WOUND HEALING COMPOSITIONS

Abstract: Compositions which stimulate tissue regeneration and whose active components are substances present in mam­ malian tissues and fluids are described. The active substances are a polypepide consisting of 52 amino acids and having a molecular weight of about 5800, a glycosteroid and a glycos­ phingolipid. Compositions which contain the active ingre­ dients accelerate wound healing when applied in the nano- to micro-gram ranges. Neans for recovering the substances from mammalian material in concentrated form by biochemi­ cal parting methods are also described.

Description: Wound Healing Compositions Background of the invention A) Field of the invention This invention relates to materials in mammalian tissues of fluids which accelerate wound healing. b) State of the Art The use of topically or systemically applied rugs for accelerated healing processes of physically, chemically or physiologically induced tissues lesion, such as burns, surgery or ulcers, is described in the medicinal. literature. For example, there are reports on anabolic steroids, vitamin A, vitamin K, =inc compounds, silver compounds or serum factors, e.g. factor XIII in blood coagulation, or high molecular compounds such as collagen or cartilage which accelerate the healing process of tissue injuries. There are also reports on the suuccessful treatment of tissue injuries with crude extracts from aloe or with low molecular weight extracts from mammalian organs. Such plant or animal extracts contain complex mixtures of poorly defined material with low levels of the active ingredients and high levels of inorganic salts. The present invention provides three low molecular weight compounds from crude extracts of mammalian organs, blood serum, or plasma which all accelerate the healing process of mammalian and human tissue injuries. The compounds can be isolated in relatively concentred and pure form and have been substantially identified. Summary of the invention This invention relates to compositions containing substances which are present in biological material and accelerate regeneration of internal and external tissue lesions. The first substance is a polypeptide consisting of 52 amino acids and having a molecular weight of 3800. This material is present in the pancreas, blood, serum and plasma of mammals and stimulates growth of the cell framework during early stages of wound healing. The second substances is a glycosteroid having the structure: EMI2.1 wherein R is an oligosaccharide which contains five sugar groups and the hydroxyl groups of the steroid may be acetylated. The material can be isolated from mammalian tissues and fluids and promotes proliferation of epithelium cells in the final phase of wound healing. The final material is a glycosphingolipid of the structure: EMI3.1 wherein R is an oligosaccharide having five sugar groups. This material can be isolated from mammalian tissues and fluids and promotes fibroblast formation in wounds after capillarization and vascularization begins. Detailed description of-the invention The present invention provides compositions containing an active material which is isolated from mammalian tissues of fluids and which stimulates wound healing. The compositions comprise a carrier and at least one of three active materials of mammalian origin. The first substance is a polypeptide consisting of 52 amino acids and having a molecular weight of 5800. This material is present in the pancreas, blood, serum and plasma of mammals and stimulates growth of the cell framework during early stages.of wound healing. The polypeptide can be isolated from the pancreas, plasma, blood and'serum mammals. The material is particularly concentrated in the pancreas. Aimmals from which the material can be isolated are sine, horses, sheep, humans and beef. Isolation of the material can be effected by fractionating the starting material to isolate a precipitate containing the alpha and beta globulins. The prcipitate is then treated to remove impurities particularly proteins, as by extractions and precipitation. The material dissolved in acid may then be further iso lated by means of column chromatography. An examplary detailed means for isolation of the polypeptide is set forth hereinbelow. The polypeptide stimulates wound healing specifically proliferation of epitheleum cells and fibroblasts is accelerated during early stages of wound healing. The polypeptide is optimally effective at 25 ng/ml of topically applied compositions. At higher levels the marginal increase in healing rate is insignificant. The composition of the invention comprises any physiologically acceptable carrier suitable for topical use plus the polypeptide. Examples of suitable carriers include carboxymethyl cellulose, oil-in-water emulsions, water-in-oil emulsions, aqueous inorganic salt solutions or other conventional liquid, gel or ointment carrier materials. The second active