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Tetanus Toxin Fragment C: Structure, Drug Discovery Research and Production. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2022; 15:ph15060756. [PMID: 35745675 PMCID: PMC9227095 DOI: 10.3390/ph15060756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2022] [Revised: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Tetanus toxoid (TTd) plays an important role in the pharmaceutical world, especially in vaccines. The toxoid is obtained after formaldehyde treatment of the tetanus toxin. In parallel, current emphasis in the drug discovery field is put on producing well-defined and safer drugs, explaining the interest in finding new alternative proteins. The tetanus toxin fragment C (TTFC) has been extensively studied both as a neuroprotective agent for central nervous system disorders owing to its neuronal properties and as a carrier protein in vaccines. Indeed, it is derived from a part of the tetanus toxin and, as such, retains its immunogenic properties without being toxic. Moreover, this fragment has been well characterized, and its entire structure is known. Here, we propose a systematic review of TTFC by providing information about its structural features, its properties and its methods of production. We also describe the large uses of TTFC in the field of drug discovery. TTFC can therefore be considered as an attractive alternative to TTd and remarkably offers a wide range of uses, including as a carrier, delivery vector, conjugate, booster, inducer, and neuroprotector.
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McLean T, Norbury L, Conduit R, Shepherd N, Coloe P, Sasse A, Smooker P. Inactivated tetanus as an immunological smokescreen: A major step towards harnessing tetanus-based therapeutics. Mol Immunol 2020; 127:164-174. [PMID: 33002728 DOI: 10.1016/j.molimm.2020.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2020] [Revised: 09/01/2020] [Accepted: 09/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Tetanus neurotoxin has many potential therapeutic applications, due to its ability to increase localised muscle tone when injected directly into a muscle. It is a closely related molecule to botulinum neurotoxin (most commonly known as Botox), which has been widely used to release muscle tension for therapeutic and cosmetic applications. However, tetanus toxin has been relegated to the "maybe pile" for protein therapeutics - as most of the population is vaccinated, leading to highly effective antibody-mediated protection against the toxin. The potential for tetanus-based therapeutics remains substantial if the problem of pre-existing immunity can be resolved. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH A well-established murine model of localised muscular contraction was utilised. We administered functional tetanus toxin combined with an immunogenic, but functionally inactive, decoy molecule. KEY RESULTS Incorporation of the decoy molecule greatly reduces the dose of active toxin required to induce a localised increase in muscle tone in mice vaccinated with the human toxoid vaccine. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS Our results clearly demonstrate that the barriers to developing a tetanus toxin therapeutic are not insurmountable and the technology presented here is the first major step towards realising the therapeutic potential of this powerful neurotoxin. Opening the therapeutic potential of tetanus toxin will have huge implications for the wide range of diseases caused by low-tone muscle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas McLean
- Bioscience and Food Technology, School of Science, Plenty Road, Building 223 Bundoora West campus, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia.
| | - Luke Norbury
- Bioscience and Food Technology, School of Science, Plenty Road, Building 223 Bundoora West campus, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia.
| | - Russell Conduit
- School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, College of Science, Engineering and Health, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia.
| | - Natalie Shepherd
- Bioscience and Food Technology, School of Science, Plenty Road, Building 223 Bundoora West campus, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia
| | - Peter Coloe
- Bioscience and Food Technology, School of Science, Plenty Road, Building 223 Bundoora West campus, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia.
| | - Anthony Sasse
- Bioscience and Food Technology, School of Science, Plenty Road, Building 223 Bundoora West campus, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia; Latrobe Regional Hospital, Gippsland, Australia.
| | - Peter Smooker
- Bioscience and Food Technology, School of Science, Plenty Road, Building 223 Bundoora West campus, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia.
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Photochemical Internalization for Intracellular Drug Delivery. From Basic Mechanisms to Clinical Research. J Clin Med 2020; 9:jcm9020528. [PMID: 32075165 PMCID: PMC7073817 DOI: 10.3390/jcm9020528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2019] [Revised: 01/14/2020] [Accepted: 02/01/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Photochemical internalisation (PCI) is a unique intervention which involves the release of endocytosed macromolecules into the cytoplasmic matrix. PCI is based on the use of photosensitizers placed in endocytic vesicles that, following light activation, lead to rupture of the endocytic vesicles and the release of the macromolecules into the cytoplasmic matrix. This technology has been shown to improve the biological activity of a number of macromolecules that do not readily penetrate the plasma membrane, including type I ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs), gene-encoding plasmids, adenovirus and oligonucleotides and certain chemotherapeutics, such as bleomycin. This new intervention has also been found appealing for intracellular delivery of drugs incorporated into nanocarriers and for cancer vaccination. PCI is currently being evaluated in clinical trials. Data from the first-in-human phase I clinical trial as well as an update on the development of the PCI technology towards clinical practice is presented here.
