Fresher Under Pressure Scientific Research

BIOSCIENCE

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High-Pressure Biotechnology in Medicine and Pharmaceutical Science

P. Masson, C. Tonello, C. Balny
Journal Biomed Biotechnol 2001;1(2):85-88.

Abstract
High-pressure (HP) biotechnology is an emerging technique initially applied for food processing and more recently in pharmaceutical and medical sciences. Pressure can stabilize enzymes and modulate both their activity and specificity. HP engineering of proteins may be used for enzyme-catalyzed synthesis of fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and production of modified proteins of medical or pharmaceutical interest. HP inactivation of biological agents is expected to be applicable to sterilization of fragile biopharmaceuticals, or medical compounds. The enhanced immunogenicity of some pressure-killed bacteria and viruses could be applied for making new vaccines. Finally, storage at subzero temperatures without freezing is another potential application of HP for cells, animal tissues, blood cells, organs for transplant, and so forth.

Effects of hydrostatic pressure on a membrane-enveloped virus: high immunogenicity of the pressure-inactivated virus

J L Silva, P Luan, M Glaser, E W Voss, and G Weber
Journal of Virology 1992 April; 66(4): 2111–2117.

Abstract
A new approach to the preparation of antiviral vaccines relying on the inactivation of the virus particle by hydrostatic pressure is described. The enveloped virus vesicular stomatitis virus was utilized as a model; a pressure of 260 MPa applied for 12 h reduced infectivity by a factor of 10(4), and the antibodies against pressurized material were as effective as those against the intact virus when measured by their neutralization titer. Fluorescence measurements indicate that application of pressure results in perturbations of the particle interactions that permit binding of specific molecular probes. Electron microscopy showed that the membrane of the pressurized virus was partially preserved, presenting the spike pattern of the membrane G protein. Unlike the icosahedral viruses, dissociation into smaller particles was not observed, but a constant change in the morphology was the presence of a bulge in the surface of the pressurized virus, indicating a displacement of the capsid subunits, retained under the lipid and protein membrane.