substance for use in compositions of the invention is a glycosteroid having the structure: EMI4.1 wherein R is an oligosaccharide which contains five sugar groups and the hydroxyl groups of the steroid may be acetylated. The material can be isolated from mammalian tissues and fluids and promotes proliforation of epithelium cells in the final phase of wound healing. The final material is a glycosphingolipid of the structure: EMI5.1 wherein R is an oligosaccharide having five sugar groups. This material can be isolated rom mammalian tissues and fluids and promotes fibroblast formation in wounds after capillarization and yascularization begins. These second and third materials can be isolated from mammalian organs such as heart, lung, muscle and spleen or mammalian fluids, such as blood, plasma or serum. Relatively higher concentrations of these materials are generally found in the organs. The mammals which have been found to produce these materials are humans, swine, horses, sheep and beef. Isolation of these materials can be ac complishbd by isolating an essentially protein-free fraction of the starting material having a molecular weight below 10,100, using a combination of techniques such as ultrafiltration, centrifugation and the like. Removal of the inorganic salts from the material may then be effected as by binding the active materials to active carbon. The materials can than be further isolated and parted from each other chromatographically. Details of exemplary means for isolating these materials are set forth below. The maximum acceleration of wound healing is achieved when the glycosphingolipid is applied at a rate of 50 pg/mb of composition. The glycosteroid is maximally effective when applied at rates of 10 pg/ml of composition. Optimal rates of application are 5 pg/ml of the glycosphin- golipid and 1 yg/ml of the glycosteroid. Carriers of the type suitable for use with the polypeptide may be employed with the latter materials as well. The following examples are illustrative of the invention. Example l (a) Isolation of the Polypeptide Isolation of the wound healing polypeptide useful in the present invention was effected as follows: 3500 liters beef plasma containing 5 protein (w/v) (EDTA-, heparin- or citrate-stabilized) were fractionated as follows: 350 1 ethanol were added to 3500 1 of the plasma solution at pH 7.2 + 0.3 and mixed for 10 minutes with a metal blade rotating at 500 rpm. The mixture was stored for 12 hours at -30C + 0.5 C and the precipitated protein was removed by centrifugation at 8000 x g for 20 minutes. 315 1 ethanol were then added to the clear supernatant and mixed as described above. Then the pH of the solution was adjusted with 10N HC1 to,5.85 + 0.05. This mixture was stored for 12 hours at -50C + 1 0C and the precipitated protein was removed by centrifugation as described above. 730 liters ethanol were again added to the clear supernatant and mixed as described above. The pH of the solution was kept at 5.85. The mixture was stored for 12 hours at -9 + 29C and the. precipitated protein was collected by centrifugation as described above. The clear supernatant was discarded. The precipitate containing alpha and beta globulins (8.5kg) was homogenized with 350 liters 75% ethanol-0.20 M -HC1 at 4 + 1 0C for. 15 minutes. Thereafter the homogenate was centrifuged for 5 minutes at 10,000 x g. The resulting sediment was extracted again with ethanol-hydrochloride solution using the same conditions described above. The combined supernatants were adjusted to pH 8.5 + 0.5 with 10 N NaOH, mixed with 4 volumes of acetone-ethanol (5/3, v/v) and cooled to -20 + 20C. After 14 hours the supernatant was decanted and the pre cipitate (acetone powder) was dried under vacuum (1-10 mm Hg) at room temperature. The yield was 150g. The precipitate was extracted three times at room temperature for 4 hours with 1 liter of a 3% acetic acid. The combined supernatants were put on a molecular sieve, i.e., a Pharmacia sectional column KS 370 (total volume 65 liters) packed with Sephadex G75 (Pharmacia), equilibrated at 3t acetic acid and chromatographed at room temperature (rate of flow: 4 liters/hour, fractions: 2 liters). Three peaks eluted after 20, 50 and 70 liters of solvent. They were detected with a 200 nm monitor. The peak which eluted after 50 liters of the solvent was collected and the solvent was evaporated under vacuum at 4OOC and 10-20 mm Hg and yielded 1 g of material. The peak material was dissolved in 0,3 liter of 6% acetic acid, put on a molecular sieve, i.e., 10-liter Sephadex G50 column (Pharmacia) equilibrated in 6% acetic acid and chromatographed at room temperature (rate of flow: 1.5 liters/hours, fractions: 0.5 liter). Six peaks eluted from this column. The last peak fraction, which eluted after 11 liters of solvent, was collected and the solvent was evaporated under vacuum at 40 C and 10-20 mg Hg and yielded 160 mg of material. This material was dissolved in lOmM phosphate buffer at pH 7 and put on a 50 ml carboxymethyl cellulose ion exchanger columd (Whatman) equilibrated in 10 mM phosphate buffer. Five fractions were eluted with a linear NaCl gradient (10 mAl-150 mM) at room temperature. 