Sialic Acid-Engineered IL4-10 Fusion Protein is Bioactive and Rapidly Cleared from the Circulation

Cristine Steen-Louws, Peter Boross, Judith Prado, Jan Meeldijk, Jurgen B Langenhorst, Alwin D R Huitema, Marcel T den Hartog, Louis Boon, Floris P J G Lafeber, C Erik Hack, Niels Eijkelkamp, Jelena Popov-Celeketic

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

PURPOSE: Modulating sialylation of therapeutic glycoproteins may be used to influence their clearance and systemic exposure. We studied the effect of low and high sialylated IL4-10 fusion protein (IL4-10 FP) on in vitro and in vivo bioactivity and evaluated the effect of differential sialylation on pharmacokinetic parameters.

METHODS: CHO cell lines producing low (IL4-10 FP lowSA) and high sialylated (IL4-10 FP highSA) fusion protein were generated. Bioactivity of the proteins was evaluated in an LPS-stimulated whole blood assay. Pharmacokinetics were studied in rats, analyzing plasma levels of IL4-10 FP upon intravenous injection. In vivo activity was assessed in an inflammatory pain mice model upon intrathecal injection.

RESULTS: IL4-10 FP lowSA and IL4-10 FP highSA had similar potency in vitro. The pharmacokinetics study showed a 4-fold higher initial systemic clearance of IL4-10 FP lowSA, whereas the calculated half-life of both IL4-10 FP lowSA and IL4-10 FP highSA was 20.7 min. Finally, both IL4-10 FP glycoforms inhibited persistent inflammatory pain in mice to the same extent.

CONCLUSIONS: Differential sialylation of IL4-10 fusion protein does not affect the in vitro and in vivo activity, but clearly results in a difference in systemic exposure. The rapid systemic clearance of low sialylated IL4-10 FP could be a favorable characteristic to minimize systemic exposure after administration in a local compartment.

Original languageEnglish
Article number17
JournalPharmaceutical Research
Volume37
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2019

Keywords

  • cytokines
  • inflammation
  • pharmacokinetics
  • sialylation
  • therapeutic protein

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