TY - JOUR
T1 - A reactive oxygen species-scavenging ‘stealth’ polymer, poly(thioglycidyl glycerol), outperforms poly(ethylene glycol) in protein conjugates and nanocarriers and enhances protein stability to environmental and biological stressors
AU - d’Arcy, Richard
AU - El Mohtadi, Farah
AU - Francini , Nora
AU - R. DeJulius, Carlisle
AU - Back, Hyunmoon
AU - Gennari, Arianna
AU - Geven, Mike
AU - Lopez-Cavestany, Maria
AU - Yesim Turhan, Zulfiye
AU - Yu, Fang
AU - Bong Lee, Jong
AU - R. King, Michael
AU - Kagan, Leonid
AU - Duvall, Craig L.
AU - Tirelli, Nicola
PY - 2022/11/23
Y1 - 2022/11/23
N2 - This study addresses well-known shortcomings of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based conjugates. PEGylation is by far the most common method employed to overcome immunogenicity and suboptimal pharmacokinetics of, for example, therapeutic proteins but has significant drawbacks. First, PEG offers no protection from denaturation during lyophilization, storage, or oxidation (e.g., by biological oxidants, reactive oxygen species); second, PEG’s inherent immunogenicity, leading to hypersensitivity and accelerated blood clearance (ABC), is a growing concern. We have here developed an ‘active-stealth’ polymer, poly(thioglycidyl glycerol)(PTGG), which in human plasma is less immunogenic than PEG (35% less complement activation) and features a reactive oxygen species-scavenging and anti-inflammatory action (∼50% less TNF-α in LPS-stimulated macrophages at only 0.1 mg/mL). PTGG was conjugated to proteins via a one-pot process; molar mass- and grafting density-matched PTGG-lysozyme conjugates were superior to their PEG analogues in terms of enzyme activity and stability against freeze-drying or oxidation; the latter is due to sacrificial oxidation of methionine-mimetic PTGG chains. Both in mice and rats, PTGG-ovalbumin displayed circulation half-lives up to twice as long as PEG-ovalbumin, but most importantly─and differently from PEG─without any associated ABC effect seen either in the time dependency of blood concentration, in the liver/splenic accumulation, or in antipolymer IgM/IgG titers. Furthermore, similar pharmacokinetic results were obtained with PTGGylated/PEGylated liposomal nanocarriers. PTGG’s ‘active-stealth’ character therefore makes it a highly promising alternative to PEG for conjugation to biologics or nanocarriers.
AB - This study addresses well-known shortcomings of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based conjugates. PEGylation is by far the most common method employed to overcome immunogenicity and suboptimal pharmacokinetics of, for example, therapeutic proteins but has significant drawbacks. First, PEG offers no protection from denaturation during lyophilization, storage, or oxidation (e.g., by biological oxidants, reactive oxygen species); second, PEG’s inherent immunogenicity, leading to hypersensitivity and accelerated blood clearance (ABC), is a growing concern. We have here developed an ‘active-stealth’ polymer, poly(thioglycidyl glycerol)(PTGG), which in human plasma is less immunogenic than PEG (35% less complement activation) and features a reactive oxygen species-scavenging and anti-inflammatory action (∼50% less TNF-α in LPS-stimulated macrophages at only 0.1 mg/mL). PTGG was conjugated to proteins via a one-pot process; molar mass- and grafting density-matched PTGG-lysozyme conjugates were superior to their PEG analogues in terms of enzyme activity and stability against freeze-drying or oxidation; the latter is due to sacrificial oxidation of methionine-mimetic PTGG chains. Both in mice and rats, PTGG-ovalbumin displayed circulation half-lives up to twice as long as PEG-ovalbumin, but most importantly─and differently from PEG─without any associated ABC effect seen either in the time dependency of blood concentration, in the liver/splenic accumulation, or in antipolymer IgM/IgG titers. Furthermore, similar pharmacokinetic results were obtained with PTGGylated/PEGylated liposomal nanocarriers. PTGG’s ‘active-stealth’ character therefore makes it a highly promising alternative to PEG for conjugation to biologics or nanocarriers.
KW - UKRI
KW - EPSRC
UR - https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/publications/a-reactive-oxygen-species-scavenging-stealth-polymer-polythioglyc
U2 - 10.1021/jacs.2c09232
DO - 10.1021/jacs.2c09232
M3 - Article
SN - 0002-7863
VL - 144
SP - 21304
EP - 21317
JO - Journal of the American Chemical Society
JF - Journal of the American Chemical Society
IS - 46
ER -