10 mg of material, which eluted at 125 ±*l NaC1, was pure polypep- -tide of the invention. It is very important that during the extraction procedure temperature and pH be kept in the abovedescribed limits. Variations result in-decreased recovery of the polypeptide of the invention. Where the starting material is serum the first ethanol precipitation (9 ethanol) is omitted. The serum is adjusted to pH 5.85 and mixed with 19 % ethanol (step 2 of the extraction procedure). The subsequent steps were than as described above. If the starting material was whole blood, the blood was clotted for 6 hours at room temperature and the serum was separated from the clot by decantation. The serum was then fractionated as described above. The polypeptide of the invention was also isolated from blood, plasma or serum of human, swine, horse and sheep. The recovery of the polypeptide of the invention was in all cases of the same order of magnitude based on the amount of starting material. In case of pancreas from swine, horses, sheep and beef 1000 kg of glands were homogenized mechanically in the presence of 2500 1 of a d.8e NaC1 solution at 40C. Cellular debries was removed by centrifugation for 15 minutes at 10,000 x g. The clear supernatant was fractionated as described in Example 1. Based on the amount of protein in the starting material the recovery of the polypeptide of the invention was 28 to 32 times higher in beef pancreas as compared to beef plasma. The recovery of the polypeptide of the invention from the pancreas of swine, horses, sheep and beef was in all cases of the same order of magnitude. (b) Biological Activity of the Polypeptide The cell-proliferating activity of the materials produced during the isolation procedure were analyzed. Cell-proliferating activity was tested in vitro on primary human fibroblasts and epithelial cells. The cells which grew as monolayers in Petri dishes from Falcon were synchronized in the confluent stage by serum removal for 18 hours. Thereafter 14C-leucine incorporation into protein and the 3H-thymidine incorporation into DNA of the cells were measured as follows: After synchronization, vaccum dried aliquots of every fraction from the columns were dissolved in water with 0,8t NaCl and added with a pipette to the cell culture for 10 hours. The amount of the tested protein of the aliquots. which were added to each cell culture flask was 100 pug of the acetone powder, 1-10 pg of the acetic acid extract, 0.2-1 Fg of the Sephadex G25 eluates, 10-50 ng of the CM-cellulose extracts per ml of medium in the cell 14 cultures. Thereafter a 5-hour pulse of C-leucine or 3H-thymidine (20 p Ci/ml nedium for 3 x 106 cells in a Petri dish of 5 cm diameter) was administered. The control cultures were not treated with the polypeptide. One unit of polypeptide of the invention was defined as that amount which in 1 ml cell culture medium produced maximum stimulation (350t) of the thymidine incorporation into DNA in comparison with the control. Table I and II summarize the results of the isolation procedure and of the biological tests. TABLE I Activity Concen Fraction (Units/mg) tration Yield Total Acetone powder 6.5 - 100 0 150 g Acetic Acid extract 65 lOx 95 14 g Sephadex G 75 column eluate 650 100x 80 1 g Sephadex G 50 column eluate 4000 600x 80 160 mg C cellulose column eluate 40000 6000x 50 8 mg TABLE II 3H-thymidine incorporation in primary human fibroblasts Pure Polypeptide Percent Stimulation (nanogram/ml medium) relative to control 2.5 150 7.5 200 10 300 25 350 In vivo cell-proliferating activity was also measured in punch and burn wounds on guinea pigs. In these tests, anesthetized guinea pigs were shaved and depilated 2 on both sides of the neck. The shaved area was 25 cm on each side. In case of punch wounds, thwo punches with a diameter of 1.5 cm were placed with a knife on each side of the neck. The wounds were 2 mm deep. In case of burn wounds the animals were treated for 20 seconds with a cylindrical copper block (1.5 cm in diameter, 50 g by weight) which was heated to 250 C. Two burns were placed on each side of the shaved neck. 25 animals with punch wounds and 25 animals with burns received twice a day on one side of the neck an ointment of a 2% Carboxymethylcellulose gel (Whatman) containing 2% pdlypropyleneglycol, 0.3t calcium lactate, 0.2% propylparaben and 25 ng/ml gel of pure polypeptide of the invention. On the other side of the neck the animals received the same gel but without the polypeptide. The healing time of the wounds on both sides was examined every second day. In a different set of experiments 15 animals with punch wounds and 15 animals with burn wounds were treated with the gel as described