends. This review summarizes results of studies aimed at creation of new systems for heterological expression of bacterial L-asparaginases as Erwinia carotovora (EwA), Helicobacter pylori (HpA), Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (YpA) and Rhodospirillum rubrum (RrA); special attention is paid to isolation of purified enzymes and their crystallization, modification by chitosan/polyethylene, physicochemical, kinetic and structural properties characterization, and the study of the cytotoxic or anti-proliferative activity of new recombinant L-asparaginases on cell cultures in vitro. The resultant recombinant L-asparaginases (EwA, YpA, HpA и RrA) exhibit reasonable cytotoxic action on the human leukemia cells comparable to the pharmacologically available L-asparaginase EcA and represent practical interest in respect to creation, on their basis, new effective antineoplastic remedies. Further prospects of researches on bacterial L-asparaginases are associated with development of analogs of Rhodospirillum rubrum L-asparaginase (RrA) by means of directed changes of the protein structure using genetic engineering, development of chito-PEGylation for receiving L-asparaginase preparations with improved pharmacokinetic characteristics.

Identification of functional regions in the Rhodospirillum rubrum L-asparaginase by site-directed mutagenesis.

Site-directed mutagenesis of Rhodospirillum rubrum L-asparaginase (RrA) was performed in order to identify sites of the protein molecule important for its therapeutic and physico-chemical properties. Ten multipoint mutant genes were obtained, and five recombinant RrA variants were expressed in E. coli BL21(DE3) cells and isolated as functionally active highly purified proteins. Protein purification was performed using Q-Sepharose and DEAE-Toyopearl chromatography. Overall yield of the active enzymes was 70-80 %, their specific activity at pH 7.4 and 37 °C varied of 140-210 U/mg. L-Glutaminase activity did not exceed 0.01 % of L-asparaginase activity. All RrA mutants showed maximum enzyme activity at pH 9.3-9.5 and 53-58 °C. Km and Vmax values for L-asparagine were evaluated for all mutants. Mutations G86P, D88H, M90K (RrAH), G121L, D123A (RrАI) caused the loss of enzyme activity and confirmed the importance of these sites in the implementation of catalytic functions. Removal of four residues from C-terminal area of the enzyme (RrAK) resulted in the enzyme instability. Mutations D60K, F61L(RrАD), and R118H, G120R(RrАJ) led to the improvement of kinetic parameters and enzyme stabilization. Substitutions E149R, V150P (RrАB) improved antineoplastic and cytotoxic activity of the RrA. A64V, E67K substitutions, especially in combination with E149R, V150P (RrАE), considerably destabilized recombinant enzyme.

New peptidomimetics of insulin.

New peptidomimetics that have been obtained in the course of our experimental work show distinct insulin-like activity both in vitro and in vivo. The first peptidomimetic (PM 1) is essentially a decapeptide in which sites of A (20-21) and B (19-26) chains of insulin are linked by the peptides bond (Cys-Gly-Glu-Arg-Gly-Phe-Phe-Tyr-Cys-Asn). The second peptidomimetic (PM 2) has similar set of amino acid residues, except that two aromatic amino acids corresponding to the residues of B chain of insulin (B24 and B26) have been replaced with their D optical isomers (Cys-Gly-Glu-Arg-Gly-DPhe-Phe-DTyr-Cys-Asn). The third peptidomimetic (PM 3) has been obtained through acylation of N-terminal of PM 1 by the use of palmitic acid. The peptidomimetic incorporating D aromatic amino acids (PM 2) was demonstrated to exhibit more pronounced hypoglycemic impact, while the acylation of decapeptide tends to prolong the effective time of peptidomimetic influence in vivo.