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Biomedical subjects

S I Miekka

Publications and source records attributed to S I Miekka.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

Gamma irradiation of intravenous immunoglobulin.

This paper describes gamma irradiation of a biotherapeutic product under conditions (the Clearant Process") that protect proteins and foster inactivation of viruses and other pathogens. The treated product was immunoglobulin paste from cold ethanol fractionation of human plasma, a process intermediate in the production of intravenous immunoglobulin (IGIV). The frozen paste was irradiated on dry ice to 45 kGy, conditions that inactivate > or = 4 log10 of non-enveloped viruses and > or = 6 log10 of enveloped viruses. When IGIV purified from the irradiated paste was characterized, no protein aggregation, fragmentation, oxidation or denaturation was detected and Fab functionality remained intact.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗

Inactivation of viral and prion pathogens by gamma-irradiation under conditions that maintain the integrity of human albumin.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The administration of therapeutic plasma protein concentrates has been associated with the real risk of transmitting viral diseases and the theoretical risks of prion transmission. Our objective was to determine if gamma-irradiation can inactivate viral or prion infectivity without damaging a protein biotherapeutically. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human albumin 25% solution, spiked with four model viruses (including porcine parvovirus) or with brain homogenate from scrapie-infected hamsters, was gamma-irradiated at constant low-dose rates and assayed for viral and prion infectivity or for albumin integrity. RESULTS: At a radiation dose of 50 kGy, viruses were inactivated by >/= 3.2 to >/= 6.4 log10 and scrapie by an estimated 1.5 log10, whereas albumin was only moderately aggregated and fragmented. CONCLUSIONS: gamma-Irradiation can preferentially inactivate viral and prion pathogens without excessive damage to albumin structure.

Animals↗

New methods for inactivation of lipid-enveloped and non-enveloped viruses.

Two new methods are described for inactivating lipid-enveloped and non-enveloped viruses in plasma-derived products such as coagulation factors and intravenous immunoglobulin (IGIV). Iodine/Sephadex delivers iodine to IGIV solutions in a slow, controlled way and allows for inactivation of > or = 4 logs of porcine parvovirus (PPV), a hardy non-enveloped virus, under conditions which do not measurably damage the structural or functional properties of the IGIV, and with essentially no iodination of the protein. All detectable enveloped and non-enveloped viruses were inactivated by this treatment. Gamma irradiation has been successfully used to inactivate viruses at the final vial stage in freeze-dried plasma proteins. Four logs of PPV were inactivated by irradiation in the presence of fibrinogen, factor VIII and alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor (API) at doses of 23, 28 and 30 kiloGray (kGy) respectively, while retaining 93% of fibrinogen solubility, 67% of factor VIII activity and over 80% of API activity. Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), a lipid-enveloped model for hepatitis C virus, was completely inactivated by radiation doses of 20-30 kGy in these products. Gamma irradiation was less effective in inactivating viruses in freeze-dried IGIV.

Animals↗

Novel delivery systems for coagulation proteins.

Long-term haemophilia prophylaxis with clotting factors administered by alternative delivery modes requires stable liquid formulations of these factors. We developed an aqueous-formulated human coagulation factor IX (hCFIX) with in vitro half-life (T 1/2) of 6 weeks at 37 degrees C and 18 months at 4 degrees C. Upon bolus subcutaneous (s.c.) injection in animals, hCFIX had a bioavailability of up to 16% compared to intravenous (i.v.) dose. When delivered by s.c. implanted pumps, hCFIX attained > 2% of normal human levels in the animal plasma. Hydrogels of hCFIX in a chitosan derivative, N,O-carboxymethyl chitosan (NOCC), released hCFIX slowly in vitro, and when injected s.c., gave prolonged plasma levels over those obtained by bolus i.v. or s.c. injection. Freeze-dried human coagulation factor VIII (hCFVIII) formulated in non-aqueous solvents had in vitro T 1/2 up to 80 days at 37 degrees C.

Administration, Cutaneous↗

Biological and physical properties of fibronectin pasteurized in the presence of stabilizers.

Interest in human plasma fibronectin (Fn) as a potential clinical product for replacement therapy in septic patients has prompted the search for stabilizers to protect the protein from heat denaturation during pasteurization designed to inactivate hepatitis viruses. Fn was pasteurized (60 degrees C, 10 h) in the presence of either citrate, tricarballylate, sucrose or four mixtures of lysine, glucarate, gluconate or citrate which had been found to increase the denaturation temperature of Fn by greater than or equal to 19 degrees C. All but a citrate/gluconate mixture were effective in preventing aggregation as measured by dye fluorescence, light scattering, gel filtration and electrophoresis. Binding to gelatin was retained and immunological activity was only slightly diminished compared to a sample heated without stabilizers. Opsonic activity was measured as ability to mediate the uptake of 125I-gelatin-coated polystyrene beads by attached human monocytes. Fn heated without stabilizers underwent a transient increase in activity which was traced to formation of aggregates having elevated specific activities. Pasteurized samples had slightly elevated opsonic activities with no detectable aggregates present, while the unstabilized control was inactive. These results indicate that the physical properties of Fn as well as the functional activities of the gelatin- and cell-binding domains can be protected against thermal denaturation by various compounds.

Blood Transfusion↗

Heat-induced fragmentation of human plasma fibronectin.