above. At day 5, 10 and 14C-leucine and 10 )11 20 or 14C-leucine and 10 pCi of H-thymidine in 20 water was injected into the center of each wound. Five hours later the animals were killed and the skin of the wound was excised, homogenated in 2 ml of 10% trichloroacetic acid and the precipitated tissue was collected by centrifugation for 10 minutes at 10,000x g. The tissue was examined gravimetrically and the radioactivity determined by liquid scintillation counting in a Packard scintillation spectrometer. The results are given in Table III. TABLE III A) Healing periods of punch and burn wounds on guinea pigs Treatment Polypeptide Placebo Punch wounds 21 + 3 days 28 + 4 days Burn wounds 24 + 3 days .35 + 5 days B) Incorporation of 3H-thymidine and 14C-leucine into dried tissue Treatment Polypeptide Placebo Day 5 3H 14C 3H 14C Punch wounds 1689 + 61 2142 + 58 972 + 41 1320 + 45 Burn wounds 1423 + 53 1923 + 42 854 + 32 1130 + 33 Day 10 Punch wounds 1034 + 51 1052 + 31. 913 + 34 1184 + 54 Burn wounds 918 + 44 913 + 23 803 + 40 992 + 38 Treatment of the wounds with an ointment containing 25 nanogram/ml of pure polypeptide from beef plasma resulted in a healing time reduction of 25-30t. Ointments containing 100 ng/ml of pure polypeptide from beef plasma resulted in a healing time reduction of 25-35%. The incorporation tests with 14C-leucine and with 3Hthymidine showed that the proliferation of epithelium cells and fibroblasts was accelerated in the early phase of healing. At day 10 and 20 (not shown) almost no differences of thymidine and leucine incorporation was found between placebo and polypeptide. (c) Properties of the Polypeptide From Beeef Plasma The polypeptide 'isolated above is heat resistant, but sensitive to proteases. Trypsin cleavage resulted in a complete loss of biological activity. Trypsin cleavage occured with 10 pg of the polypeptide of the invention and 1 pg of trypsin in 1 ml of a 10 mM borate buffer at pH 8,2. The CM-cellulose column fraction is a singular, homogeneous polypeptide as determined in two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. (First dimension: Isoelectrofocusing in 5 polyacrylamide with a linear ampholine gradient (pH 1-10) in the presence of 8M urea. Second dimension: Migration in a 10-25% polyacrylamide gel gradient in the presence of 0.1t SDS). In this system the protein was determined to have an isoelectric point of 8.3 and a molecular weight of 57006000. Its molecular weight is 5800 as determined by gel filtration on Sephadex G50 (Pharmacia) in the presence of 8M urea and calibrating proteins and it consists of 52 amino acids according to amino acid analysis in a Beckman automatic amino acid analysis. -For amino acid aliquots. of the pure polypeptide were hydrolyzed in 6 M HC1 at 1100C for 12, 18 and 24 hours. The nearest integer of the amino acids after amino acid analysis is given in Table IV TABLE IV Amino acid composition of- the polypeptide Alanine 4 Lysine 3 Arginine 4 Methionine 1 Asparagine 3 Phenyl alanine 4 Cysteine 4 Proline 4 Glut gamine 5 Serine 4 Glycine 5 Threonine 2 Histidine 1 Tryptophane 0 Isoleucine 1 Tyrosine 2 Leucine 3 Valine 2 EXAMPLE 2 (a) Isolation of the Glycosteroid and the Glycosphingolipid The glycosteroid and the glycosphingoipid of the invention were isolated in concentrated form from beef heart according to the biochemical parting procedure described below. 25 kg of beef heart were homogenized mechanically in the presence of 50 1 of 0.2t NaCl solution at 4 0C. Cellular debris was removed by centrifugation for 15 minutes at 10000 xg. The clear supernatant was ultrafiltered at 4 0C through dialysis tubes or ultrafilter membranes having an exclusion limit for molecules having a molecular weight greater than 10,000. The ultrafiltrate was concentrated under vacuum at 400C until the ionic strength of the solution corresponded to that of a physiological common salt solution (i.e. 0.8t NaCl). The organic material in thesolution was bound to active carbon by suspending 200 g active carbon in the ultrafiltrate. The active carbon was centrifuged off after agitation ith the solution for 30 minutes. Thereupon the active carbon was extracted with 100 ml 10 acetic acid or propionic acid. The solvent of the extract was removed under vacuum at 40 C and the residue was taken up in 100 ml 1Al acetic acid. The resulting acid solution was chromatographed over a molecular sieve, i.e., a 10-liter Biogel P 20 column (Biorad). A small percentage of the polypeptide of the invention eluted from the column after 1/6 of a column volume of eluate. In blood this is normally globulinassociated and therefore is retained by the filter membrane. After 1 column volume o eluate, the glycosphingolipid eluted. After 1.7 column volume the glycosteroid eluted. The solvents of the eluates of the steroid and lipid were removed under vacuum at 40 0C. The lipid portion was dissolved in a small volume of 0.1t acetic acid and charged on