Toru Kawanishi

Importance of Neonatal FcR in Regulating the Serum Half-Life of Therapeutic Proteins Containing the Fc Domain of Human IgG1: A Comparative Study of the Affinity of Monoclonal Antibodies and Fc-Fusion Proteins to Human Neonatal FcR

The neonatal FcR (FcRn) binds to the Fc domain of IgG at acidic pH in the endosome and protects IgG from degradation, thereby contributing to the long serum half-life of IgG. To date, more than 20 mAb products and 5 Fc-fusion protein products have received marketing authorization approval in the United States, the European Union, or Japan. Many of these therapeutic proteins have the Fc domain of human IgG1; however, the serum half-lives differ in each protein. To elucidate the role of FcRn in the pharmacokinetics of Fc domain-containing therapeutic proteins, we evaluated the affinity of the clinically used human, humanized, chimeric, or mouse mAbs and Fc-fusion proteins to recombinant human FcRn by surface plasmon resonance analysis. The affinities of these therapeutic proteins to FcRn were found to be closely correlated with the serum half-lives reported from clinical studies, suggesting the important role of FcRn in regulating their serum half-lives. The relatively short serum half-life of Fc-fusion proteins was thought to arise from the low affinity to FcRn. The existence of some mAbs having high affinity to FcRn and a short serum half-life, however, suggested the involvement of other critical factor(s) in determining the serum half-life of such Abs. We further investigated the reason for the relatively low affinity of Fc-fusion proteins to FcRn and suggested the possibility that the receptor domain of Fc-fusion protein influences the structural environment of the FcRn binding region but not of the FcγRI binding region of the Fc domain.

Trunk exoskeleton in teleosts is mesodermal in origin

The vertebrate mineralized skeleton is known to have first emerged as an exoskeleton that extensively covered the fossil jawless fish. The evolutionary origin of this exoskeleton has long been attributed to the emergence of the neural crest, but experimental evaluation for this is still poor. Here we determine the embryonic origin of scales and fin rays of medaka (teleost trunk exoskeletons) by applying long-term cell labelling methods, and demonstrate that both tissues are mesodermal in origin. Neural crest cells, however, fail to contribute to these tissues. This result suggests that the trunk neural crest has no skeletogenic capability in fish, instead highlighting the dominant role of the mesoderm in the evolution of the trunk skeleton. This further implies that the role of the neural crest in skeletogenesis has been predominant in the cephalic region from the early stage of vertebrate evolution.

Intrasarcomere [Ca2+] gradients and their spatio-temporal relation to Ca2+ sparks in rat cardiomyocytes

1 Line‐scan analyses of spontaneous Ca2+ sparks, non‐propagating local rises in Ca2+ concentration, and the early phase of Ca2+ transients in cardiomyocytes were performed with a rapid‐scanning laser confocal microscope (Nikon RCM8000) and fluo‐3. 2 On electrical stimulation, points at which rise in Ca2+ began earliest were observed at regular spacings of 1.82 ± 0.26 μm (mean ± s.d.) along the longitudinal axis of the cell. The points were heavily stained with di‐2‐ANEPEQ, which stains the T‐tubules, indicating that they were at the Z‐line. 3 The points where spontaneous Ca2+ sparks originated coincided with the points which showed faster Ca2+ elevation, i.e. the Z‐line. 4 In some cases where a Ca2+ spark had occurred within about 30 ms before the evoked Ca2+ transient, fast elevation of Ca2+ was not observed at the corresponding Z‐line, indicating the presence of a refractory period in Ca2+ release from the SR. 5 The present results provide visual evidence for Ca2+ release from the junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum in cardiomyocytes. The presence of a refractory period in Ca2+ release after Ca2+ sparks provided new evidence that the normal Ca2+ transient may be the summation of Ca2+ sparks.

Freeze-drying of proteins with glass-forming oligosaccharide-derived sugar alcohols.

