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Montinari MR, Minelli S. From ancient leech to direct thrombin inhibitors and beyond: New from old. Biomed Pharmacother 2022; 149:112878. [PMID: 35364378 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2022.112878] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2022] [Revised: 03/13/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Medicinal leeches have been used in health care since before written history, with widely varying popularity over the centuries. Nowadays, medicinal leech therapy is mainly used in plastic and reconstructive microsurgery, with new interesting potential therapeutic applications in many other diseases. The leech's best-known salivary product, hirudin - one of the most powerful natural anticoagulants - was the only remedy to prevent blood clotting until the discovery of heparin. Starting from hirudin, pharmacological research succeeded in developing new anticoagulants, which represent a cornerstone of prevention and treatment of thromboembolic disease. While we are perhaps on the threshold of a new era of anticoagulation, with the development of FXI and XII inhibitors and direct reversible covalent thrombin inhibitors, which promise to achieve effective anticoagulation without bleeding risk. This review retraces the intriguing journey of these drugs in cardiovascular disease, highlighting the fil rouge that links the ancient leech to the current and oncoming antithrombotic therapy. We think that knowledge of the past is key to understanding and appreciating the present and to seize future opportunities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Rosa Montinari
- Chair of History of Medicine, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy.
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2
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Junren C, Xiaofang X, Huiqiong Z, Gangmin L, Yanpeng Y, Xiaoyu C, Yuqing G, Yanan L, Yue Z, Fu P, Cheng P. Pharmacological Activities and Mechanisms of Hirudin and Its Derivatives - A Review. Front Pharmacol 2021; 12:660757. [PMID: 33935784 PMCID: PMC8085555 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2021.660757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Hirudin, an acidic polypeptide secreted by the salivary glands of Hirudo medicinalis (also known as "Shuizhi" in traditional Chinese medicine), is the strongest natural specific inhibitor of thrombin found so far. Hirudin has been demonstrated to possess potent anti-thrombotic effect in previous studies. Recently, increasing researches have focused on the anti-thrombotic activity of the derivatives of hirudin, mainly because these derivatives have stronger antithrombotic activity and lower bleeding risk. Additionally, various bioactivities of hirudin have been reported as well, including wound repair effect, anti-fibrosis effect, effect on diabetic complications, anti-tumor effect, anti-hyperuricemia effect, effect on cerebral hemorrhage, and others. Therefore, by collecting and summarizing publications from the recent two decades, the pharmacological activities, pharmacokinetics, novel preparations and derivatives, as well as toxicity of hirudin were systematically reviewed in this paper. In addition, the clinical application, the underlying mechanisms of pharmacological effects, the dose-effect relationship, and the development potential in new drug research of hirudin were discussed on the purpose of providing new ideas for application of hirudin in treating related diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Junren
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu, China.,Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Xie Xiaofang
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu, China.,Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Zhang Huiqiong
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu, China.,Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Li Gangmin
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu, China.,Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Yin Yanpeng
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu, China.,Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Cao Xiaoyu
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu, China.,Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Gao Yuqing
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu, China.,Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Li Yanan
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu, China.,Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Zhang Yue
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu, China.,Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Peng Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu, China.,Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China.,West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Peng Cheng
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu, China.,Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
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Wüstenhagen DA, Lukas P, Müller C, Aubele SA, Hildebrandt JP, Kubick S. Cell-free synthesis of the hirudin variant 1 of the blood-sucking leech Hirudo medicinalis. Sci Rep 2020; 10:19818. [PMID: 33188246 PMCID: PMC7666225 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-76715-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2020] [Accepted: 10/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Synthesis and purification of peptide drugs for medical applications is a challenging task. The leech-derived factor hirudin is in clinical use as an alternative to heparin in anticoagulatory therapies. So far, recombinant hirudin is mainly produced in bacterial or yeast expression systems. We describe the successful development and application of an alternative protocol for the synthesis of active hirudin based on a cell-free protein synthesis approach. Three different cell lysates were compared, and the effects of two different signal peptide sequences on the synthesis of mature hirudin were determined. The combination of K562 cell lysates and the endogenous wild-type signal peptide sequence was most effective. Cell-free synthesized hirudin showed a considerably higher anti-thrombin activity compared to recombinant hirudin produced in bacterial cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Doreen A Wüstenhagen
- Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI), Branch Bioanalytics and Bioprocesses Potsdam-Golm (IZI-BB), 14476, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Phil Lukas
- Animal Physiology and Biochemistry, Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald, 17489, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Christian Müller
- Animal Physiology and Biochemistry, Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald, 17489, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Simone A Aubele
- Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI), Branch Bioanalytics and Bioprocesses Potsdam-Golm (IZI-BB), 14476, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Jan-Peter Hildebrandt
- Animal Physiology and Biochemistry, Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald, 17489, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Stefan Kubick
- Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI), Branch Bioanalytics and Bioprocesses Potsdam-Golm (IZI-BB), 14476, Potsdam, Germany. .,Faculty of Health Sciences, Joint Faculty of the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus - Senftenberg, The Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane and the University of Potsdam, 16816, Neuruppin, Germany.
