HOMOGENEOUS ERYTHROPOIETIN

Abstract: Homogeneous erythropoietin for the first time characterized by an amino acid sequence 1-166 substantially as shown in table 1, molecular weight of about 34,000 daltons, movement as a single peak on reverse phase HPLC, and specific activity of at least 120,000 IU.

Description: HOMOGENEOUS ERYTHROPOIETIN Erythrocytes (also called red blood cells) serve a critical role in carrying oxygen to mammalian tissues. They are produced by the maturation and differentiation of erythroblasts in bone marrow. Erythropoietin (also referred to as EPO) is a glycoprotein which naturally stimulates erythrocyte formation in mammals. In certain clinical states, e.g. various anemias, the level of erythrocytes is undesirably low. Exogenously administered EPO has promise as a therapeutic agent for the clinical treatment of such conditions. For therapeutic use, it is highly desirable that the EPO be homogeneous. Unfortunately, exogenous EPO is not in practical use due to its low availability and heterogeneity. The preparation heretofore of erythropoietin-related products has generally been via the concentration and purification of urine from patients exhibiting high EPO levels. See, for example, U.S. Patent Nos. 3,865,801; 4,303,650 and 4,397,840. In particular, EPO has beenpurified from the urine of patients with aplastic anemia by the method described by Miyake et al., J. Biol. Che . f 252:5558 (1977) ' , the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. It had been thought that EPO purified by this method was homogeneous because it moved as a single band during electrophoresis. We have now discovered that this seemingly homogeneous EPO composition produced by the method of Miyake et al. is composed of several polypeptide components ranging from 30,000 to 70,000 daltons. The present invention provides for the first time a homogeneous EPO composition. We prepared such a composition by subjecting an erythropoietin solution which has been partially purified by the Miyake-type method to reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography and eluting the EPO protein. We therebyproducedhomogeneous EPO charact- erized by (a) an amino acid sequence substantially as shown in Table 1, (b) movement as a single peak on reverse phase- HPLC, (c) a molecular weight of about 34,000 daltons on SOS PAGE, and (d) a specific activity of at least 120,000 IU 5 per absorbance unit at 280 nanometers. Brief Description of the Drawings and Table FIG. 1 is an elution profile of an EPO composition treated by reverse phase high performance liquid chro ato- 0 graphy in accord with the present invention illustrating absorbance of fractions at 280 nm versus time. Table 1 is the amino acid sequence of a human EPO protein including its secretory leader sequence. The availability of homogeneous EPO will permit the s sequencing of its amino acid composition by techniques known in the art to permit the construction of probes with which to "fish out" the corresponding human genes and thus facilitate production of EPO by recombinant DNA techniques. In fact, an operable recombinant DNA process for o producing EPO which relies on sequence information obtained through the use of EPO of this invention is described in copending and commonly assigned United States patent appli¬ cations Serial No. 688,622 filed January 3, 1985 and Serial No. 693,258 filed January 22, 1985. 5 The method of Miyake et al. comprises deactivating any proteolytiσ enzymes by treatingthe crudeEPO preparations with phenol p-aminosalicylate. Such proteases can also be deactivated by other means such as by heating. The purifi¬ cation steps described by Miyake et al. include ethanol o precipitation, DEAE-agarose fractionation, sulfopropyl- Sephadex chromatography, gel filtration and hydroxylapatite chromatography. The "purified" EPO compositions obtained thereby reportedly have a specific EPO activity of at least about 50,000, preferably at least about to 80,000 IU, per 5 absorbance unit at 280 n . (The prior art thus considered "pure" EPO as having a specified activity of about 80,000 IU) . We found the "purified" Miyake EPO composition to be non-homogeneous. By further treating this composition by s reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (R-P HPLC) we obtained a homogeneous EPO having a molecular weight of about 34,000 daltons when analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyaσryla ide gel electrophoresis (SDS- PAGE) . ι° A preferred reverse phase HPLC column for use in this invention