a silica gel absorption/desorption column covered with C-8 chains and equilibrated with 0.15 acetic acid. The column was then washed with a logarithmic gradient of 0.1t acetic to 905 ethanol.' The lipid eluted with the 30% ethanol containing fraction. The glycosteroid was taken up in ethanolmethylene chloride (8:1, v/v) and chromatographed over a silica gel column in the same solvent. Three fractions eluted from the column with Rf values of 0.4 (Fraction 1, 80t by weight)¯0.55¯(Fraction 2, 105 by weight) and 0.7 (Fraction 3, 10b by weight). The concentration of the steroid and lipid are shown in Table V. TABLE V 1. Glycosteroid from Beef Heart Amount purification Dry eight of the ultrafiltrate 200 mg/ml Dry weight after silica gel column (sum of Fraction 1-3, calculated on the original volume of the ultrafiltrate) 1 pg/ml 200,000x 2. Glycosphingolipid from Beef Heart Dry eight of the ultrafiltrate 200-mg/ml Dry weight after C-8 silica gel column (calculated on the original volume of the ultrafiltrate) 5 ,ug/ml 40,000x The glycosteroid and glycosphingolipid of the invention were purified exactly by the same procedure as described above when lung, muscle or spleen ere the source materials. In case of blood,plasma or serum, the fluid was ultrafilrered directly and then processed as described above. Based on the amount of protein in the starting material, the recovery of the glyco-compounds of the invention was 5-8 times higher in beef heart than in beef blood. The recoveries of the glyco-compounds from animal heart was of the same order of magnitude as from animallung, muscle and spleen. The recoveries of the glyco-compounds from human, swine, horses and sheep were of the same order of magnitude as from beef. (b) Biological Activity of Glycosteroid and Glycosphingolipid In vitro the cell-proliferating activity of the glycosphingolipid was tested on primary human fibroblasts and epithelium cells damaged with THO (tritium water) for 24 hours. 14C-leucine incorporation in protein and 3H-thymidine incorporation in DNA was measured in the presence of whole medium (Eagles Medium) and 10 to 60 pg/ml medium of the lipid using a five-hour pulse. 3 x 106 cells were present in each Petri dish of 5 cm diameter. The concentration of leucine and thymidine was 20 pM. The radioactivity was 1 p Ci/ml medium. Controls were treated similarly except for the absence of the lipid in the culture. Cell-proliferation data is compiled in Table VI. TABLE VI Counts/minute Control 15,300 Glycosphingolipid 10 pg/ml 28,731 20 " 42,310 50 " 71,430 - In addition to increased 3H-thymidine incorporation it was observed that the THO-damaged fibroblasts and epithelium cells began to morphologically resemble normal fibroblasts and epithelium cells after 4 days action with as little as 5 rg/ml of the glycosphingolipid. The glycosteroid from the silica gel was not in vitro. In vivo the cell-proliferating activities of both the steroid and the lipid were evidenced by the accelerated healing of punch and burn wounds on guinea pigs as described in Example 1. .R continuous treatment of punch and burn wounds on guinea-pigs with an ointment containing 5 pg/ml of the glycosphingolipid or 1 pg/ml of the glycosteroid (fraction 1) resulted in a reduction of the healing time by 20%. An ointment containing 50 pg/ml of glyco-sphingolipid or 10 sg/ml of the glycosteroid resulted in a reduction of healing time by 25-30%. For optimal results the ointment consisted of 2% carboxymethyl cellulose (Whatman), 2' propylene-glycol, 0.3t calcium lactate, 0.2%prcpylparaben and 5 x 10 4t each of a mixture of lysine, glutamine, 2-purine and 2-pyrimidine nucleosides (cytidine, guanosine, ade-nosine and uridine). Similar results were obtained when the carriers were water-in-oil or oil-in-water emulsion instead of a gel or when the glyco compounds were dissolved in 0.8t NaCl-solution and applied to the wounds by aerosol spraying. The carriers alone without the glyco-compounds were not active in the wound healing experiments. 14C-leucine and3H-thymidine incorporation tests in vivo were carried out as described for the polypeptide in Example 1 and indicated that the glycospingolipid promoted proliferation of fibroblasts and epithelial cells in the middle and end phase of healing while the steroid promoted proliferation of fibroblasts and epithelium cells in the final healing phase. The tissue regenerating properties of the glycosphingolipid were evaluated in double blind clinical trials on 25 humans with internal chronic skin ulcers induced after artery-and vein-plugs, after postphlebitis or ulcus cruris. In the trials two different carboxymethylcellulose gels were applied to the ulcers. Gel I contained 5 pg/g gel of the glycosphingolipid and gel II contained no active ingredient (placebo). The ulcers of the patients were treated alternating one week with gel I and the following week with gel II. The gels were applied twice a day. The tissue