WO1997028276A1

WO1997028276A1 - Measurement of complement activation by biomaterials by means of complement convertase cleavage of peptide substrates

Info

Publication number: WO1997028276A1
Application number: PCT/NL1997/000030
Authority: WO
Inventors: Willem Van Oeveren; Jacob De Haan
Original assignee: Stichting Onderzoeksbeleid Cardiopulmonale Chirurgie
Priority date: 1996-02-02
Filing date: 1997-02-03
Publication date: 1997-08-07
Also published as: US6087120A; CA2242012A1; EP0888459A1; JP2000516082A

Abstract

A process for determining complement activation due to contact between a biomaterial and a complement system, by incubating in vitro the biomaterial with the complement system and determining the formation of a complement convertase by using a substrate of the complement convertase and detecting substrate cleavage. The biomaterial after said incubation with the complement system may be separated therefrom and formation of a complement convertase may be determined with the separated biomaterial, the separated complement system, or both. The complement convertase may be Factor B convertase, C3 convertase or C5 convertase, and the substrate may be a labeled oligopeptide comprising an amino acid sequence corresponding to the cleavage site of the complement convertase. Suitable labels are dyes, fluorochromes, radioactive atoms or groups, and enzymes. Either classical or alternative pathway complement activation, or both, are determined. The complement system may be a non-clotting derivative of blood, blood plasma or blood serum, including fibrinogen depleted forms, anticoagulated forms, and derivatives containing thrombin inhibitor. Complement convertase substrates suitable for use in the process are also disclosed.

Description

Title: Measurement of complement activation by biomaterials by means of complement convertase cleavage of peptide substrates

Technical Field

The invention is in the field of diagnostics and relates to a new diagnostic technique in medicine. More specifically it is concerned with the measurement of activation of an im- munologic system in blood, the complement system, when blood is contacting a foreign body surface (biomaterial) .

Background of the invention

Medical devices are frequently used in contact with blood in blood banks, cardiovascular applications, organ replacement and vascular surgery. These devices are made from plastics, metals or modified tissue and have in common that they activate the natural host defence mechanism of blood by a foreign body reaction (Figure 1) . One of the direct effects of blood with such a foreign surface is clotting, which is prevented by anticoagulants. The other effect is activation of the immune system, which cannot be prevented pharmacologi¬ cally.

This immune response is effected by the complement system, a number of serum proteins consisting of components, activators, stabilizers and inhibitors. The complement system initiates chemotaxis and activation of leucocytes, is essen¬ tial for phagocytosis of microorganisms and is capable of killing bacteria directly by inducing cell lysis. An implanted foreign body surface could also be attacked by the complement system. In view of the wide-reaching biologic effects of the complement system, the consequences of uncon¬ trolled complement activation would be devastating (1-4). Continued activation of the sequence attracts leukocytes which release lysosomal enzymes as a byproduct of phagocy¬ tosis, which in turn cause necrosis of normal tissue (5-8). Normally, tight controls are in effect which regulate the complement system to protect host tissue. The cascade is naturally moderated by the instability of the enzymes formed. Once a component is activated, failure to combine with its substrate within milliseconds causes it to decay.

In addition, several plasma inhibitors are present to control the cascade. However, during the use of medical devices these regulatory mechanisms appear often inadequate due to the un¬ natural surface. Therefore, testing of complement activation by materials used for the construction of medical devices is needed to ensure the use of materials with as low complement activation as possible.

The Complement system (Figure 2) Activation of the complement system can occur via two distinct routes - the classical and the alternative pathway. The end result of complement activation is cytolysis, although this is probably not the major function of comple¬ ment. In the course of complement activation, biologically active factors are released. These factors enhance the immune response by directing neutrophil migration, promoting immune adherence, increasing vascular permeability, and interacting with other inflammatory systems.

The classical pathway components are designated Clq, Clr, Cis, C4, C2, C3, C5, C6, C7, C8, C9. The alternative pathway components are designated Factor B, Factor D, Properdin, H and I.

Initiation of the classical pathway begins when antibody binds antigen. Clq binds the altered Fc region of IgG or IgM that has bound antigen. Upon binding, Clr activates Cis which initiates the activation unit by cleaving a peptide from both C4 and C2. Cis thus cleaves C4 into C4a and C4b and C2 into C2a and C2b. C2a binds to C4b forming C4b2a. C4b2a, the C3 convertase, is a proteolytic enzyme. It cleaves C3 into C3b, which may bind to the activating surface, and C3a which is released into the fluid phase (9). C3 convertase has the ability to cleave many C3 molecules . This could result in the deposition of a large number of C3b molecules on the activa- ting surface. However, due to the labile nature of C3b, very few molecules actually bind. C4b2a3b, the C5 convertase, is formed when C3 is cleaved. C5 convertase, also an enzyme, can cleave many C5 molecules into C5a and C5b. The alternative pathway provides natural, non-immune defense against microbial infections. In addition, this path¬ way amplifies antibody-antigen reactions.