Physical properties and protein-stabilizing effects of sugar alcohols in frozen aqueous solutions and freeze-dried solids were studied. Various frozen sugar alcohol solutions showed a glass transition of the maximally freeze-concentrated phase at temperatures (T(g)s) that depended largely on the solute molecular weights. Some oligosaccharide-derived sugar alcohols (e.g., maltitol, lactitol, maltotriitol) formed glass-state amorphous cake-structure freeze-dried solids. Microscopic observation of frozen maltitol and lactitol solutions under vacuum (FDM) indicated onset of physical collapse at temperatures (T(c)) several degrees higher than their T(g)s. Freeze-drying of pentitols (e.g., xylitol) and hexitols (e.g., sorbitol, mannitol) resulted in collapsed or crystallized solids. The glass-forming sugar alcohols prevented activity loss of a model protein (LDH: lactate dehydrogenase) during freeze-drying and subsequent storage at 50 degrees C. They also protected bovine serum albumin (BSA) from lyophilization-induced secondary structure perturbation. The glass-forming sugar alcohols showed lower susceptibility to Maillard reaction with co-lyophilized L-lysine compared to reducing and non-reducing disaccharides during storage at elevated temperature. Application of the oligosaccharide-derived sugar alcohols as alternative stabilizers in lyophilized protein formulations was discussed.

Alteration of N-glycosylation in the kidney in a mouse model of systemic lupus erythematosus: relative quantification of N-glycans using an isotope-tagging method

Changes in the glycan structures of some glycoproteins have been observed in autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis. A deficiency of α‐mannosidase II, which is associated with branching in N‐glycans, has been found to induce SLE‐like glomerular nephritis in a mouse model. These findings suggest that the alteration of the glycosylation has some link with the development of SLE. An analysis of glycan alteration in the disordered tissues in SLE may lead to the development of improved diagnostic methods and may help to clarify the carbohydrate‐related pathogenic mechanism of inflammation in SLE. In this study, a comprehensive and differential analysis of N‐glycans in kidneys from SLE‐model mice and control mice was performed by using the quantitative glycan profiling method that we have developed previously. In this method, a mixture of deuterium‐labelled N‐glycans from the kidneys of SLE‐model mice and non‐labelled N‐glycans from kidneys of control mice was analysed by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. It was revealed that the low‐molecular‐mass glycans with simple structures, including agalactobiantennary and paucimannose‐type oligosaccharides, markedly increased in the SLE‐model mouse. On the other hand, fucosylated and galactosylated complex type glycans with high branching were decreased in the SLE‐model mouse. These results suggest that the changes occurring in the N‐glycan synthesis pathway may cause the aberrant glycosylations on not only specific glycoproteins but also on most of the glycoproteins in the SLE‐model mouse. The changes in glycosylation might be involved in autoimmune pathogenesis in the model mouse kidney.

Unique excitation–contraction characteristics of mouse myocardium as revealed by SEA0400, a specific inhibitor of Na+–Ca2+ exchanger

The functional role of the sodium–calcium exchanger in mouse ventricular myocardium was evaluated with a newly developed specific inhibitor, SEA0400. Contractile force and action potential configuration were measured in isolated ventricular tissue preparations, and cell shortening and Ca2+ transients were measured in indo-1-loaded isolated ventricular cardiomyocytes. SEA0400 increased the contractile force, cell shortening and Ca2+ transient amplitude, and shortened the late plateau phase of the action potential. α-adrenergic stimulation by phenylephrine produced a sustained decrease in contractile force, cell shortening and Ca2+ transient amplitude, which were all inhibited by SEA0400. Increasing the contraction frequency resulted in a decrease in contractile force in the absence of drugs (negative staircase phenomenon). This frequency-dependent decrease was attenuated by SEA0400 and enhanced by phenylephrine. Phenylephrine increased the Ca2+ sensitivity of contractile proteins in isolated ventricular cardiomyocytes, while SEA0400 had no effect. These results provide the first pharmacological evidence in the mouse ventricular myocardium that inward current generated by Ca2+ extrusion through the sodium–calcium exchanger during the Ca2+ transient contributes to the action potential late plateau, that α-adrenoceptor-mediated negative inotropy is produced by enhanced Ca2+ extrusion through the sodium–calcium exchanger, and that the negative staircase phenomenon can be explained by increased Ca2+ extrusion through the sodium–calcium exchanger at higher contraction frequencies.

Kinetic analysis of pepsin digestion of chicken egg white ovomucoid and allergenic potential of pepsin fragments.

