All peptides were synthesized by CPC Scientific Inc. For fluorogenic assays, peptides were flanked with the fluorophore-quencher pair 5-FAM-CPQ2. For in vivo urine experiments, peptides were barcoded with Glu-Fib–derived and heavy isotope–labeled peptides. PEGylated peptides were pooled prepared before in vivo experiments and stored at 4°C in phosphate-buffered saline.
Abstract
Noninvasive detection of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the progressive form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, promises to improve patient screening, accelerate drug trials, and reduce health care costs. On the basis of protease dysregulation of the biological pathways of fibrotic NASH, we developed the Glympse Bio Test System (GBTS) for multiplexed quantification of liver protease activity. GBTS-NASH comprises a mixture of 19 mass-barcoded PEGylated peptides that is administered intravenously and senses liver protease activity by releasing mass-barcoded reporters into urine for analysis by mass spectrometry. To identify a protease signature of NASH, transcriptomic analysis of 355 human liver biopsies identified a 13-protease panel that discriminated clinically relevant NASH ≥F2 fibrosis from F0-F1 with high classification accuracy across two independent patient datasets. We screened 159 candidate substrates to identify a panel of 19 peptides that exhibited high activity for our 13-protease panel. In the choline-deficient, L-amino acid-defined, high-fat diet (CDAHFD) mouse model, binary classifiers trained on urine samples discriminated fibrotic NASH from simple steatosis and healthy controls across a range of nondisease conditions and indicated disease regression upon diet change [area under receiver operating characteristics (AUROCs) > 0.97]. Using a hepatoprotective triple combination treatment (FXR agonist, ACC and ASK1 inhibitors) in a rat model of NASH, urinary classification distinguished F0-F1 from ≥F2 animals and indicated therapeutic response as early as 1 week on treatment (AUROCs >0.91). Our results support GBTS-NASH to diagnose fibrotic NASH via an infusion of peptides, monitor changes in disease severity, and indicate early treatment response.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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Development of a selective, sensitive and robust oxyntomodulin dual monoclonal antibody immunoassay.
Umberger, T.S., Ming, W., Cox, J.M., Konrad, R.J. and Siegel, R.W. Bioanalysis 14, no. 18 (2022): 1229-1239.
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly & Company, Indianapolis, IN46285, USA
Human K2 EDTA and P800 plasma (500 μl) was spiked with proglucagon 33–61, 35–61 and 36–61 stable-isotope-labeled internal standard peptides (CPC Scientific, custom order) and diluted with I buffer (25 mmol/l Tris-HCl, 25 mmol/l HEPES, 300 mmol/l NaCl, 0.1% (v/v) octyl β-D-glucopyranoside, pH 7.5).
Line, J.E.; Seal, B.S.; Garrish, J.K. Appl. Microbiol. 2022, 2, 688–700.
Peptides were synthesized using standard solid-phase(Fmoc) chemistry with a peptide synthesizer (CPC Scientific Inc., Sunnyvale, CA 94089,USA, C12K-2β12 [..]
Kirk, N.S., Chen, Q., Wu, Y.G., Asante, A.L., Hu, H., Espinosa, J.F., Martínez-Olid, F., Margetts, M.B., Mohammed, F.A., Kiselyov, V.V. and Barrett, D.G. Nature Communications 13, no. 1 (2022): 5695.
- Eli Lilly and Company, Lilly Corporate Center, Indianapolis, IN 46285, USA.
Peptides were synthesized under contract by CPC Scientific, except for the N-terminally acetylated version of IM172N22 and the Glu3Arg, Glu3Ala, Glu4Arg, Glu4Ala, Glu5Ala, Glu5Arg, Trp6Ala, Gln8Ala, Ile9Ala, Glu10Ala, Glu10Arg and Tyr14Ala mutants of IM172N22
Coskun, T., Urva, S., Roell, W.C., Qu, H., Loghin, C., Moyers, J.S., O’Farrell, L.S., Briere, D.A., Sloop, K.W., Thomas, M.K. and Pirro, V. Cell Metabolism 34, no. 9 (2022): 1234-1247.
- Eli Lilly and Company, Lilly Corporate Center, Indianapolis, IN 46285, USA
Homologous and heterologous competition experiments were performed with non-radioactive peptide analogues[127I]-Tyr1-GIP(1-42) and [127]-Tyr10-GIP(1-42) to ensure quantification of the high-affinity binding site of the GIPR. Peptide analogues were generated using synthetic [127I]-Tyr amino acid building blocks (CPC Scientific).
Cecil, D.L., Curtis, B., Gad, E., Gormley, M., Timms, A.E., Corulli, L., Bos, R., Damle, R.N., Sepulveda, M.A. and Disis, M.L. Scientific Reports 12, no. 1 (2022): 13618.
- Cancer Vaccine Institute, University of Washington, 850 Republican Street, Brotman Bld., 2nd Floor, Box 358050, Seattle, WA 98195-8050, USA.
- Janssen Research and Development LLC, Spring House, PA, USA.
- Janssen Vaccines and Prevention, Leiden, The Netherlands.
The peptides were constructed and purified by high-performance liquid chromatography (> 90% pure; CPC Scientific).
Zonari, A., Brace, L.E., Alencar-Silva, T., Porto, W.F., Foyt, D., Guiang, M., Cruz, E.A.O., Franco, O.L., Oliveira, C.R., Boroni, M. and Carvalho, J.L. Toxicology Reports 9 (2022): 1632-1638.
Peptide 14 (ETAKHWLKGI) (Sup. Fig. 1) was purchased from CPC Scientific Inc. (USA), which synthesized the peptide by solid phase (Fmoc) on a Rink amide resin, with > 95% purity, in the form of acetate salt.
CPC Scientific Inc., a leading global peptide CRDMO (Contract Research, Development, and Manufacturing Organization) has invested in a new peptide API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) manufacturing site, bringing many new jobs to Rocklin, California. The 41,000 sq ft facility located at 3880 Atherton Rd, Rocklin, CA 95765 will be utilized to manufacture clinical to commercial grade peptide products for increased manufacturing capacity and will diversify CPC Scientific’s supply chain.
CPC Scientific is entering an exciting period of growth and innovation for peptide and oligonucleotide therapeutic development and manufacturing, and we will continue to provide therapeutic APIs to pharmaceutical and biotech companies around the world. We are very pleased to partner with the City of Rocklin, California to bring manufacturing and Life-Science jobs to local American workers,” said Shawn Lee, PhD, CEO.
Ikeda, Z., Kakegawa, K., Kikuchi, F., Itono, S., Oki, H., Yashiro, H., Hiyoshi, H., Tsuchimori, K., Hamagami, K., Watanabe, M. and Sasaki, M. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 65, no. 12 (2022): 8456-8477.
- Research, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, 26-1, Muraokahigashi 2-chome, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 251-8555, Japan
Subsequently, 5FAM–Abu–Gly–Asp–Asp–Asp–Lys–Ile–Val–Gly–Gly–Lys(CPQ2)–Lys–Lys–NH2 (purity: 97.2%, CPC Scientific, Inc.) was diluted with an assay buffer to prepare a 2.1 μM substrate solution.
The transferred energy from a fluorescent donor is converted into molecular vibrations if the acceptor is a non-fluorescent dye (quencher). When the FRET is terminated (by separating donor and acceptor), an increase of donor fluorescence can be detected. The design and synthesis work at CPC for FRET and TR-FRET peptide substrates include modification of sequences, selection of donor/quencher pairs, improvement of FRET substrate solubility and quenching efficiency.