Alternative pathway recognition occurs in the presence of C3b and an activating substance such as bacterial lipopro- tein, surfaces of certain parasites, yeasts, viruses and other foreign body surfaces, such as biomaterials (10-15). C3b originates from classical pathway activation and/or from natural spontaneous hydrolysis of C3. The resulting C3b binds to the surface of the activating substance. In the presence of magnesium, Factor B binds to the C3b which is bound to the activating surface (16,17). Factor D then cleaves B, relea¬ sing the Ba fragment and forming C3bBb. Properdin stabilizes the C3bBb complex and protects it from decay. C3bBbP is the alternative pathway convertase. It also has the ability to cleave many C3 molecules. Cleavage of C3 results in the formation of C3bBb3b, the C5 convertase (18,19). This enzyme is also stabilized by P to form C3bBb3bP. C5 convertase can cleave many molecules of C5 into C5a and C5b.

The complement system has a positive feedback mechanism that amplifies activation. C3b produced from either pathway interacts with Factors B, D and P from the alternative pathway (20) . This interaction creates additional C3 conver¬ tase to activate the membrane attack complex.

The membrane attack complex is common to both pathways. It begins with the cleavage of C5 by C5 convertase generated during either classical or alternative pathway activation. When C5 is cleaved, C5a is released into the fluid phase while C5b attaches to the activating surface at a binding site distinct from that of C3b. One molecule each of C6 and C7 binds to C5b to form a stable trimolecular complex to which C8 binds. Then, up to 6 molecules of C9 can bind to C8 enhancing the effectiveness of the attack complex to induce membrane damage if the activating surface is a microorganism. The significance of complement activation is not limited to membrane damage resulting from the attack complex. The active peptides released in the course of complement activa¬ tion contribute to the immune response by increasing vascular permeability and contraction of smooth muscle, promoting immune adherence, granulocyte and platelet aggregation, enhancing phagocytosis, and directing the migration of neu¬ trophils (PMN) and macrophages to the site of inflammation (21-24) . The cleavage of C3 and C5 results in the release of two small biologically active peptides, C3a and C5a. These pepti¬ des act as anaphylatoxins. They amplify the immune response by causing the release of histamine, slo^ releasing substance of anaphylaxis (SRS-A) , and heparin from basophils and mast cells. These substances increase capillary permeability and contraction of smooth muscle resulting in edema and inflammation (25-27).

In addition to its role as an anaphylatoxin, C5a is a potent chemotactic factor. This mediator causes the directed migration of PMN and macrophages to the site of inflammation so these leukocytes will phagocytize and clear immune complexes, bacteria and viruses from the system.

In a process known as immune adherence, C3b or C4b depo¬ sited on a soluble immune complex or surface permit binding of complement receptors on PMN, macrophages, red blood cells and platelets (28,29) . In these cases C3b and C5b are consi¬ dered opsonins as their presence results in more effective phagocytosis.

Laboratory measurement of complement proteins

The following two techniques for assessing the comple¬ ment system are known.

1) Hemolytic techniques measure the functional capacity of the entire sequence - either the classical or alternative pathway.

2) Immunological techniques measure the protein concen¬ tration of a specific complement component or split product. Hemolytic techniques

In order for lysis to occur in a hemolytic technique, all of the complement components must be present and functio¬ nal. Therefore hemolytic techniques can screen both functio- nai integrity and deficiencies of the complement system (30,31).

To measure the functional capacity of the classical pathway, sheep red blood cells coated with hemolysin (rabbit IgG to sheep red blood cells) are used as target cells (sensitized cells) . These Ag-Ab complexes activate the clas¬ sical pathway and result in lysis of the target cells when the components are functional and present in adequate concen¬ tration. To determine the functional capacity of the alterna¬ tive pathway, rabbit red blood cells are used as the target cell.

The hemolytic complement measurement is applicable to detect deficiencies and functional disorders of complement proteins, since it is based on the function of complement to induce cell lysis, which requires a complete range of func- tional complement proteins. The so-called CH50 method, which determines classical pathway activation, and the AP50 method for the alternative pathway have been extended by using specific isolated complement proteins instead of whole serum, while the highly diluted test sample contains the unknown concentration of the limiting complement component. By this method a more detailed measurement of the complement system can be performed, indicating which component is deficient.