is a column having four-carbon (butyl) chain groups attached thereto. A commercial example is the C-4 Vydao column available from The Nest Group, Southboro, MA. Other reverse columns with different carbon chain groups, - ' such as eight-carbon or eighteen-carbon, may also be used. A preferred eluant consists of a 0 to 95% acetonitril'e gradient in 0.01 to 1 * 0%, preferably 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid, over a period of about 100 minutes. Other eluants can of course also be used. 20 When purified in accordance with the present invention, EPO compositions having a specific activity of at least 120,000 IU per absorbance unit at 280 nm are obtained. In a preferred embodiment specific activities of at least 160,000 IU are obtained. An "absorbance unit," as used herein, is 2s approximately 1 g protein per ml. The amino acid sequence of an EPO protein derived from a human source, including its secretory leader sequence is illustrated in Table I. The mature EPO protein begins with the "Ala" residue identified by the arabic number 3o"l". The secretory leader sequence is the polypeptide sequence preceding the mature EPO protein beginning with the "MET" residue identified by the numeral "-27". This DNA sequence can be expressed in a cell capable of processing the EPO protein to eliminate the leader sequence and secrete 3sthe mature protein into the media. In clinical uses, e.g., in the treatment of various anemias, the amount of EPO will, of course, depend upon the severity of the condition being treated, the route of administration chosen, and the specific activity of the EPO, and ultimately will be decided by the attending physi¬ cian. EPO may be administered by any route appropriate to the condition being treated. Preferably, the EPO is injected into the bloodstream. The formulations of the present invention comprise an active EPO protein, as above described, together with one or more pharmaceutically acceptable carriers therefor and optionally other therapeutic ingredients. The carrier(s) must be "acceptable" in the sense of being compatible with the other ingredients of the formulation and not deleterious to the recipient thereof. Formulations suitable for parenteral administration conveniently comprise a sterile parenterally acceptable vehicle, e.g., water containing a therapeutically effective amount of EPO. Solutions are preferably isotonic. The following example illustrates the preparation of the product of the present invention. EXAMPLE Crudeerythropoietinpreparations, derived frompatients with aplastiσ anemia, were concentrated by dialysis. Proteo- lytic enzymes were deactivated by heat treatment at 80 β C for 5 minutes. The crude preparation concentrates were then purified by the above method described by Miyake et al. A. Ethanol Precipitation Batches containing about 100,000 IU of EPO activity at concentrations of about 50 to 100 IU per absorbance unit at 280 nm were diluted to 50 ml with phosphate buffered solution (PBS) at 4 β C. 12.5 ml of 10 M LiCl were added. Absolute ethanol (62.5 ml) at 4° was added slowly with stirring, "which was continued for 30 min. after the addition was complete. After the flocculent precipitate had been allowed to settle for 10 min. it was removed by σentrifugation at 21,000 x g for 10 min at -15". The pellet was washed three times with 10 ml of 50% ethanol, 1 m LiCl and the supernatants were pooled. The washed precipitate was dissolved in 20 ml of PBS, yielding a turbid solution (50% precipitate.) Sixty-seven milliliters of absolute ethanol were added slowly to the combined supernatants: stirring was continued for 30 min. and settling for 15 min. The precipi¬ tate was collected as before and washed twice with 10 ml of 65% ethanol, 0.7 M LiCl and the supernatants were pooled. The washed precipitate was dissolved in 20 ml of PBS (65% precipitate) . To the pooled supernatants, 96 ml of ethanol were added slowly and stirring was continued for 30 min. after which the precipitate was allowed to settle for 14 hrs. at 4°. The precipitate was washed twice with 10 ml of 75% ethanol, 0 0.5 M LiCl, the supernatants were pooled, and the precipitate was dissolved in 20 ml of PBS (75% precipitate) . The combined supernatant was brought to 90% ethanol by addition of 540 ml of absolute alcohol, stirred for 30 min. and stored at -20"for 48 hrs. before the precipitate s wa s collected, dissolved in 50 ml of cold water and immedi¬ ately frozen. B. DEAE - Agarose Fractionation The solution, in water, of a 90% ethanol precipitate