Lee Taekyeol, Lee Dongsop, Jung Eunee, Son Mikyung, Koo Kyohwan, Choi Jaehoon
Biologics Research Laboratories of R&D center, Dong-A Socio Holdings, Yong-In, Korea.
Department of Life Science, Sogang University, Seoul, Korea.
PLoS One. 2025 May 15;20(5):e0323791. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0323791. eCollection 2025.
Fc fusion proteins, formed by fusing an active protein to the Fc region of immunoglobulin G, are a validated strategy for extending the half-life of therapeutic proteins. Human growth hormone (hGH) Fc fusion proteins exhibit longer circulation half-lives than hGH, reducing injection frequency and improving convenience for hGH replacement therapy. Most approved Fc fusion proteins involve directly attaching the active protein to the hinge region of IgG Fc; however, few reports have described the effects of structural variations on these characteristics in detail. We analyzed pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of various hGH-Fc fusion constructs differing in linker type, hGH valency, and fusion position to investigate the structure-function relationships of these proteins in cell-based assays and animal models, including normal and hypophysectomized rats. Monovalent hGH-Fc fusion variants and those with hGH fused to the C-terminal of IgG Fc exhibited higher in vitro and in vivo activity than bivalent hGH-Fc. However, these variants also exhibited accelerated clearance in rat pharmacokinetic experiments. The linker connecting the hGH moiety to the Fc domain significantly influenced in vitro activity and pharmacokinetics. Constructs with a rigid alpha-helical A(EAAAK)5A linker showed greater in vitro activity than those with a flexible (GGGGS)3 linker but exhibited accelerated clearance in rats. To a lesser extent, linker length influenced activity and pharmacokinetics. Bivalent hGH-Fc constructs with shorter linkers (0-1 GGGGS repeats) exhibited higher in vivo exposure (AUC) but lower in vitro activity than those with longer linkers (2-3 repeats). In vitro activity did not correlate linearly with linker length, as constructs with no linker (n = 0) showed reduced activity, while no consistent trend was observed for n = 1-3. These findings provide valuable insights into the design of hGH-Fc fusion proteins, offering a framework for systematically improving their potency and longevity and supporting the development of long-acting hGH therapies.
Fc融合蛋白是通过将活性蛋白与免疫球蛋白G的Fc区域融合而形成的,是延长治疗性蛋白半衰期的一种有效策略。人生长激素(hGH)Fc融合蛋白的循环半衰期比hGH长,可减少注射频率并提高hGH替代疗法的便利性。大多数获批的Fc融合蛋白涉及将活性蛋白直接连接到IgG Fc的铰链区;然而,很少有报告详细描述结构变异对这些特性的影响。我们分析了不同接头类型、hGH价态和融合位置的各种hGH-Fc融合构建体的药代动力学和药效学特性,以在基于细胞的试验和动物模型(包括正常和垂体切除大鼠)中研究这些蛋白的结构-功能关系。单价hGH-Fc融合变体以及hGH融合到IgG Fc C末端的变体在体外和体内表现出比二价hGH-Fc更高的活性。然而,这些变体在大鼠药代动力学实验中也表现出清除加速。连接hGH部分与Fc结构域的接头显著影响体外活性和药代动力学。具有刚性α-螺旋A(EAAAK)5A接头的构建体比具有柔性(GGGGS)3接头的构建体表现出更高的体外活性,但在大鼠中表现出清除加速。接头长度在较小程度上影响活性和药代动力学。具有较短接头(0-1个GGGGS重复)的二价hGH-Fc构建体比具有较长接头(2-3个重复)的构建体在体内具有更高的暴露量(AUC),但体外活性较低。体外活性与接头长度不存在线性相关,因为没有接头(n = 0)的构建体活性降低,而对于n = 1-3未观察到一致的趋势。这些发现为hGH-Fc融合蛋白的设计提供了有价值的见解,为系统地提高其效力和寿命提供了框架,并支持长效hGH疗法的开发。
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