Background: The allergenic potential of chicken egg white ovomucoid (OVM) is thought to depend on its stability to heat treatment and digestion. Pepsin-digested fragments have been speculated to continue to exert an allergenic potential. OVM was digested in simulated gastric fluid (SGF) to examine the reactivity of the resulting fragments to IgE in sera from allergic patients. Methods: OVM was digested in SGF and subjected to SDS-PAGE. The detected fragments were then subjected to N-terminal sequencing and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry analysis to confirm the cleavage sites and partial amino acid sequences. The reactivity of the fragments to IgE antibodies in serum samples from patients allergic to egg white was then determined using Western blotting (n = 24). Results: The rate of OVM digestion depended on the pepsin/OVM ratio in the SGF. OVM was first cleaved near the end of the first domain, and the resulting fragments were then further digested into smaller fragments. In the Western blot analysis, 93% of the OVM-reactive sera also bound to the 23.5- to 28.5-kDa fragments, and 21% reacted with the smaller 7- and 4.5-kDa fragments. Conclusion: When the digestion of OVM in SGF was kinetically analyzed, 21% of the examined patients retained their IgE-binding capacity to the small 4.5-kDa fragment. Patients with a positive reaction to this small peptide fragment were thought to be unlikely to outgrow their egg white allergy. The combination of SGF-digestibility studies and human IgE-binding experiments seems to be useful for the elucidation and diagnosis of the allergenic potential of OVM.

Differences in crystallization rate of nitrendipine enantiomers in amorphous solid dispersions with HPMC and HPMCP

To clarify the contribution of drug-polymer interaction to the physical stability of amorphous solid dispersions, we studied the crystallization rates of nitrendipine (NTR) enantiomers with identical physicochemical properties in the presence of hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC), hydroxypropylmethylcellulose phthalate (HPMCP) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The overall crystallization rate at 60°C and the nucleation rate at 50-70°C of (+)-NTR were lower than those of (-)-NTR in the presence of 10-20% HPMC or HPMCP. In contrast, similar crystallization profiles were observed for the NTR enantiomers in solid dispersions containing PVP. The similar glass transition temperatures for solid dispersions of (-)-NTR and (+)-NTR suggested that the molecular mobility of the amorphous matrix did not differ between the enantiomers. These results indicate that the interaction between the NTR enantiomers and HPMC or HPMCP is stereoselective, and that differences in the stereoselective interaction create differences in physical stability between (-)-NTR and (+)-NTR at 50-70°C. However, no difference in physical stability between the enantiomers was obvious at 40°C. Loss of the difference in physical stability between the NTR enantiomers suggests that the stereoselective interaction between NTR and the polymers may not contribute significantly to the physical stabilization of amorphous NTR at 40°C.

Simultaneous glycosylation analysis of human serum glycoproteins by high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

Changes in the glycosylation of some serum proteins are associated with certain diseases. In this study, we performed simultaneous site-specific glycosylation analysis of abundant serum glycoproteins by LC/Qq-TOF MS of human serum tryptic digest, the albumin of which was depleted. The glycopeptide peaks on the chromatogram were basically assigned by database searching with modified peak-list text files of MS/MS spectra and then based on mass differences of glycan units from characterized glycopeptides. Glycopeptide of IgG, haptoglobin and ceruloplasmin were confirmed by means of a comparison of their retention times and m/z values with those obtained by LC/MS of commercially available glycoproteins. Mass spectrometric carbohydrate heterogeneity in the assigned glycopeptides was analyzed by an additional LC/MS. We successfully demonstrated site-specific glycosylation of 23 sites in abundant serum glycoproteins.

General considerations regarding the in vitro and in vivo properties of block copolymer micelle products and their evaluation.

Block copolymer micelles are nanoparticles formed from block copolymers that comprise a hydrophilic polymer such as poly(ethylene glycol) and a poorly soluble polymer such as poly(amino acids). The design of block copolymer micelles is intended to regulate the in vivo pharmacokinetics, stability, and distribution profiles of an entrapped or block copolymer-linked active substance. Several block copolymer micelle products are currently undergoing clinical development; however, a major challenge in the development and evaluation of such products is identification of the physicochemical properties that affect the properties of the drug product in vivo. Here we review the overall in vitro and in vivo characteristics of block copolymer micelle products with a focus on the products currently under clinical investigation. We present examples of methods suitable for the evaluation of the physicochemical properties, non-clinical pharmacokinetics, and safety of block copolymer micelle products.