was concentrated to about 5 ml of an Amicon UM-10 ultrafilter, o then brought to 25 ml with 0.01 M Tris, pH 7.0, and a 50- ul aliquot was removed. The DEAE-agarose, 100 to 200 mesh, was degassed under reduced pressure, suspended in 0.01 M Tris, pH 7.0, and packed into a column 9.2 x 2.5 cm in diameter (bed volume, 45 ml) . The gel was washed with 5 ι.5 liters of 0.01 M Tris, pH 6.9; the ratio of absorbance units added to bed volume (ml) was 6.65. The sample was added to the column over a period of 40 min. and 150-drop fractions were collected. The column was washed with 211 ml of 0.01 M Tris, pH 7, and then eluted with the following 5 buffers: 366 ml of 0.01 M Tris, pH 7.0; 5mM CaCl 2 , 270 ml of 0.01 Tris, pH 7.0; 17 mM CaCl 2 ; 194 ml of 0.01 M Tris, pH 7.0;3 mM CaCl ; and 65 ml of 0.1 M CaCl 2 . From this point on in the fractionation calcium was added to all buffers except those used with hydroxylapatite 0 columns because there were inconsistent results and appreci¬ able losses of activity when buffers without calcium were used. For the next step in purification, eluates from DEAE agarose columns were selected that had significant quantities of EPO activity. s C. Sulfopropyl-Sephadex Chromatography The eluates (17 mM CaCl 2 ) from DEAE-agarose columns were desalted and concentrated on a UM-10 ultafilter and then dialyzed against 2 liters of 5 mM CaCl 2 , pH 7.5 over¬ night. In the sample run described below, 30 ml of dialyzed 0 solution were brought to pH 4.50 by dropwise addition of 0.1 M HC1: the small amount of precipitate formed was removed by centrifugation and washed with 5 ml of 5 mM CaCl , pH 4.5. The wash, pooled with the supernatant, was applied to a sulfopropyl-Sephadex column (15.0 x 2.5 cm in 5 diameter, bed volume, 78.3 ml) which had been equilibrated with 5 mM CaCl 2 , pH 4.50. The absorbance units to bed volu n (ml) ratio was 2.47. A low value for this ratio is preferred for optimal fractionation on sulfopropyl-Sephadex: for example, if the absorbance unit to bed volume ratio o was greater than 10, almost all of the activity was found in the effluent fraction. The following buffers were used in developing the column. Input was: 5 mM calcium acetate, pH 4.50, specific conductivity - 1.075 umho cm" 1 . Eluting buffers were: 7.5 mM calcium acetate, pH 4.70, specific 5 conductivity - 2,100 umho cm" 1 : 15 mM calcium acetate, pH 5.25, specific conductivity - 2,100 umho cm" 1 : 15 mM calcium acetate, 0.01 m Tris, pH 7.24, specific conductivity - 11,500 umho cm" 1 . The column was run at 0.4 ml/min. at 4', and 200-drop fractions were collected. After a reading was taken at 280 nm and the appropriate pools were made, the solutions were neutralized (within 1 hr. after elution) and aliquots were removed for assay and stored at -20°. D. Gel Filtration The 12.5 and 15 mM calcium acetate eluates from the sulfopropyl-Sephadex column separations were run in two separate batches on the same gel column. The pools were concentrated on Amicon UM-2 ultrafilters to about 5 ml and equilibrated with 10 mM CaCl 2 , 10 mM Tris, pH 6.87, before application to the column. The Sephadex G-100 gel was degassed under reduced pressure and equilibrated with the same buffer before the column was poured. The column (100 x 2.5 cm diameter) was calibrated with markers of known molecular size before being used for the erythropoietin fractions. The void volume was 135 ml; bovine serum albumin monomer eluted at 224 ml. ovalbumin at 258 ml, and cytochrome at 368 ml. The sample was added to the bottom of the column, as was the buffer which was passed through the column at 21 to 22 ml by means of Mariotte bottle with a 42 cm hydrostatic head. Each fraction collected was 4.1 ml (120 drop) , and pools were made. The pools were concentrated by ultrafiltration and aliquots were assayed. E. Hydroxylapatite Chromatography Hydroxylapatite was packed under unit gravity into a column (6.1 x 1.5 cum diameter) and washed with 500 ml of water and then with 400 ml of 0.5 mM phosphate buffer, pH 7.1, conductivity - 69 umho cm" 1 (Buffer I), by use of a peristaltic pump which maintained the flow at 0.3 ml/min. After the buffer wash, the length of the column was 3.4 cm and the bed volume was 6.0 ml. the input sample was concen- trated and desalted on an Amicon DM-5 ultrafilter by adding water to the concentrate and the wash of the filter was centrifuged at 6,000 x g for 20 min. at 4*. The small insoluble pellet was washed once with 0.5 mM phosphate, pH 7.1, and the wash was added to the supernatant. An aliquot for