PEPTIDES & PROTEINS
biological impurities , such as endotoxins and animal-derived components , and it becomes increasingly clear that industry will need a different solution to recombinant proteins , in order to provide the vast quantities of growth factors required .
A potential solution to issues has evolved into a new company called PeptiGrowth . This is a joint venture launched in 2020 between Mitsubishi Corporation and PeptiDream , a biotech company based in Tokyo .
Big Pharma was already using PeptiDream ’ s patented Peptide Discovery Platform System ( PDPS ) technology to identify peptides for use in prescription drugs . This system provides a platform for discovering new peptides by rapid generation and screening of peptide libraries .
Through PeptiGrowth , the same technology is now being applied to develop growth factor alternative peptides that perform the same function as conventional recombinant protein growth factors . Figure 2 shows how PeptiGrowth peptides work as alternatives for growth factors , while Figure 3 compares them with conventional growth factors . Their mechanism of action is the same ( Figure 4 ).
Whether in academia or industry , the key issues are the same when working with recombinant protein growth factors on CT and regenerative medicine . These include manufacturing costs , stability issues , quality , and safety and regulatory concerns .
Recombinant protein growth factors are chemically unstable and can easily be degraded , but PeptiGrowth ’ s peptides are stable enough that researchers would not need to exchange cell culture media every day . Moreover , as they are chemically synthesised , they are always of uniform quality , thus avoiding the common issues around biological
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contaminants , quality and lot-tolot variability .
The animal-free peptides are also much cheaper than protein growth factors and can be produced in large quantities . PeptiGrowth has already released six products , with more very close to release and others in the pipeline . They include :
• A hepatocyte growth factor alternative peptide
• A TGF-ß1 inhibitory peptide
• A brain-derived neurotrophic factor alternative peptide for growth and differentiation of neural cells
• A noggin-like peptide , which is often used in regenerative medicine for the small intestine , liver and pancreas
PeptiGrowth synthetic growth factors also offer the cellular agriculture industry the ability to remove bovine serum growth factors completely from growth and production media in a cost-effective manner . Synthetic peptide growth factors have a much
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Figure 4 - Mechanism of action of PeptiGrowth & conventional growth factors
Note : Uses PG-001 , HGF alternative peptide as an example .
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100 lower molecular weight and are sequentially different to their protein counterparts . As a result , significantly less is required to achieve equivalent biological activation .
Recombinant proteins and growth factors added to serum-free culture media to produce artificial meat are required in vast quantities if it is going to replace any meaningful volume in the meat industry . This is a major cost factor , so the industry is also looking for cheaper , more stable growth factors . Large batch recombinant protein yield is in grams , while PeptiGrowth synthetic proteins require can be manufactured in kilograms . ●
Robert Brownlee
DIRECTOR
OPES DIAGNOSTICS k + 44 7715 822827 J robert @ opesdiagnostics . com j www . peptigrowth . com
34 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981