regenerating properties of the lipid were evaluated by planimetrical measurement of the surfaces of the individual ulcers once a week and are summarized in Table VII. The results for the glycosphingolipid were excellent in 13 cases (regression,50$), good in 6 cases (regression between 25% and 50%), weak in 2 cases (regression (255) and zero in 4 cases. TABLE VII Duration Percentage Percentage of treatment global re- amelioration (weeks) gression of due to Ulcer initial sur-face Gel I Gel II 1 10 90.9 53.7 37.2 2 10 98.4 83.3 15.1 3 9 100 53.3 46.7 (cicatrisation complete) 4 10 87.6 54.1 23.5 5 6 27.9 22.6 5.3 6 6 31.5 26.6 4.9 7 2 aggravation 8 2 aggravation 9 6 53.4 54.9 -1.6 10 8 77.2 33.7 43.5 11 8 53.4 40.2 13.2 12 1 4 aggravation 13 4 aggravation 14 6 45.3 11.4 33.9 15 6 17.5 22.9 -5.4 16 2 100 80 20 17 6 10.7 19.9 9.2 18 6 100 28.5 71.5 19 6 36.9 45.7 -8.8 20 6 85.4 62.2 23.2 21 6 45.5 31.8 13.7 22 6 44.8 30.9 13.9 - 23 6 79.2 60.4 18.8 24 ' 6 63.3 39.9 23.4 25 6 55 26.8 28.2 (c) Properties of Glycosteroid and Glycosphingolipid 1. Glycosteroid The structure of the steroid was evaluated as follows: Incubation of the steroid (fraction 1 from the silicagel-column) in the presence of &beta;-glucosidase (horthington) resulted in separation of three molecules of glucose and two molecules of glucoseamine and complete loss of biological activity. Incubation for 1 hour at 80 C in 0.1N aqueous HC1 of the steroid portion after glucosidase treatment resulted in release of one molecule of malonic acid monoamide from the steroidal backbone leaving a primary alcoholic group on the steroid. Incubation of the steroid with 3- 3-&alpha;-hydroxysteroid-dehydrogenase in 10 m phosphate buffer and 1 ml NAD resulted in an 85% loss of the biological activity of the compound. Infrared and GC-MS analysis of the steroid was carried out after treatment with HC1, glucosidase and the steroid-dehydrogenase. The infra-red spectrum was identical to that of pregn-4ene-ll-B , 17 a , 21-triol-3,20-dione.with major peaks at -l wave numbers (cm: 3500, 3460, 2880, 2720, 1670-, 1450, 1230, 1090, 890, 880. \# max. = 224 and E.= 16300 were identical with pregn-4-ene-11p , 17Z, 21-triol-3,20-dione. The GC-field-adsorption-mass-spectrometry after trimethylsilylation of the steroid and pregn-4-ene-11-, 17 , 21triol-3,20-dione showed identical splittering of the molecules with a molecule peak of 578. From the physicalchemical analysis the following structure could be determined: EMI22.1 Fractions 2 and 3 showed the same characteristics as described above except that one molecule of acetic acid for fraction 2 and two molecules of acetic acid for fraction 3 were released after HC1 treatment. 2. Glycosphingolipid The structure of the lipid was determined as follows: Incubation of the lipid in the presence of glycosidase or mild alkaline hydrolysis with sodium methylate resulted in the complete inactivation of its biological activity. The residual skeleton of the lipid was determined to be a ceramide by TLC and specific staining methods. Anhydrous methanolysis in the presence of HC1 (amide cleavage) followed by coupled GC-MS spectrometry indicated presence of a fatty acid residue having the structure R2 = CH3-(CH2)9-CH=CH-CH2-and sphingosin. Incubation of the lipid in the presence of OsO4 produced an oligosaccharide and ceramide. The ceramide was then treated with periodate. Coupled GD-MS spectrometry resulted in the identification of a fatty acid residue with the following structure R1 = CH3-(CH2)13-CH2-. When CH2 oligosaccharide, which was separated from ceramide, was treated by mild periodate oxidation, 5 sugar residues could be identified: uronic acid, fucose and 3 modified and substituted hexoses. Based on the above analytical procedure, the structure of the lipid was concluded to be: EMI23.1 that is, the lipid was determined to be a glycosphingolipid. Spectrometric Data: The fatty acid residue (R1) after periodate cleavage was methylated in the presence of a methanolic HC1 solution and analyzed by coupled GC-field adsorption mass spectrometry. The following m/e peaks were obtained: 270 representing the molecule peak (M) M-31 for CH= OH M-74 for EMI23.2 and the typical (DnH2n )+series of 29, 43, 57, 71, 85, 99, 113, 127, 141, 155 and 169. The fatty acid residue (R2) after methanolic amide cleavage (fatty acid methyl ester) was incubated in the presence of periodate followed by subsequent hydrolysis with aqueous HC1. Two carboxylic acids were identified by gas chromatgraphy using reference carboxylic acids in paprallel runs: J100C-CH2-COOH and CH3-(CH2)9-COOH. After GC-field adsorption mass spectrometry both acids gave identical fragmentation when compared with the cor responding reference carboxylic acid. When the R2- -- methylester was analyzed by coupled GC-field adsorption mass spectrometry the following peaks were obtained: 240 for M M-31 and M-74 for methoxy radicals and again a typical (C2H2n-1) 'series.