Human plasma fibronectin was found to undergo fragmentation during heat-denaturation, leading to artifacts in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic analyses. Electrophoretic patterns of heated samples showed a progressive decrease in intact fibronectin chains (225 kDa) which coincided with the appearance of increasing amounts of numerous smaller components having molecular weights ranging from 10 000 to 200 000. The fragmentation was temperature-dependent, being undetectable after 2 h at 60 degrees C, but detectable after 30 min at 70 degrees C or as little as 2 min at 100 degrees C. After 2 h at 100 degrees C, the intact monomer was no longer visible. Neither mercaptoethanol nor SDS was required for fragmentation. Sterile filtration or pretreatment with inhibitors of proteolytic enzymes had no effect. Treatment with amines did not diminish the degradation, indicating that the process differs from heat-fragmentation of alpha 2-macroglobulin and complement proteins, which occurs at a reactive internal thiolester bond. Fibronectin fragmentation was highly pH-dependent, being markedly accelerated under acidic conditions, suggesting that autolytic cleavage of the peptide chain at acid-labile aspartyl bonds was responsible for this phenomenon.

Complement C3↗

Interaction of plasma fibronectin with gelatin and complement C1q.

A variety of techniques have been used to examine the interaction of human plasma fibronectin (Fn) with complement C1q in comparison to that with gelatin in phosphate buffered saline at pH 7.4. The precipitation of 3H-Fn by polyethylene glycol (PEG) was shifted to much lower concentrations of the polymer by addition of gelatin, and to a lesser extent, by C1q. Precipitation of 3H-Fn in the presence of C1q was close to that of C1q alone under identical conditions suggesting an affinity of Fn for solid phase C1q; a similar interaction was seen with heat-insolubilized C1q. Fibronectin bound tightly to gelatin-Sepharose and C1q-Sepharose and this binding could be inhibited by gelatin but not by C1q. The presence of gelatin retarded the anodal migration of Fn during immunoelectrophoresis under physiological conditions whereas C1q had an effect only at low ionic strength. Exclusion chromatography of Fn, alone and preincubated with gelatin or C1q, was also consistent with the formation of strong complexes with gelatin but not with C1q, whereas similar mixtures of Fn and gelatin exhibited a fast-sedimenting boundary and marked depletion of the 12S Fn peak. Titration of fluorescein-labeled alpha 2 chains of type I collagen with Fn produced an increase in fluorescence polarization which could be reversed by addition of unlabeled alpha 2 chains or gelatin but not by C1q or the pepsin-derived collagen-like domain of C1q. These observations indicate that the fluid-phase interaction of Fn with C1q is much weaker than that with gelatin but that Fn does have appreciable affinity for solid-phase C1q. Such interaction could signify a role for Fn in the clearance of immune complexes from circulation.

Animals↗

Rapid methods for isolation of human plasma fibronectin.

Simplified procedures have been developed for isolation of human plasma fibronectin by affinity chromatography on gelatin-agarose. In one method, fibronectin is eluted with 3 M urea, and this reagent is quickly removed by adsorbing the protein onto heparin-agarose, followed by 0.4 M NaCl elution. In a shorter process, fibronectin is eluted from gelatin-agarose simply by decreasing the buffer pH below 6. After lyophilization the purified protein can be readily dissolved in water. The fraction not adsorbed to gelatin can be used to purify other proteins, including factor VIII whose procoagulant activity is quantitatively recovered.

Chemical Precipitation↗

Anticomplementary activity of human immunoglobulin G. I. Mechanism of the artifactual increase in anticomplementary activity of IgG during the assay.

The anticomplementary activity of IgG can be increased up to 20-fold by pipetting during the preparation of serial dilutions for the assay of this activity. Albumin, if added to the IgG solution before the serial dilutions, completely prevents this artifactual increase in activity. Polyethylene glycol, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, methyl cellulose, gelatin and octanol are also effective stabilizers of IgG. Repeated pipetting of IgG solutions caused marked linear increase in their anticomplementary activity. The formed anticomplementary activity was due to small amounts of highly aggregated protein. The amount of activity formed depended on at least four factors: [1] the number of pipetting steps; [2] the IgG concentration; [3] the level of albumin or other stabilizers, and [4] the pH, which influences the stabilization by albumin. The anticomplementary activity of IgG is increased up to 100-fold by exposure to gas-liquid, liquid-liquid and hydrophobic solid-liquid interfaces. Albumin and polyethylene glycol prevent the activity increase during these treatments. The tendency of IgG to aggregate at interfaces and the ability of albumin and other substances to prevent the aggregation paralleled their rate of adsorption to the air-water interface. Solutions of dansyl chloride in decane emulsified in aqueous solutions of IgG and albumin specifically label the proteins at the liquid-liquid interfaces. The mechanism of stabilization can be explained by preferential adsorption of surface-active proteins and polymers.

Chemical Precipitation↗

Strategy for purification of coagulation factor concentrates.

Advances in biotechnology are permitting significant changes in traditional plasma fractionation schemes. Increases in product purity, safety, and recovery are possible, and new products are being developed. Applications of technology to the purification of factor IX, factor X, protein C, antithrombin III, thrombin, and fibrin glue are described.

Blood Coagulation Factors↗