assay was removed and the remainder (22 ml) was added to the column. The ratio of absorbance units added to bed volume (ml) was 1.82. The input buffer was pumped through the column until the effluent A was less than 0.005 (149 ml) and the following elution schedule was carried out: Buffer II, 1 mM phosphate (pH 7.1, specific conductivity 131 = umho cm -1 , 150 ml (Fraction II)); Buffer III, 2 mM phosphate (pH 6.9, specific conductivity = 270 umho cm" 1 , 220 ml (fractions IIIA and IIIB) ) ; Buffer IV, 3 mM phosphate (pH 6.9, specific conductivity = 402 umho cm -1 , 84 ml (Fraction IV)); Buffer V, 0.1 M phosphate (pH 6.8, specific conductivity = 9.6 umho cm" 1 , 134 ml (Fraction V)). Fractions containing EPO were concentrated by means of Amicon DM-5 ultrafilter, an aliquot assayed and the concentrate stored frozen. The assay indicated a specific EPO activity of 83,000 IU per absorbance unit at 280 nm. F. Reverse Phase HPLC When analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS PAGE) according to Laemmli, U.K., Nature, 15:Vol. 22, No. 259 pp. 680-685 (1970) the material from the hydroxylapatite column revealed several polypeptide components ranging from approximately 70,000 MW to 30,000 MW with the major component at about 34,000 MW. This preparation of EPO which was obtained in volumes of up to 10 ml in 10 mM phosphate buffer pH 7.0 was subjected to R-P HPLC as described below. The EPO preparation was concentrated 10-fold by partial lyophilization. Approximately 200 microliters of this concentrated material was injected onto a R-P HPLC column, the type with four-carbon groups attached (a co - mercial example is a C-4 Vydec), (25 x 0.45 cm, the Separa- tions Group) and fractionated by a R-P HPLC using the gradient conditions described in Table 2. TABLE 2 Pump A 0.1% Trifluoracetiσ Acid (TFA) in water Pump B 0.1% TFA in 95% Acetonitrile; 5% H 2 0 Gradient Time .Min.) % B Duration 0 0 2 2 25 3 o 5 100 75 90 0 3 Flow 1 ml/min. EPO is quantified by either the 3H-thymidine assay (Krystal, Exp. Hematol. 11:649-60 (1983)) or CFU-E assay s (Bersch et al.. In vitro Aspects of Ervthropoiesis, M. J. Murphy (Ed.), New York: Springer-Verioz (1978)). Protein peaks were detected by UV absorption at 280 nm. A typical elution profile of this fractionation process is shown in Fig. 1. The homogenous nature of EPO was o confirmed by SDS PAGE and N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis of the various peaks observed after R-P HPLC. The peak that is underlined in Fig. 1 elutes coincidentally with a reading of 53% on the gradient maker (Beckman Instru¬ ments, model 421) . This material runs as a single band of s about 34,000 MW using SDS PAGE and yields a single amino terminal sequence of: Ala, Pro, Pro, Arg, Leu, lie, Cys - as has been previously reported for human EPO. Only this R-P HPLC fraction of about 34,000 MW showed any significant biological activity in vitro. The EPO protein eluted by 0R-PHPLC is about twice as pure as the material eluted from the hydroxylapatite column (STEP E) . 5

Claims: AMENDED CLAIMS [received by the International Bureau on 15 April 1986 (15 0486V original claims 1 * 4 unclianged; new claims 5-8 added (2 pages)] 1. Homogeneous erythropoietin, characterized ' by: * a) an amino acid sequence substantially as shown from 1-166 in Table 1; b) movement as a single peak on a reverse phase-HPLC; c) a molecular weight of about 34,000 dalton on SDS PAGE; and d) a specific activity of at least 120,000 IU per absorbance at 280 nm. 2. Homogeneous erythropoietin according to claim 1 wherein the specific activity is at least 160,000 IU. 3. A pharmaceutical composition for the treatment of anemia comprising a therapeutically acceptable amount of erythropoietin of claim 1 in a parenterally acceptable vehicle. 4. A pharmaceutical composition for the treatment of anemia comprising a therapeutically acceptable amount of erythropoietin of claim 2 in a parenterally acceptable vehicle. 5. (new) Homogeneous erythropoietin, characterized by: a) movement as a single peak on a reverse phase-HPLC; b) a molecular weight of about 34,000 dalton on SDS PAGE; and c) a specific activity of at least 120,000 IU per absorbance at 280 nm. 6. (new) Homogeneous erythropoietin according to claim 5 wherein the specific activity is at least 160,000 IU.

Inventors: HEWICK RODNEY M, SEEHRA JASBIR S, HEWICK, RODNEY, M., SEEHRA, JASBIR, S.
Applicants: GENETICS INST, GENETICS INSTITUTE, INC.
Application year: 1985
Main classification: C07K7
IPC codes: A61K38, A61P7, C07K1, C07K14, C07K16