Simple in vivo bioassay without radioisotopes for recombinant human erythropoietins

Biological evaluation of recombinant human erythropoietin in pharmaceutical products

The potencies of mammalian cell-derived recombinant human erythropoietin pharmaceutical preparations, from a total of five manufacturers, were assessed by in vivo bioassay using standardized protocols. Eight-week-old normocythemic mice received a single subcutaneous injection followed by blood sampling 96 h later or multiple daily injections with blood sampling 24 h after the last injection. Reticulocyte counting by microscopic examination was employed as the end-point using the brilliant cresyl blue or selective hemolysis methods, together with automated flow cytometry. Different injection schedules were investigated and dose-response curves for the European Pharmacopoeia Biological Reference Preparation of erythropoietin were compared. Manual and automated methods of reticulocyte counting were correlated with respect to assay validity and precision. Using 8 mice per treatment group, intra-assay precision determined for all of the assays in the study showed coefficients of variation of 12.1-28.4% for the brilliant cresyl blue method, 14.1-30.8% for the selective hemolysis method and 8.5-19.7% for the flow cytometry method. Applying the single injection protocol, a combination of at least two independent assays was required to achieve the precision potency and confidence limits indicated by the manufacturers, while the multiple daily injection protocol yielded the same acceptable results within a single assay. Although the latter protocol using flow cytometry for reticulocyte counting gave more precise and reproducible results (intra-assay coefficients of variation: 5.9-14.2%), the well-characterized manual methods provide equally valid alternatives for the quality control of recombinant human erythropoietin therapeutic products.

Avaliação da atividade e caracterização de eritropoietina humana recombinante em produtos farmacêuticos

Realizou-se a identificação de eritropoietina humana recombinante em produtos farmacêuticos comerciais por eletroforese em gel de poliacrilamida e detecção com anticorpos específicos, demonstrando-se típica banda larga, semelhante ao padrão de rhEPO da Farmacopéia Européia. Igualmente por focalização isoelétrica e imunodetecção, observaram-se 5-6 isoformas características de acordo com o laboratório produtor. A avaliação de potência efetuada através de ensaio biológico em camundongos normocitêmicos forneceu valores entre 67,6% e 119,4% em relação à declarada. A precisão dos ensaios combinados, calculada pela ponderação, variou de 200 a 389. Os testes de endotoxinas bacterianas, toxicidade e pH apresentaram valores variáveis conforme o lote. Concluiu-se destacando a importância dos testes e ensaios de controle para assegurar a qualidade lote a lote e garantir a eficácia terapêutica dos produtos farmacêuticos.

Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 fused with erythropoietin (EPO) mimetic peptide (EMP) enhances the EPO activity of EMP

Erythropoietin (EPO) mimetic peptide (EMP) encoding sequence was inserted into the gene of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) between Ala348 and Pro349 (P2'-P3'), generating a novel gene, PAI-1/EMP (PMP). This was cloned into pET32a expression vector, fused with TrxA peptide in the vector, and a 63-kDa protein was expressed in inclusion bodies with an expression level >50%. The TrxA/PMP protein was purified by Ni-NTA-agarose metal-ligand affinity chromatography to a purity >90%, showing a single, silver-stained band on SDS-PAGE. Using a reticulocyte counting assay, the EPO activity of PMP was determined to be 5,000 IU/mg, 2,500-fold that of EMP.

Unusual N-glycosylation of a recombinant human erythropoietin expressed in a human lymphoblastoid cell line does not alter its biological properties

Erythropoietin (Epo) is a 166 amino acids protein containing three N-glycosylation sites (Asn-24, Asn-38, and Asn-83) and 1 O- glycosylation site (Ser-126) and involved in the regulation of the level of red blood cells. Today, only one recombinant human Epo (rHuEpo), produced in CHO cell line, is extensively used in therapy to cure severe anemia. The structure of the glycan chains of this rHuEpo slightly differ of those of the urinary human Epo (uHuEpo), considered as the natural Epo molecule. In an attempt to produce a rHuEpo as close as possible to the uHuEpo, Epo gene was expressed in a human lymphoblastoid cell line, named RPMI 1788. In order to fully characterize the Epo-RPMI, structural characterizations of the protein skeleton as well as glycan chains were undergone. As expected, the amino acid sequence of the Epo-RPMI conformed to that of uHuEpo. Surprisingly, the structure of some N-glycan chains, as mainly determined by ESI-MS, revealed some unusual characteristics. Thus, 80% of N-glycans possess a bisecting GlcNAc residue, 25% bear a second fucose residue which is present, in a large part, in a sialyl Le(x)motif, and 13% contain more than three LacNAc repeats (up to five per molecule). Despite these unusual structural characteristics, the data concerning the in vitro and in vivo biological activities were not impaired when compared to Epo-CHO and uHuEpo.

Stable expression of human alpha-2,6-sialyltransferase in Chinese hamster ovary cells: functional consequences for human erythropoietin expression and bioactivity

Hamster cell lines are common hosts for recombinant protein production, e.g. erythropoietin (Epo). Terminal sialylation of native human proteins is characteristically in both alpha-2,3 and alpha-2,6 linkage to galactose at the termini of N-linked oligosaccharides but only in alpha-2,3 linkage in recombinant proteins expressed in hamster cells which do not express alpha-2, 6-sialyltransferase (ST6GalI) (EC 2.4.99.1). This difference could alter the bioactivity of certain recombinant proteins. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells stably transfected with human ST6GalI cDNA linked to the hamster metallothionein II promoter expressed highly inducible authentic ST6GalI activity. Untransfected CHO cells and CHO cells stably expressing ST6GalI cDNA when transfected with a human Epo cDNA expression cassette secreted immunoreactive Epo. Human Epo from singly transfected Pro-5 CHO cells induced significant reticulocytosis (7.00+/-1.58%; mean+/-S.D. % reticulocytes; control conditioned medium 3.04+/-1.29%; P<0.0024), whereas Epo from Pro-5 cells coexpressing ST6GalI elicited a more modest reticulocytosis (4.62+/-1.02%). Thus for recombinant human Epo, engineering CHO cells to express ST6GalI activity does not enhance Epo bioactivity in vivo in mice. The availability of CHO cells that express high levels of ST6GalI activity now enables systematic studies to determine the functional requirement for this form of sialylation in recombinant human proteins.