Claims: Claims 1. A composition for stimulating wound healing comprising a polypeptide which is isolated from a mammalian fluid or pancreas, comprises 52 amino acids and has a molecular weight of about 5800 in a physiologically acceptable carrier. 2. A method of accelerating wound healing comprising treating a wound with the composition of claim 1. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the wound is treated with the composition in an amount sufficient to provide 25 ng/ml compsition of the polypeptide to the wound. 4. The composition of claim 1 wherein the carrier is selected from the group consisting of carboxymethyl-cellulose, oil-in-water emulsion and water-in-oil emulsions. 5. The composition of claim 1 wherein the polypeptide is isolated from a mammalian fluid selected from the group consisting of blood, plasma and serum. 6. The composition of claim 1 wherein the polypeptide is isolated from the fluid or pancreas of a mammal selected from the group consisting of human, swine, horses, sheep and beef. 7. The composition of claim 1 wherein the polypeptide is isolated by: (a) isolating as a solid fraction the portion of the mammalian starting material containing alpha and. beta globulins, (b) homogenizing the isolated fraction in 40 volumes of 75 ethanol - 0.02 xI hydrochlorid acid at 4 C, (c) centrifuging the homogenate and separating the resulting sediment and supernatant, (d) adjusting the pH of the separated supernatant to 8.5 with sodium hydroxide, (e) mixing the pH adjusted- supernatant with four times its volume of acetone-ethanol, (f) cooling the resulting mixture to at least -20 C for at least fourteen hours, (g) thereafter separating and drying the resulting precipitate, (h) extracting the dried precipitate with acetic acid, (i) passing the supernatant of the extraction through a molecular sieve column and collecting the eluate with stimulating activity for cellular growth, (j) dissolving the dried precipitate of the eluate in a pH 7 phosphate buffer solution, (k) depositing the resulting buffered solution on an equilibrated cationic exchanger, (1) eluting the cationic exchanger column and collecting the eluate with stimulating activity for cellular growth, and (m) evaporating the solvent from this fraction. 8. The composition of claim 7 wherein the fraction of mammalian material containing alpha and beta globulins is isolated as a precipitate by adding 9% (v/v) ethanol to a fluid suspension of the material, precipitating protein for 12 hours at -30C and pH 7.2, removing the precipitate by centrifugation, adding ethanol to the clear supernatant fluids to a final concentration of l9t(v/v) and adjusting the pH to 5.85, precipitating protein for 12 hours at -5 0C, removing the precipitate by centrifugation, adding ethanol to the clear supernatant fluid to a final concentration of 40t (v/v) maintaining a pH of 5.85, precipitating protein for 12 hours at -90C, and collecting the precipitate by centrifugation. 9. A composition for stimulating wound healing comprising a glycosteroid and a carrier, said glycosteroid having the structure: EMI27.1 wherein R is an oligosaccharide group containing five sugar. 10. A method of accelerating wound healing comprising treating a wound with the composition of claim 9. 11. The method of claim 10 wherein the wound is treated with the composition in an amount sufficient to provide 1 to 10 p gram/ml composition of the glyco steroid to the wound. 12. The method of claim 9 wherein the carrier is selected from the group consisting of carboxymethylcellulose, oil-in-water emulsions, water-in-oil emulsions and aqueous solutions. 13. The composition of claim 9 wherein the glycosteroid is isolated from a mammalian tissue selected from the group consisting of heart, lung, muscle and spleen. 14. The composition of claim 9 wherein the glycosteroid is isolated from a mammalian fluid selected from the group consisting of blood, plasma and serum. 