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Knödler M, Opdensteinen P, Sankaranarayanan RA, Morgenroth A, Buhl EM, Mottaghy FM, Buyel JF. Simple plant-based production and purification of the assembled human ferritin heavy chain as a nanocarrier for tumor-targeted drug delivery and bioimaging in cancer therapy. Biotechnol Bioeng 2023; 120:1038-1054. [PMID: 36539373 DOI: 10.1002/bit.28312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Revised: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 12/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Nanoparticles are used as carriers for the delivery of drugs and imaging agents. Proteins are safer than synthetic nanocarriers due to their greater biocompatibility and the absence of toxic degradation products. In this context, ferritin has the additional benefit of inherently targeting the membrane receptor transferrin 1, which is overexpressed by most cancer cells. Furthermore, this self-assembling multimeric protein can be loaded with more than 2000 iron atoms, as well as drugs, contrast agents, and other cargos. However, recombinant ferritin currently costs ~3.5 million € g-1 , presumably because the limited number of producers cannot meet demand, making it generally unaffordable as a nanocarrier. Because plants can produce proteins at very-large-scale, we developed a simple, proof-of-concept process for the production of the human ferritin heavy chain by transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana. We optimized the protein yields by screening different compartments and 5'-untranslated regions in PCPs, and selected the best-performing construct for production in differentiated plants. We then established a rapid and scalable purification protocol by combining pH and heat treatment before extraction, followed by an ultrafiltration/diafiltration size-based separation process. The optimized process achieved ferritin levels of ~40 mg kg-1 fresh biomass although depth filtration limited product recovery to ~7%. The purity of the recombinant product was >90% at costs ~3% of the current sales price. Our method therefore allows the production of affordable ferritin heavy chain as a carrier for therapeutic and diagnostic agents, which is suitable for further stability and functionality testing in vitro and in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthias Knödler
- Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e. V., Aachen, Germany
- Institute for Molecular Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Patrick Opdensteinen
- Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e. V., Aachen, Germany
- Institute for Molecular Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | | | - Agnieszka Morgenroth
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Aachen, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Eva Miriam Buhl
- Electron Microscopy Facility, Institute for Pathology, University Hospital Aachen, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Felix M Mottaghy
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Aachen, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC+), Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Johannes Felix Buyel
- Institute for Molecular Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Institute of Bioprocess Science and Engineering (IBSE), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Vienna, Austria
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Du M, Hou Z, Liu L, Xuan Y, Chen X, Fan L, Li Z, Xu B. 1Progress, applications, challenges and prospects of protein purification technology. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2022; 10:1028691. [PMID: 36561042 PMCID: PMC9763899 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.1028691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein is one of the most important biological macromolecules in life, which plays a vital role in cell growth, development, movement, heredity, reproduction and other life activities. High quality isolation and purification is an essential step in the study of the structure and function of target proteins. Therefore, the development of protein purification technologies has great theoretical and practical significance in exploring the laws of life activities and guiding production practice. Up to now, there is no forthcoming method to extract any proteins from a complex system, and the field of protein purification still faces significant opportunities and challenges. Conventional protein purification generally includes three steps: pretreatment, rough fractionation, and fine fractionation. Each of the steps will significantly affect the purity, yield and the activity of target proteins. The present review focuses on the principle and process of protein purification, recent advances, and the applications of these technologies in the life and health industry as well as their far-reaching impact, so as to promote the research of protein structure and function, drug development and precision medicine, and bring new insights to researchers in related fields.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miao Du
- Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Fenyang College, Shanxi Medical University, Fenyang, China
| | - Zhuru Hou
- Science and Technology Centre, Fenyang College of Shanxi Medical University, Fenyang, China
| | - Ling Liu
- Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Fenyang College, Shanxi Medical University, Fenyang, China,Key Laboratory of Lvliang for Clinical Molecular Diagnostics, Fenyang, China,*Correspondence: Ling Liu, ; Benjin Xu,
| | - Yan Xuan
- Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Fenyang College, Shanxi Medical University, Fenyang, China
| | - Xiaocong Chen
- Department of Basic Medicine, Fenyang College of Shanxi Medical University, Fenyang, China
| | - Lei Fan
- Department of Basic Medicine, Fenyang College of Shanxi Medical University, Fenyang, China
| | - Zhuoxi Li
- Department of Basic Medicine, Fenyang College of Shanxi Medical University, Fenyang, China
| | - Benjin Xu
- Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Fenyang College, Shanxi Medical University, Fenyang, China,Key Laboratory of Lvliang for Clinical Molecular Diagnostics, Fenyang, China,*Correspondence: Ling Liu, ; Benjin Xu,
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Woitok M, Grieger E, Akinrinmade OA, Bethke S, Pham AT, Stein C, Fendel R, Fischer R, Barth S, Niesen J. Using the SNAP-Tag technology to easily measure and demonstrate apoptotic changes in cancer and blood cells with different dyes. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0243286. [PMID: 33270761 PMCID: PMC7714129 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2020] [Accepted: 11/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In vitro and ex vivo development of novel therapeutic agents requires reliable and accurate analyses of the cell conditions they were preclinical tested for, such as apoptosis. The detection of apoptotic cells by annexin V (AV) coupled to fluorophores has often shown limitations in the choice of the dye due to interference with other fluorescent-labeled cell markers. The SNAP-tag technology is an easy, rapid and versatile method for functionalization of proteins and was therefore used for labeling AV with various fluorophores. We generated the fusion protein AV-SNAP and analyzed its capacity for the specific display of apoptotic cells in various assays with therapeutic agents. AV-SNAP showed an efficient coupling reaction with five different fluorescent dyes. Two selected fluorophores were tested with suspension, adherent and peripheral blood cells, treated by heat-shock or apoptosis-inducing therapeutic agents. Flow cytometry analysis of apoptotic cells revealed a strong visualization using AV-SNAP coupled to these two fluorophores exemplary, which was comparable to a commercial AV-Assay-kit. The combination of the apoptosis-specific binding protein AV with the SNAP-tag provides a novel solid method to facilitate protein labeling using several, easy to change, fluorescent dyes at once. It avoids high costs and allows an ordinary exchange of dyes and easier use of other fluorescent-labeled cell markers, which is of high interest for the preclinical testing of therapeutic agents in e.g. cancer research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mira Woitok
- Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME), Aachen, Germany
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (Biology VII), RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Elena Grieger
- Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME), Aachen, Germany
| | - Olusiji A. Akinrinmade
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, University of Cape Town, Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Susanne Bethke
- Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME), Aachen, Germany
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (Biology VII), RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Anh Tuan Pham
- Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME), Aachen, Germany
| | - Christoph Stein
- Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME), Aachen, Germany
| | - Rolf Fendel
- Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME), Aachen, Germany
- Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Rainer Fischer
- Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME), Aachen, Germany
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (Biology VII), RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Stefan Barth
- Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME), Aachen, Germany
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, University of Cape Town, Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Judith Niesen
- Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME), Aachen, Germany
- Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
- Mildred Scheel Cancer Career Center HaTriCS4, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
- Research Institute Children’s Cancer Center, Hamburg, Germany
- * E-mail:
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Antibody-Based Immunotherapy: Alternative Approaches for the Treatment of Metastatic Melanoma. Biomedicines 2020; 8:biomedicines8090327. [PMID: 32899183 PMCID: PMC7555584 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines8090327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2020] [Revised: 08/28/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Melanoma is the least common form of skin cancer and is associated with the highest mortality. Where melanoma is mostly unresponsive to conventional therapies (e.g., chemotherapy), BRAF inhibitor treatment has shown improved therapeutic outcomes. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) relies on a light-activated compound to produce death-inducing amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Their capacity to selectively accumulate in tumor cells has been confirmed in melanoma treatment with some encouraging results. However, this treatment approach has not reached clinical fruition for melanoma due to major limitations associated with the development of resistance and subsequent side effects. These adverse effects might be bypassed by immunotherapy in the form of antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) relying on the ability of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to target specific tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) and to be used as carriers to specifically deliver cytotoxic warheads into corresponding tumor cells. Of late, the continued refinement of ADC therapeutic efficacy has given rise to photoimmunotherapy (PIT) (a light-sensitive compound conjugated to mAbs), which by virtue of requiring light activation only exerts its toxic effect on light-irradiated cells. As such, this review aims to highlight the potential clinical benefits of various armed antibody-based immunotherapies, including PDT, as alternative approaches for the treatment of metastatic melanoma.
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