Acid pH promotes bispecific antibody formation by the redox procedure.

Bispecific antibodies (BsAbs), are potential theranostics. Chemical procedures of preparation of BsAbs, in which two monospecific antibodies are split into half molecules and heterodimerized, continue to attract attention in view of their simplicity. Poor dissociation of antibodies with reduced inter-heavy chain disulfides into half molecules under neutral conditions however restricts the BsAbs formation. In this study, we report that the heterodimerization of antibodies can be improved leading to over 6-fold increase in the yield of BsAbs, by carrying out the redox procedure at pH 4.0. In view of improvement in heterodimerization, BsAbs could be conveniently prepared starting from partially purified ion-exchange fraction of the antiserum and purified by twin affinity chromatography on antigen supports. The UV, CD, intrinsic and extrinsic fluorescence spectral analysis of BsAbs prepared by the modified redox procedure were comparable with the native IgG, which suggest the absence of significant acid-pH-induced damage. ThT binding studies and native size exclusion chromatography ruled out amyloid fibril formation.

A comparative study of the organic acid content of the hemolymph of Schistosoma mansoni-resistant and susceptible strains of Biomphalaria glabrata

The freshwater snail Biomphalaria glabrata is an intermediate host of the trematode Schistosoma mansoni. However, some strains of B. glabrata are resistant to successful infection by S. mansoni larvae. The present work examines the profile of organic acids present in S. mansoni-resistant and susceptible strains of B. glabrata, in order to determine whether the type of organic acid present is related to susceptibility. The organic acids were extracted from the hemolymph of two susceptible B. glabrata strains (PR, Puerto Rico and Ba, Jacobina-Bahia from Brazil), and from the resistant strains 13-16-R1 and 10R2, using solid phase extraction procedures followed by high performance liquid chromatography. The organic acids obtained were analyzed and identified by comparison with known standards. Pyruvate, lactate, succinate, malate, fumarate, acetate, propionate, ß-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate were detected in all hemolymph samples. Under standard conditions, the concentration of each of these substances varied among the strains tested and appeared to be specific for each strain. An interesting variation was the low concentration of pyruvate in the hemolymph of PR-snails. Only the concentration of fumarate was consistently different (pó0.05) between resistant and susceptible strains.