No description available.

Factor VIII is a complex of two proteins, the von Willebrand factor (or factor VIII related antigen) and the procoagulant protein. Both are essential for normal haemostasis. Problems exist in the purification of factor VIII as it is present in only low concentrations in plasma, and its procoagulant activity is unstable. As a result, therapeutic factor VIII concentrates prepared by the Blood Transfusion Service (for the treatment of heamophilia and von Willebrand's disease) are relatively impure, and the yield from existing purification processes is low. The studies presented in this thesis are aimed towards increasing the quality and yield of therapeutic concentrates. Attention has been focussed on improving methods for the purification and assay of factor VIII. Novel affinity purifications reagents for factor VIII have been studied, and methods for removing the major impurity (fibrinogen) from conventional factor VIII concentrates have been investigated. The factor VIII related antigen (FVIIIR:Ag) and the procoagulant antigen (FVIII:CAg) have been purified, and used as immunogens for the production of specific antibodies. A large volume of polyclonal antibody to FVIIIR:Ag has been produced in sheep. This was subsequently used to develop an immunopurification method for FVIII:CAg. Immunisation of mice with purified FVIII:CAg gave a valuable panel of ten monoclonal antibodies to procoagulant factor VIII. These have important applications in the assay, purification and biochemical study of this protein. Sensitive radiometric assays for FVIIIR:Ag and FVIII:CAg have been established. This work involved the development of methods for the preparation of ¹²⁵I-FVIIIR:Ag, and for the purification and labelling of human anti-FVIII:CAg Fab' fragments from inhibitor plasma. An artificial factor VIII-deficient substrate has been prepared on a large scale for the one-stage bioassay of procoagulant activity (FVIII:C).

No description available.

No description available.

Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht die strukturellen Grundlagen agonistischer und invers agonistischer Eigenschaften von Liganden am ADP-Rezeptor P2Y12. Dazu wurde eine Bibliothek systematisch veränderter Purinverbindungen am Wildtyp-P2Y12 (WT) mit und ohne ADP und an 28 konstitutiv aktiven P2Y12-Mutanten getestet. Dies ermöglichte die pharmakologische Zuordnung der Substanzen als Agonist, Antagonist oder inverser Agonist. Die Untersuchungen wurden in einem Hochdurchsatz-Hefe-Expressionssystem in Hefen durchgeführt. Als agonistische Liganden am P2Y12 Rezeptor konnten verschiedene ATP und ATP-Derivate identifiziert werden. Ihre agonistische Potenz am ADP-Rezeptor reihte sich wie folgt: 2-(methylthio)-ADP > 2-(methylthio)-ATP > ADP > ATP. In Dockingstudien wurde mittels eines komparativen Computermodels des P2Y12 für diese ATP-Derivate eine Bindungsstelle nachgewiesen, die von den Transmembrandomänen (TM) 3, 5, 6 und 7 gebildet wird. Die Aminosäuren Y105, E188, R256, Y259 und K280 besitzen in der Ligandeninteraktion einen besonderen Stellenwert. Zudem konnten einige Liganden identifiziert werden, die invers agonistische Eigenschaften an konstitutiv aktiven P2Y12-Mutanten zeigten. So führte eine N-Methyl-anthraniloyl-(mant) Modifizierung an der 3’-OH Gruppe der 2’-Deoxyribose (mant-dATP, mant-dADP) zu Liganden mit invers agonistischen Eigenschaften an 10 konstitutiv aktiven P2Y12-Mutanten. Diese Wirkung konnte mittels verschiedener funktioneller Tests in Säugerzellsystemen ebenfalls für den WT-Rezeptor bestätigt werden. Basierend auf den Ergebnissen computerassistierter Dockingstudien schienen inverse Agonisten und Agonisten dieselbe Bindungstasche zu nutzen. Eine mechanistische Erklärung für ihren funktionellen Unterschied am WT konnte das Modell jedoch nicht liefern. Zusammenfassend wurde gezeigt, dass der als ADP-Rezeptor bezeichnete P2Y12 mit einer etwas geringeren Potenz auch ATP als natürlichen Agonist erkennt und dass mant-modifiziertes dATP und dADP neue inverse Agonisten mit potenziellem therapeutischem Nutzen sind.

