Definition, categorization, and environmental risk assessment of biopharmaceuticals

Ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents for the stabilization of biopharmaceuticals: A review

Biopharmaceuticals have allowed the control of previously untreatable diseases. However, their low solubility and stability still hinder their application, transport, and storage. Hence, researchers have applied different compounds to preserve and enhance the delivery of biopharmaceuticals, such as ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs). Although the biopharmaceutical industry can employ various substances for enhancing formulations, their effect will change depending on the properties of the target biomolecule and environmental conditions. Hence, this review organized the current state-of-the-art on the application of ILs and DESs to stabilize biopharmaceuticals, considering the properties of the biomolecules, ILs, and DESs classes, concentration range, types of stability, and effect. We also provided a critical discussion regarding the potential utilization of ILs and DESs in pharmaceutical formulations, considering the restrictions in this field, as well as the advantages and drawbacks of these substances for medical applications. Overall, the most applied IL and DES classes for stabilizing biopharmaceuticals were cholinium-, imidazolium-, and ammonium-based, with cholinium ILs also employed to improve their delivery. Interestingly, dilute and concentrated ILs and DESs solutions presented similar results regarding the stabilization of biopharmaceuticals. With additional investigation, ILs and DESs have the potential to overcome current challenges in biopharmaceutical formulation.

Ionic-liquid-based approaches to improve biopharmaceuticals downstream processing and formulation

The emergence of biopharmaceuticals, including proteins, nucleic acids, peptides, and vaccines, revolutionized the medical field, contributing to significant advances in the prophylaxis and treatment of chronic and life-threatening diseases. However, biopharmaceuticals manufacturing involves a set of complex upstream and downstream processes, which considerably impact their cost. In particular, despite the efforts made in the last decades to improve the existing technologies, downstream processing still accounts for more than 80% of the total biopharmaceutical production cost. On the other hand, the formulation of biological products must ensure they maintain their therapeutic performance and long-term stability, while preserving their physical and chemical structure. Ionic-liquid (IL)-based approaches arose as a promise alternative, showing the potential to be used in downstream processing to provide increased purity and recovery yield, as well as excipients for the development of stable biopharmaceutical formulations. This manuscript reviews the most important progress achieved in both fields. The work developed is critically discussed and complemented with a SWOT analysis.

Thermal proteome profiling reveals Haemonchus orphan protein HCO_011565 as a target of the nematocidal small molecule UMW-868

Parasitic roundworms (nematodes) cause destructive diseases, and immense suffering in humans and other animals around the world. The control of these parasites relies heavily on anthelmintic therapy, but treatment failures and resistance to these drugs are widespread. As efforts to develop vaccines against parasitic nematodes have been largely unsuccessful, there is an increased focus on discovering new anthelmintic entities to combat drug resistant worms. Here, we employed thermal proteome profiling (TPP) to explore hit pharmacology and to support optimisation of a hit compound (UMW-868), identified in a high-throughput whole-worm, phenotypic screen. Using advanced structural prediction and docking tools, we inferred an entirely novel, parasite-specific target (HCO_011565) of this anthelmintic small molecule in the highly pathogenic, blood-feeding barber’s pole worm, and in other socioeconomically important parasitic nematodes. The “hit-to-target” workflow constructed here provides a unique prospect of accelerating the simultaneous discovery of novel anthelmintics and associated parasite-specific targets.

Current Status and Perspective on the Use of Viral-Based Vectors in Eukaryotic Microalgae

During the last two decades, microalgae have attracted increasing interest, both commercially and scientifically. Commercial potential involves utilizing valuable natural compounds, including carotenoids, polysaccharides, and polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are widely applicable in food, biofuel, and pharmaceutical industries. Conversely, scientific potential focuses on bioreactors for producing recombinant proteins and developing viable technologies to significantly increase the yield and harvest periods. Here, viral-based vectors and transient expression strategies have significantly contributed to improving plant biotechnology. We present an updated outlook covering microalgal biotechnology for pharmaceutical application, transformation techniques for generating recombinant proteins, and genetic engineering tactics for viral-based vector construction. Challenges in industrial application are also discussed.

Disclosing the Potential of Fluorinated Ionic Liquids as Interferon-Alpha 2b Delivery Systems

Interferon-alpha 2b (IFN-α 2b) is a therapeutic protein used for the treatment of cancer, viral infections, and auto-immune diseases. Its application is hindered by a low bioavailability and instability in the bloodstream, and the search for new strategies for a target delivery and stabilization of IFN-α 2b to improve its therapeutic efficacy is crucial. Fluorinated ionic liquids (FILs) are promising biomaterials that: (i) can form self-assembled structures; (ii) have complete miscibility in water; and (iii) can be designed to have reduced toxicity. The influence of IFN-α 2b in the aggregation behaviour of FILs and the interactions between them were investigated through conductivity and surface tension measurements, and using electron microscopic and spectroscopy techniques to study FILs feasibility as an interferon-alpha 2b delivery system. The results show that the presence of IFN-α 2b influences the aggregation behaviour of FILs and that strong interaction between the two compounds occurs. The protein might not be fully encapsulated by FILs. However, the FIL can be tailored in the future to carry IFN-α 2b by the formation of a conjugate, which prevents the aggregation of this protein. This work constitutes a first step toward the design and development of FIL-based IFN-α 2b delivery systems.