Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology - Volume 10, Issue 8, 2009

Ganoderma lucidum (Ling Zhi) is a basidiomycete white rot macrofungus which has been used extensively as “the mushroom of immortality” in China, Japan, Korea and other Asian countries for 2000 years. A great deal of work has been carried out on therapeutic potential of Ganoderma lucidum. The basidiocarp, mycelia and spores of Ganoderma lucidum contain approximately 400 different bioactive compounds, which mainly include triterpenoids, polysaccharides, nucleotides, sterols, steroids, fatty acids, proteins/peptides and trace elements which has been reported to have a number of pharmacological effects including immunomodulation, anti-atherosclerotic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, chemopreventive, antitumor, chemo and radio protective, sleep promoting, antibacterial, antiviral (including anti-HIV), hypolipidemic, anti-fibrotic, hepatoprotective, anti-diabetic, anti-androgenic, anti-angiogenic, anti-herpetic, antioxidative and radical-scavenging, anti-aging, hypoglycemic, estrogenic activity and anti-ulcer properties. Ganoderma lucidum has now become recognized as an alternative adjuvant in the treatment of leukemia, carcinoma, hepatitis and diabetes. The macrofungus is very rare in nature rather not sufficient for commercial exploitation for vital therapeutic emergencies, therefore, the cultivation on solid substrates, stationary liquid medium or by submerged cultivation has become an essential aspect to meet the driving force towards the increasing demands in the international market. Present review focuses on the pharmacological aspects, cultivation methods and bioactive metabolites playing a significant role in various therapeutic applications.

Wikstroemia indica (L.) C. A. Mey. is a member of family Thymelaeaceae and mainly distributes in middle and southeast part of China. As a traditional Chinese herb, this plant has long been employed as antipyretics, detoxicants, expectorants, vermifuges as well as aborticides in clinic practice. However, its use has mainly been based on empirical findings during hundreds and thousands of years. Recent studies indicated that W. indica contains abundant bioactive components including flavonoids, biflavonoids, coumarins, lignans, volatile oils, polysaccharides etc. This paper provides a comprehensive review of pharmacological relevant compounds of W. indica that have been characterized to date, and introduces the research progresses supporting its pharmacological action and clinical application. Particular attention has been given to antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and antifertility effects. Some examples of clinical applications of prepared W. indica in treatment of various diseases are outlined. Finally, the trend and necessity of future research, such as quantification of individual constituents extracted from W. indica and the assessment of their pharmacological activities in human body are proposed.

Glycan-protein interactions play important biological roles in biological processes. Although there are some methods such as glycan arrays that may elucidate recognition events between carbohydrates and protein as well as screen the important glycan-binding proteins, there is a lack of simple effectively separate method to purify them from complex samples. In proteomics studies, fractionation of samples can help to reduce their complexity and to enrich specific classes of proteins for subsequent downstream analyses. Herein, a rapid simple method for purification of glycan-binding proteins from proteomic samples was developed using hydroxyl-coated magnetic particles coupled with underivatized carbohydrate. Firstly, the epoxy-coated magnetic particles were further hydroxyl functionalized with 4-hydroxybenzhydrazide, then the carbohydrates were efficiently immobilized on hydroxyl functionalized surface of magnetic particles by formation of glycosidic bond with the hemiacetal group at the reducing end of the suitable carbohydrates via condensation. All conditions of this method were optimized. The magnetic particle-carbohydrate conjugates were used to purify the glycanbinding proteins from human serum. The fractionated glycan-binding protein population was displayed by SDS-PAGE. The result showed that the amount of 1 mg magnetic particles coupled with mannose in acetate buffer (pH 5.4) was 10 μmol. The fractionated glycan-binding protein population in human serum could be eluted from the magnetic particlemannose conjugates by 0.1% SDS. The methodology could work together with the glycan microarrays for screening and purification of the important GBPs from complex protein samples.

This study demonstrates that arginine is a highly effective solvent additive which significantly reduces the light induced aggregation of four IgG1 type monoclonal antibodies (named as IMC-1A, IMC-1B, IMC-1C and IMC-1D) as measured by size exclusion chromatography. All experiments were performed in a phosphate buffer system containing either sodium chloride or arginine hydrochloride. The protein samples were exposed to light in a photo chamber according to ICH (International Conference on Harmonization) guidelines. Thermal unfolding transition temperature (Tm) of IMC- 1A as determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was significantly decreased (∼ 3.3°C) in the presence of arginine hydrochloride as compared to in sodium chloride. However, a noticeable increase in thermal stability was observed for IMC-1B, IMC-1C and IMC-1D in the presence of arginine hydrochloride. The photostability of all these molecules was significantly enhanced by arginine hydrochloride and both a direct and inverse correlation was observed between conformational stability and photostability. To our knowledge, this paper for the first time, demonstrates that arginine hydrochloride considerably reduces the light induced aggregation of monoclonal antibodies. Arginine hydrochloride is also known to increase protein solubility and its ability to extensively reduce light induced aggregation makes it a potential solvent additive for the formulation development of therapeutic proteins.

Introduction: a current problem with the Human papillomavirus (HPV) genital infection is to detect HPV presence and activity in high risk women. Material and methods: 190 women at risk for HPV-infection underwent a Pap Test as well as a cervico-vaginal mucus sample analysis. The genome amplification of ORF L1 was by REAL-Time PCR by direct sequencing in capillary elettrophoresis of amplified product in Real Time (by ABI PRISM® 310 Genetic Analyzer, Applied Biosystem, USA), followed by HPV genotyping using oligonucleotide probe hybridization. Degenerate primers My09/11, with 450 bp product amplified were utilized in Real Time and in Direct Sequencing. Furthermore, samples were evaluated by mRNA-HPV test to detect the presence of E6 and E7 transcripts. The results were compared with cytology. Results: a total of 62 women were positive for HPV infection (32.6%) and 19 of these had one or more high-risk HPVs (30.6%); the concordance between the two assays was 78.9%, with 21.1% of totally or partially discordant results. Cytological results showed mRNA presence in 4 low grade and 2 high grade squamous intraepithelial lesions. Conclusion: the results suggest the potential of E6/E7 detection to target the presence of a transforming HPV infection.

The prime difference between generics and biosimilars is that while generics contain the exact active ingredient as in the originator product, biosimilars are only “similar” and not “identical” to the originator biological medicine. This difference appears due to the nature of the biopharmaceutical medicines which are extremely complex to manufacture (it is not possible to make an exact copy of a biotech medicine in the same way as a traditional chemical molecule can be copied). In fact, it is widely accepted that for biopharmaceuticals, the “process is the product”. Minor changes during the manufacturing process can have critical consequences in the patients. The vast majority of the biopharmaceuticals on the market are produced by genetic engineering using various recombinant expression systems. Most of the recombinant proteins that have been granted marketing approval to date are produced either in E. Coli or in recombinant mammalian cell lines. Several approaches may be undertaken to determine biopharmaceuticals potency. Bioassays represent the most relevant potency-determining assay, as they directly assess the biological activity of the product. These assays involve applying a known quantity of the substance to be analyzed to a biological system which responds to this applied stimulus. The response is measured quantitatively, allowing an activity value to be assigned to the substance being assayed.