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No description available.

In this paper, we provide a mathematical model of the effect of aspirin on blood clotting. The model tracks the enzyme prostaglandin H synthase and an important blood clotting factor, thromboxane A2, in the form of thromboxane B2. Through model analysis, we determine conditions under which the reactions of prostaglandin H synthase are self-sustaining. Lastly, through numerical simulations, we demonstrate that the model accurately captures the steady-state chemical concentrations of interest in blood, both with and without aspirin treatment.

A utilização de células humanas para a produção do fator VIII de coagulação recombinante (rFVIII) visa obter padrões de glicosilação equivalentes aos encontrados na proteína normal. O objetivo do trabalho foi obter um processo de produção do rFVIII em biorreator em perfusão, devido à sua labilidade térmica. Foram realizados estudos preliminares em Spinner e biorreator utilizando uma linhagem de rHeLa, cujos resultados embasaram os estudos com a linhagem produtora rSkHep. Foram utilizados microcarregadores nos cultivos com esta linhagem devido à dificuldade de adaptação da mesma à suspensão. Ensaios preliminares identificaram a melhor condição de cultivo com 3 g/L Mic e 1 cel/mic e, a partir destes valores, realizou-se um ensaio em perfusão, com tempo de residência de 24 h, no qual as variáveis controladas foram mantidas constantes durante três tempos de residência. A concentração de rFVIII obtida foi semelhante 2 UI/ mL. / The interest in using human cells for the recombinant coagulation factor VIII (rFVIII) lies in obtaining glycosylation patterns similar to the ones found in the normal protein. The objective of this work was to obtain a process for rFVIII production in bioreactor, in perfusion mode, due to the thermal lability of the protein. Using a recombinant HeLa cell line adapted to suspension growth a group of studies in a bioreactor in batch mode were performed. These results were the basis for the studies performed with the producing cell line rSkHep. Microcarriers (micc) were used due to the harshness to adapt the cell line to suspension and to serum-free medium. Preliminary tests identified the best culture condition with 3 g micc/L and 3 cell/micc and, from its values, it was performed a bioreactor study in perfusion mode, with a residence time of 24 hours. The controlled variables were kept constant for three residence times. The maximum rFVIII concentration obtained was 2 UI/mL.

O fator VIII da coagulação é utilizado para o tratamento da hemofilia A e pode ser obtido a partir de concentrados do plasma humano ou na sua forma recombinante (rFVIII). Nosso laboratório tem explorado uma alternativa mais eficiente para a produção do rFVIII em células de mamíferos, utilizando um variante artificial do rFVIII humano (rFVIII-lab). O objetivo principal deste trabalho foi avaliar a imunogenicidade do rFVIII-lab utilizando camundongos modelo da hemofilia A, tendo como objetivos experimentais a purificação, caracterização de atividade funcional in vivo e caracterização de imunogenicidade do rFVIII-lab comparada a produtos de referência, um derivado de plasma e outro recombinante. Os resultados indicam que o perfil de imunogenicidade observado para o rFVIII-lab foi menos intenso e a atividade funcional observada foi similar quando comparado aos produtos de referência. A expectativa é que o presente estudo contribua para o estabelecimento de uma plataforma de produção do rFVIII no país visando o tratamento dos pacientes hemofílicos brasileiros. / Factor VIII (FVIII) replacement therapy employing either FVIII concentrates from blood plasma or recombinant FVIII is the standard of care for management of hemophilia A. Our group has been exploring a more efficient alternative for recombinant FVIII production in mammalian cells employing an engineered artificial variant of the protein (rFVIII-lab). The main objective of this study was to evaluate the immunogenicity of the rFVIII-lab using a murine model of hemophilia A and the specific experimental objectives were to purify, evaluate the in vivo functional activity and the immunogenicity of rFVIII-lab compared to plasma derived and recombinant reference products. Data revealed reduced immunogenicity of rFVIII-lab whereas functional activity was similar when compared to the reference products. The presented study is expected to contribute to the establishment of a locally production platform for the rFVIII aiming at the treatment of Brazilian hemophilic patients.