Cristina Díaz Barriga

Ms. Cristina Díaz Barriga


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

6Years (2021-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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22 April 2021 in Pharmaceutics
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
CBCristina Díaz Barriga
Cristina Díaz Barriga
FVFrancisca Villanueva-Flores
Francisca Villanueva-Flores
KQKatrin Quester
Katrin Quester
AZAndrés Zárate-Romero
Andrés Zárate-Romero
RCRuben Cadena-Nava
Ruben Cadena-Nava
AHAlejandro Huerta-Saquero
Alejandro Huerta-Saquero
Asparaginase (ASNase) is a biopharmaceutical for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) treatment. However, it shows undesirable side effects such as short lifetimes, susceptibility to proteases, and immunogenicity. Here, ASNase encapsidation was genetically directed in bacteriophage P22-based virus-like particles (VLPs) (ASNase-P22 nanoreactors) as a strategy to overcome these challenges. ASNase-P22 was composed of 58.4 ± 7.9% of coat protein and 41.6 ± 8.1% of tetrameric ASNase. Km and Kcat values of ASNase-P22 were 15- and 2-fold higher than those obtained for the free enzyme, respectively. Resulting Kcat/Km value was 2.19 × 105 M−1 s−1. ASNase-P22 showed an aggregation of 60% of the volume sample when incubated at 37 °C for 12 days. In comparison, commercial asparaginase was completely aggregated under the same conditions. ASNase-P22 was stable for up to 24 h at 37 °C, independent of the presence of human blood serum (HBS) or whether ASNase-P22 nanoreactors were uncoated or PEGylated. Finally, we found that ASNase-P22 caused cytotoxicity in the leukemic cell line MOLT-4 in a concentration dependent manner. To our knowledge, this is the first work where ASNase is encapsulated inside of VLPs, as a promising alternative to fight ALL.