15. The composition of claim 9 wherein the glycosteroid is isolated from the fluid or organ of a mammal selected from the group consisting of human, swine, horses, sheep and beef. 16. The composition of claim 9 wherein the glycosteroid is isolated from mammalLantissue or fluid by: (a) homogenizing the mammalian tissue or fluid with an aqueous solution with 0.25 NaCl; (b) clear.ing the homogenate from the cellular debris by centrifugation or filtration; (c) thereafter ultra-filtering the cleared homogenate; (d) concentrating the ultrafiltrate at 40OC until the ionic strength thereof correspond to a 0.8t NaCl solution; (e) binding organic material in the concentrated ultrafiltrate to active carbon; (f) thereafter extracting the active carbon with 10-30% acetic acid; (g) evaporating the solvent from the extract; (h) dissolving the residue in 0.2-2M acetic acid; ; (i) chromatographing the resulting solution over a molecular sieve column (j) thereafter eluting the column with 0.2-2M acetic acid and collecting second fraction with cell preliferating activity. (k) removing the solvent from the collected eluate. 17. The composition of claim 16 wherein the glycosteroid is further concentrated by: (a) dissolving the dried eluate resulting from step (k) of claim 8 in ethanol-methylene chloride; (b) chromatographing the dissolved eluate over a silica gel column; (c) collecting the fractions of silica gel column eluate which have Rf values of 0.4, 0.55 and 0.7; and (d) evaporating the solvent. 18. A composition for stimulating wound healing comprising a glycosphingolipid and a carrier, said glycosphingolipid having the formula: EMI29.1 wherein R is an oligosaccharide containing five sugar units. 19. A method of accelerating wound healing comprising treating a wound with the composition of claim 18. 20. The method of claim 19 wherein the wound is treated with the composition in an amount sufficient to provide 5 to 50 p gram/ml ointment of the glycosphingolipid to the wound. 21. The method of claim 18 wherein the carrier is selected from the group consisting of carboxymethylcellulose, oil-in-water emulsions, water-in-oil emulsions and aqueous solutions. 22. The compositions of claim 18 wherein the glycosphingolipid is isolated from a mammalian tissue selected from the group consisting of heart, lung, muscle and spleen. 23. The composition of claim 18 wherein the glycosphingolipid is isolated from a mammalian fluid selected from the group consisting of blood, plasma and serum. 24. The composition of claim 18 wherein the glycosphingolipid is isolated from the fluid or organ of a mammal selected fron the group consisting of humans, swine, horses, sheep and beef. 25. The composition of claim 18 wherein the glycosphingolipid is isolated from mammalian tissue or fluid by: (a) homogenizing the mammalian tissue or fluid with an aqueous solution ith 0.2% NaCl; (b) clearing the homogenate from cellular debris by centrifugation or filtration; (c) thereafter ultra-filtering the cleared homogenate; (d) concentrating the ultrafiltrate at 400C until the ionic strength thereof correspond to a 0.8t NaCl solution; (e) binding organic material in the concentrated ultrafiltrate to active carbon (15 by weight); (f) thereafter extracting the active carbon with 10-30% acetic acid; (g) evaporating the solvent from the extract; (h) dissolving the residue in 0.2-2M acetic acid; ; (i) chromatographing the resulting solution over a molecular sieve column; (j) thereafter eluting the column with 0.2-2M acetic acid and collecting the first fraction with cell proliferating activity; and (k) removing the solvent from the collected eluate 26. The composition of claim 25 wherein the glycosphingolipid is further concentrated by: (a) dissolving the dried eluate resulting from step (k) of claim 8 in acetic acid; (b) adsorbing the dissolved eluate on an equilibrated silica gel column having C-8 chainsj (c) thereafter washing the column with a logarithmic gradient of 0.1% acetic acid - 90% alcohol; (d) collecting the 30t alcohol Containing fraction; and (e) evaporating the solvent.

Inventors: SCHAEFER, ROLF, DR., Schäfer, Rolf, Dr.
Applicants: SCHAEFER, ROLF, DR.
Application year: 1981
Main classification: A61K37
IPC codes: A61K35, A61K31, A61K38, A61P17, C07H15, C07K14, C07J41