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Zhang J, Lan N. Hirudin variants production by genetic engineered microbial factory. Biotechnol Genet Eng Rev 2018; 34:261-280. [PMID: 30095033 DOI: 10.1080/02648725.2018.1506898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Hirudin was discovered as an active anticoagulant in leech extracts almost 60 years ago. Since their initial discovery, hirudin and its variants have been produced with various anti-thrombotic, cancer cell inhibition, diabetic cataract treatment and anti-fatigue activities. Some hirudin variants have been approved for clinical use and released into the marketplace. Recent progress has seen made in relation to hirudin variants expressed in several well-established microbial hosts, including Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pichia pastoris and others, with high levels of activity and yield. This review summarizes the current progress on hirudin production using microbial producers, and considers the outlook for future development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianguo Zhang
- a Institute of Food Science and Engineering, School of Medical Instrument and Food Engineering , University of Shanghai for Science and Technology , Shanghai , China
| | - Nana Lan
- a Institute of Food Science and Engineering, School of Medical Instrument and Food Engineering , University of Shanghai for Science and Technology , Shanghai , China
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Xin X, Liu W, Sun L. Improving the bioactivity of rHirudin with boronophenylalanine site-specific modification. Mol Med Rep 2015; 11:3774-9. [PMID: 25585615 DOI: 10.3892/mmr.2015.3194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2013] [Accepted: 05/02/2014] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
To improve the bioactivity of recombinant (r)Hirudin, the orthogonal pair MjBTyrRS/tRNATyr cua (made up of the boronophenylalanine, tRNA and tRNA synthetase), was selected to incorporate boronophenylalanine site‑specifically into rHirudin at the 63 sites in an Escherichia coli system in response to the TAG codon. Following fusion with the gIII signal peptide and a hexahistidine tag, the modified protein was secreted into Luria‑Bertani culture medium and purified by nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid affinity chromatography following a gel filtration column. In a 200 ml flask, the yield of boronophenylalanine‑modified hirudin was 10 mg l‑1 and that of rHirudin was 19 mg l‑1. The authenticity of the purified proteins was verified using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectroscopy and antithrombin activity assays. The results revealed that the antithrombin activity of the boronophenylalanine‑modified hirudin to human thrombin was more enhanced than that of rHirudin. The modified hirudin demonstrated stronger proliferation inhibiting ability on fibroblast L929 cells compared with that of rHirudin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiujuan Xin
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, P.R. China
| | - Wenshe Liu
- Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, USA
| | - Liyun Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, P.R. China
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Robust preparative-scale extracellular production of hirudin in Escherichia coli and its purification and characterization. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 2012; 39:1487-94. [PMID: 22847924 DOI: 10.1007/s10295-012-1156-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2011] [Accepted: 05/31/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Hirudin variant III (HV3) is potentially useful in the prevention and treatment of cataracts. To prepare sufficient amounts of rHV3 for further preclinical studies, we developed an effective process for robust preparative-scale extracellular production of rHV3 in Escherichia coli. In a 7-l bioreactor, under the optimal fed-batch fermentation conditions, rHV3 was excreted into the culture supernatant and yielded up to 915 mg l(-1). Then, a four-step purification procedure was applied to the product, which included ultrafiltration, hydrophobic chromatography, anion-exchange chromatography, and preparative reversed-phase fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC). The overall maximum recovery attained was 56 %, the purity reached at least 99 % as evaluated by HPLC analysis, the molecular weight was determined to be 7,011.10 Da by matrix-assisted laser-desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS) analysis, and the pI was 4.46 as analyzed by isoelectric focusing. The N- and C-terminal sequence analysis confirmed the product homogeneity. The final product contained at most 10 pg of residual DNA per dose (0.2 mg) of rHV3 by high-sensitivity hybridization assay and at most 3 EU endotoxin protein/mg by limulus amebocyte lysate assay. Taken together, the rHV3 produced in multigram quantities in E. coli by this bioprocess meets the regulatory criteria for biopharmaceuticals and can be used as a drug candidate for preclinical studies.
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