ASP-Enzymosomes with Saccharomyces cerevisiae Asparaginase II Expressed in Pichia pastoris: Formulation Design and In Vitro Studies of a Potential Antileukemic Drug.

The bacterial enzyme asparaginase is the main treatment option for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. However, it causes side effects, such as immunological reactions, and presents undesirable glutaminase activity. As an alternative, we have been studying asparaginase II from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, coded by ASP3 gene, which was cloned and expressed in Pichia pastoris. The recombinant asparaginase (ASP) presented antileukemic activity and a glutaminase activity 100 times lower in comparison to its asparaginase activity. In this work, we describe the development of a delivery system for ASP via its covalent attachment to functionalized polyethylene glycol (PEG) polymer chains in the outer surface of liposomes (ASP-enzymosomes). This new delivery system demonstrated antiproliferative activity against K562 (chronic myeloid leukemia) and Jurkat (acute lymphocytic leukemia) cell lines similar to that of ASP. The antiproliferative response of the ASP-enzymosomes against the Jurkat cells suggests equivalence to that of the free Escherichia coli commercial asparaginase (Aginasa®). Moreover, the ASP-enzymosomes were stable at 4 °C with no significant loss of activity within 4 days and retained 82% activity up to 37 days. Therefore, ASP-enzymosomes are a promising antileukemic drug.

Greensilica® vectors for smart textiles.

The present work aims developing a versatile Greensilica® vector/carrier, able to bind to a wide range of textile matrices of carbohydrate polymers and susceptible of being loaded with chemicals/drugs/therapeutic molecules, to create a green tailor-made (multi)functional high-tech textile. A green, eco-friendly, ammonia-free, easily scalable, time-saving sol-gel process was established for the production of those silica-based colloidal particles (SiO2, amine-SiO2, diamine-SiO2, and epoxy-SiO2). Two different textile matrices (cotton, polyester) were functionalized, through the impregnation of Greensilica® particles. The impregnation was performed with and without cure. Diamine-SiO2 colloidal particles exhibited the higher bonding efficiency in cured textile matrices (both cotton and polyester), while with no cure the best adherence to cotton and polyester textile matrices was achieved with diamine-SiO2 and amine-SiO2, respectively. Use once and throw away and continued use applications were envisaged and screened through washing tests. The efficiency of the textiles impregnation was confirmed by SEM, and quantified by ICP.

Development of New Contrast Agents for Imaging Function and Metabolism by Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Liposomes are interesting nanosystems with a wide range of medical application. One particular application is their ability to enhance contrast in magnetic resonance images; when properly loaded with magnetic/superparamagnetic nanoparticles, this means to act as contrast agents. The design of liposomes loaded with magnetic particles, magnetoliposomes, presents a large number of possibilities depending on the application from image function to metabolism. More interesting is its double function application as theranostics (diagnostics and therapy). The synthesis, characterization, and possible medical applications of two types of magnetoliposomes are reviewed. Their performance will be compared, in particular, their efficiency as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging, measured by their relaxivities r1 and r2 relating to their particular composition. One of the magnetoliposomes had 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (soy) as the main phospholipid component, with and without cholesterol, varying its phospholipid to cholesterol molar ratios. The other formulation is a long-circulating liposome composed of 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (egg), cholesterol, and 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-[methoxy(polyethylene glycol)-2000]. Both nanosystems were loaded with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles with different sizes and coatings.

Therapeutic activity of superoxide dismutase-containing enzymosomes on rat liver ischaemia-reperfusion injury followed by magnetic resonance microscopy.

Liver ischaemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) may occur during hepatic surgery and is unavoidable in liver transplantation. Superoxide dismutase enzymosomes (SOD-enzymosomes), liposomes where SOD is at the liposomal surface expressing enzymatic activity in intact form without the need of liposomal disruption, were developed with the aim of having a better insight into its antioxidant therapeutic outcome in IRI. We also aimed at validating magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM) at 7T as a tool to follow IRI. SOD-enzymosomes were characterized and tested in a rat ischaemia-reperfusion model and the therapeutic outcome was compared with conventional long circulating SOD liposomes and free SOD using biochemical liver injury biomarkers, histology and MRM. MRM results correlated with those obtained using classical biochemical biomarkers of liver injury and liver histology. Moreover, MRM images suggested that the therapeutic efficacy of both SOD liposomal formulations used was related to prevention of peripheral biliary ductular damage and disrupted vascular architecture. Therefore, MRM at 7T is a useful technique to follow IRI. SOD-enzymosomes were more effective than conventional liposomes in reducing liver ischaemia-reperfusion injury and this may be due to a short therapeutic window.

Biochemical changes in arthritic rats: dehydroascorbic and ascorbic acid levels.

The objective of this work was to evaluate the use of vitamin C as a biomarker in the inflammatory phase of the rat adjuvant arthritis and to correlate it with other parameters used for disease evaluation. Paw swelling was used for physical evaluation and the levels of ascorbate and dehydroascorbate in the serum of male rats, before and after adjuvant arthritis induction, were quantified by a high-performance liquid chromatography method (HPLC). The optimised HPLC assay enabled the quantification of both forms of the vitamin in rat sera, with the same extraction method and using different detectors, instead of obtaining dehydroascorbate by subtraction of the total ascorbate measurement. This method was used to follow the severity of adjuvant arthritis and the results were correlated with other already established disease activity parameters. A decrease of ascorbic acid and dehydroascorbic acid was observed with the increase of right paw circumference during the course of adjuvant arthritis. The disease associated changes in the serum concentrations of ascorbic acid, from biosynthesis and from recycling, can be evaluated by the direct quantification of dehydroascorbic acid. This provides some evidence for the potential of the quantification of these biomarkers to study the disease activity, and as a tool for the establishment of therapeutic protocols, to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of new drugs or formulations.

Relaxivities of magnetoliposomes: the effect of cholesterol.

We present relaxivities measurements for both the longitudinal and transverse relaxations of two types of liposomes loaded with ultra small superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. The magnetoliposome systems presented are soybean phosphatidylcholine liposomes, with and without cholesterol, in the phospholipid bilayer with different molar ratios lipid:cholesterol. In fact, cholesterol is needed to obtain stable liposomes for intravenous administration. The longitudinal and transverse relaxivities were measured with a NMR spectrometer in a 7T magnetic field. For the studied concentrations, the liposomes show a negligible effect on the longitudinal relaxation time T1 of the medium, but they are very efficient on decreasing the transverse relaxation time T2, the behaviour one expects for a negative CA. We observed a lower transverse relaxivity for the magnetoliposome nanosystem with cholesterol, which strongly decreases with the cholesterol content in the liposome bilayer.