A novel tissue engineering-based assay for immunological infertility.

Antisperm antibodies (ASA) are present in 9-36% of infertile couples, a condition called immunological infertility. The variability of ASA in terms of antigenic specificity and biological effects has made it difficult to design a test able to distinguish reliably between ASA that contribute to infertility and those that do not. To develop a reliable and reproducible method able to detect sperm antibodies, we took advantage of recent progress made in tissue engineering techniques. We used collagen gel as a bio-scaffold for the production of engineered sperm analogues. The advantages of using collagen gels include biocompatibility, ease of fabrication and low cost. We found that this tissue engineering-based assay is more specific and more sensitive than a conventional test routinely used for ASA detection. In addition, it exhibited low intra- and inter-variations. We envision the use of this novel approach for the detection of a variety of autoantibodies in autoimmune diseases. In addition to diagnostic purposes, tissue-engineering based tests could be useful in monitoring treatments with bio-drugs.

Process development for production of recombinant human interferon-gamma expressed in Escherichia coli.

A simple fed-batch process was carried out using constant and variable specific growth rates for high-cell-density cultivation of Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) expressing human interferon-gamma(hIFN-gamma). The feeding rate was adjusted to achieve an appropriate specific growth rate. The dissolved oxygen level was maintained at 20-30% of air saturation by control of airflow and stirrer speed and, where necessary, by enrichment of inlet air with pure oxygen. Glucose was the sole source of carbon and energy and was provided by following a simple exponential feeding rate. The final cell density in the fed-batch fermentation with constant and variable specific growth rate feeding strategies was ~100 g dry cell wt l(-1) after 36 and 20 h, respectively. The final specific yield and overall productivity of recombinant hIFN-gamma in the variable specific growth rate strategy were 0.35 g rHu-IFN-gamma g(-1) dry cell wt and 0.9 g rHu-IFN-gamma l(-1) h(-1), respectively. A new chromatographic purification procedure involving anion exchange and cation exchange chromatographies was developed for purification of rHu-IFN-gamma from inclusion bodies. The established purification process is reproducible and the total recovery of rHu-IFN-gamma was ~30% (100 mg rHu-IFN-gamma g(-1) dry cell wt). The purity of the rHu-IFN-gamma was determined using HPLC. Sterility, pyrogenicity, and DNA content tests were conducted to assure the absence of toxic materials and other components of E. coli in the final product. The final purified rHu-IFN-gamma has a specific antiviral activity of ~2 x 10(7) IU/mg protein, as determined by viral cytopathic effect assay. These results certify the product for clinical purposes.

Mechanism of denaturation of bovine serum albumin by dodecyl trimethylammonium bromide.

Bovine serum albumin (BSA) denaturation has been extensively studied by different anionic and cationic surfactant. Dodecyl trimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) is a cationic surfactant, and it is suggested that it binds to the C-terminal section of BSA. In the present study, the thermodynamical denaturation of BSA by dodecyl trimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) has been studied with various experimental techniques. Equilibrium dialysis, thermal denaturation, gel electrophoresis, titration microcalorimetry at pH 7, I = 0.005, and different temperatures were all performed. The enthalpy obtained from the van't Hoff relation and calorimetry method as well as electrophoresis results were utilized to explain the BSA tranistion state. Major findings included: the binding isotherm shifts at a low free concentrations of DTAB and at a higher temperature suggest endothermicity for enthalpy of interaction; the calorimetry enthalpy (delta Hcal) of interaction was smaller than the van't Hoff enthalpy (delta HvH) for BSA-DTAB interaction; and the aggregation of BSA increased with increasing DTAB concentration. This study suggests that BSA unfolding induced by DTAB follows a multistate transition model and does not follow the two-state mechanism assumed for most single subunit proteins.