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Gramlich PA, Westbroek W, Feldman RA, Awad O, Mello N, Remington MP, Sun Y, Zhang W, Sidransky E, Betenbaugh MJ, Fishman PS. A peptide-linked recombinant glucocerebrosidase for targeted neuronal delivery: Design, production, and assessment. J Biotechnol 2016; 221:1-12. [PMID: 26795355 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2016.01.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2015] [Revised: 01/10/2016] [Accepted: 01/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Although recombinant glucocerebrosidase (GCase) is the standard therapy for the inherited lysosomal storage disease Gaucher's disease (GD), enzyme replacement is not effective when the central nervous system is affected. We created a series of recombinant genes/proteins where GCase was linked to different membrane binding peptides including the Tat peptide, the rabies glycoprotein derived peptide (RDP), the binding domain from tetanus toxin (TTC), and a tetanus like peptide (Tet1). The majority of these proteins were well-expressed in a mammalian producer cell line (HEK 293F). Purified recombinant Tat-GCase and RDP-GCase showed similar GCase protein delivery to a neuronal cell line that genetically lacks the functional enzyme, and greater delivery than control GCase, Cerezyme (Genzyme). This initial result was unexpected based on observations of superior protein delivery to neurons with RDP as a vector. A recombinant protein where a fragment of the flexible hinge region from IgA (IgAh) was introduced between RDP and GCase showed substantially enhanced GCase neuronal delivery (2.5 times over Tat-GCase), suggesting that the original construct resulted in interference with the capacity of RDP to bind neuronal membranes. Extended treatment of these knockout neuronal cells with either Tat-GCase or RDP-IgAh-GCase resulted in an >90% reduction in the lipid substrate glucosylsphingosine, approaching normal levels. Further in vivo studies of RDP-IgAh-GCase as well as Tat-GCase are warranted to assess their potential as treatments for neuronopathic forms of GD. These peptide vectors are especially attractive as they have the potential to carry a protein across the blood-brain barrier, avoiding invasive direct brain delivery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul A Gramlich
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA; Research Service, Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care Service, Baltimore, MD, USA.
| | - Wendy Westbroek
- Section on Molecular Neurogenetics, Medical Genetics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Ricardo A Feldman
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, MD, USA
| | - Ola Awad
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, MD, USA
| | - Nicholas Mello
- Research Service, Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care Service, Baltimore, MD, USA; Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, MD, USA
| | - Mary P Remington
- Research Service, Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care Service, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Ying Sun
- Division of Human Genetics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Wujuan Zhang
- Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Ellen Sidransky
- Section on Molecular Neurogenetics, Medical Genetics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Michael J Betenbaugh
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Paul S Fishman
- Research Service, Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care Service, Baltimore, MD, USA; Department of Neurology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
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Abstract
In the era of biomedicines and engineered carrier systems, cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) have been established as a promising tool for therapeutic application. Likewise, other therapeutic peptides, successful in vivo application of CPPs will strongly depend on peptide stability, the bottleneck for this type of biodegradable molecules. In this review, the authors describe the current knowledge of the in vivo degradation for known CPPs and the different strategies available to provide a higher resistance to metabolic degradation while preserving cell penetration efficiency. Peptide stability can be improved by different means, either modifying the structure to make it unrecognizable to proteases, or preventing access of proteolytic enzymes by applying conformation restriction or shielding strategies.
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McCall RL, Cacaccio J, Wrabel E, Schwartz ME, Coleman TP, Sirianni RW. Pathogen-inspired drug delivery to the central nervous system. Tissue Barriers 2014; 2:e944449. [PMID: 25610755 PMCID: PMC4292043 DOI: 10.4161/21688362.2014.944449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2014] [Accepted: 06/22/2014] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
For as long as the human blood-brain barrier (BBB) has been evolving to exclude bloodborne agents from the central nervous system (CNS), pathogens have adopted a multitude of strategies to bypass it. Some pathogens, notably viruses and certain bacteria, enter the CNS in whole form, achieving direct physical passage through endothelial or neuronal cells to infect the brain. Other pathogens, including bacteria and multicellular eukaryotic organisms, secrete toxins that preferentially interact with specific cell types to exert a broad range of biological effects on peripheral and central neurons. In this review, we will discuss the directed mechanisms that viruses, bacteria, and the toxins secreted by higher order organisms use to enter the CNS. Our goal is to identify ligand-mediated strategies that could be used to improve the brain-specific delivery of engineered nanocarriers, including polymers, lipids, biologically sourced materials, and imaging agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca L McCall
- Barrow Brain Tumor Research Center; Barrow Neurological Institute ; Phoenix, AZ USA
| | | | - Eileen Wrabel
- Nemucore Medical Innovations, Inc. ; Worcester, MA USA
| | | | - Timothy P Coleman
- Blue Ocean Biomanufacturing , Worcester, MA USA ; Nemucore Medical Innovations, Inc. ; Worcester, MA USA ; Center for Translational Cancer Nanomedicine; Northeastern University ; Boston, MA USA ; Foundation for the Advancement of Personalized Medicine Manufacturing ; Phoenix, AZ USA
| | - Rachael W Sirianni
- Barrow Brain Tumor Research Center; Barrow Neurological Institute ; Phoenix, AZ USA
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