Biological and physicochemical characterization of recombinant human erythropoietins fractionated by Mono Q column chromatography and their modification with sialyltransferase

Ten erythropoietin (EPO) fractions differing in sialic acid content, ranging from 9.5 to 13.8 mol mol-1 of EPO, were obtained from baby hamster kidney cell-derived recombinant human EPO by Mono Q column chromatography. The mean pI values of the EPO fractions determined by IEF-gel electrophoresis systematically shifted from 4.11 to 3.31, coinciding with the sialic acid content, without a change in the constitution of asialo N-linked oligosaccharides of each fraction. Although a linear relationship between the in vivo bioactivity and the sialic acid content of the fractionated samples was observed until 12.1 mol mol-1 of EPO, there was no further increase in their activity over 12.4 mol mol-1 of EPO. On the other hand, an inverse relationship between the in vitro bioactivity and sialic acid content of EPO was observed. Also, we showed that the in vivo bioactivity of some fractions with low sialic acid contents was increased after treatment with alpha 2,6-sialyltransferase, but the in vivo bioactivity of the other fractions with high sialic acid contents was either decreased or not affected.

In vitro bioassay for human erythropoietin based on proliferative stimulation of an erythroid cell line and analysis of carbohydrate-dependent microheterogeneity

The human erythroleukemia cell line TF-1 was employed for the determination of proliferative stimulation induced by recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEpo). Potencies of various intact and sugar-trimmed rhEpo preparations were estimated using the International Standard for Human r-DNA-derived Epo (87/684) as a reference for activity. The cellular response was measured in a multi-channel photometer using a colorimetric microassay, based on the metabolism of the tetrazolium dye 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide to formazan, by viable cells. The linear part of the log dose-response relationship encompassed 2.5-90 pM and activity of rhEpo preparations was measured at doses between 3 and 60 pM. The assay was designed as a parallel line test, using three or four concentrations for potency determinations, which fulfills pharmacopoeial requirements for assay validity. Inter-assay relative standard deviation varied between 4.1% and 12.6% and most assays revealed potencies with limits of error within 87-113%. In order to acquire an additional means for an efficient probing of physiologically relevant features of rhEpo, a luminiscence-dependent Western detection system, based on a combined isoelectric focusing/sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis separation, was established. As opposed to conventional electrophoresis the two dimensional approach enabled the disclosure of minor truncations in the rhEpo-attached glycan moieties using picomolar quantities of the hormone. Moreover, the separated isoforms of rhEpo were quantified by computer-assisted densitometry and compared with the 87/684 standard. Accordingly, results obtained by the cellular response were balanced against the general pattern observed and the relative amounts of separated rhEpo isomers as determined by the quantitative Western analysis. The method described should be suitable for potency assessments of pharmaceutical formulations of rhEpo.

Characterization of haemolyser-resistant cells increased in the blood of erythropoietin-treated mice

Recently, we reported a new in vivo assay method for erythropoietin (Epo) by means of counts of the number of haemolyser-resistant cells (HRCs) increased in Epo-injected mice. Here, we attempted to characterize the HRCs. Flow-cytometric studies revealed that HRCs obtained from Epo-injected mice expressed the transferrin receptor on their surface membranes. Furthermore, a fluorophotometric study suggested that the number of transferrin receptor-positive cells increased in a dose-dependent manner in response to treatment with Epo. On the other hand, flowcytometric and fluorophotometric studies of glycophorin A on HRCs using a rabbit antiglycophorin A antibody also showed a high expression of glycophorin A on them as compared with on HRCs from vehicle-treated animals (control). The results indicated that HRCs could be defined by their expression of both transferrin receptors and glycophorin A. We concluded that HRCs might be immature reticulocytes.

In vivo biological activities of recombinant human erythropoietin analogues produced by CHO cells, BHK cells and C127 cells

The in vivo biological activity of four pharmaceutical preparations of recombinant human erythropoietin was compared. Two of the erythropoietins were produced by Chinese hamster ovary cells, CHO-K1, and the others were produced by mouse mammary cells, C127, and baby hamster kidney cells, BHK-21. The activities of the analogues were estimated by a simple cell counting method with conventional automated microcell counters. The amounts of these analogues gave straight logarithmic dose-response curves when plotted against the count of particles resistant to hemolysing reagent, which particles were mostly immature reticulocytes. The lines from the four analogues were parallel to each other. The relative activities of these analogues were 1.02, 1.19 and 1.21 when one of the analogues was arbitrarily used as the standard. These differences in the extent of the activity were not significant. Thus, the four recombinant human erythropoietin analogues, produced by four different mammalian cell lines, expressed the same biological potencies in vivo corresponding to their units, and the units used up to now by the manufacturers are equivalent. These results also draw the conclusion that the new simple in vivo bioassay can replace the existing accepted assay methods.