However, in order to induce deficiencies of complement proteins in serum from healthy individuals, which must be used to determine biocompatibility, a very high extent of complement activation and consumption is required. Therefore, in general the hemolytic techniques are not sensitive enough to detect complement activation by biomaterials. Some hemo¬ lytic techniques based on isolated components with a highly diluted test sample appeared to be more sensitive, but even complement activation induced by 5 m² surface of a heart-lung machine could marginally be detected with these methods (32). Immunologic techniques

Polyclonal antibodies were raised against different epitopes of the (human) C3, C4 and C5 complement factor. With these antibodies radioimmunoassays were developed against the minor split products of these complement factors, which are particularly performed after precipitation of the native factor (33-36). Binding of the antibody with the split product in competition with a known concentration of labeled split product could then be measured. Later on also (monoclonal) antibodies were raised to epitopes of the split products, rendering a higher specificity. Nowadays, radio¬ immunoassays, ELISA's and radial diffusion assays are availa¬ ble to detect complement split products.

In contrast to the hemolytic techniques, immunologic techniques provide a high sensitivity to detect complement activation, since they allow measurement of split-product formation, while these split products are only found at very low concentrations in blood from healthy individuals. Thus, clinically the measurement of the soluble split products C3a, C4a and C5a in blood plasma has allowed a more distinct evaluation of complement activation in patients (37). Later on the soluble form of the terminal complex (SC5b-9) was found a sensitive marker of complement activation (38). For detection of in vivo complement activation these techniques are most suitable, particularly since blood samples can be collected in medium containing inhibitors of the complement system. Thus only the complement activation formed in vivo is measured in the subsequent assay.

However, these in vivo or clinical studies cannot be used to determine the biocompatibility of biomaterials. Main problem during clinical use is that during application of biomaterials the complement system is activated by a variety of material-independent factors, such as surgical damage of tissue, ischemia, blood-air contact, endotoxin and drugs which alltogether dominate complement activation induced by the biomaterial. Thus, for pure biocompatibility testing in vitro studies are required, based on exposure of the biomate¬ rial to isolated blood or blood components (usually plasma or serum). At this end difficulties arise. Starting with the isolation of blood from a donor, during preparation of plasma or serum for the test, and during the test phase itself in the test tube the complement system is activated and high concentrations of split products are formed in plasma or serum. This high concentration of split products dominates the split products eventually formed by the test biomaterials during the test procedure. Thus, the sensitive immunologic techniques appear unsuitable for in vitro testing of biocom- patibility. Moreover, it has been shown that to some biomate¬ rials the split products adsorb to the surface. By the immunologic techniques these adsorbed split products are not detected. This leads to false negative appreciation of the test sample.

Summary of the invention

The invention provides a process for determining comple¬ ment activation due to contact between a biomaterial and a complement system, comprising incubating in vitro the bioma- terial with the complement system and determining the forma¬ tion of a complement convertase by using a substrate of the complement convertase and detecting cleavage of said sub¬ strate. Preferably the biomaterial after said incubation with the complement system is separated therefrom and the determi- nation of the formation of a complement convertase is carried out with the separated biomaterial, the separated complement system, or both.

The term "biomaterial" as used herein refers generally to any material, or product made thereof, which could come (or be brought) into contact with biological fluids such as blood and may or may not activate complement.

Preferably, the complement convertase is selected from the group consisting of Factor B convertase, C3 convertase and C5 convertase. More preferably, the complement convertase is C5 convertase.

Although in principle any complement convertase sub¬ strate and any detection method of cleavage of said substrate can be used, it is preferred that the complement convertase substrate is a labeled oligopeptide comprising an amino acid sequence corresponding to the cleavage site of the complement convertase. More preferably the labeled oligopeptide is a labeled tripeptide having the general formula Leu-Gly-Arg- Label, or Leu-Ala-Arg-Label, or Gin-Lys-Arg-Label, wherein Label represents the label and the terminal amino group of the N-terminal amino acid may be blocked. The label in said labeled oligopeptide may be selected from the group consis¬ ting of dyes, fluorochromes, radioactive atoms or groups, and enzymes, and preferably is a label which becomes (more easily) visible or detectable after cleavage of the comple¬ ment convertase substrate.

The process may be carried out in such a way that either classical pathway complement activation, alternative pathway complement activation, or both, are determined. Proper selec¬ tion of reaction conditions, such as temperature, or the presence of a particular kind of metal ions (Ca⁺⁺ or Mg⁺⁺ ions), or directed suppression of a chosen pathway (e.g. using antibodies effective for that purpose) can be used to restrict the test to a selected complement activation pathway.

The complement system used in the process may be any fluid containing constituents of the complement system. In case the process is used to determine biocompatibility of a biomaterial, the complement system used must contain an effective complement system, at least an active classical pathway complement system, an active alternative pathway complement system, and preferably both. The complement system used may be an artificial system, or a natural or semi-natu- ral complement system, such as preferably a non-clotting derivative of blood, blood plasma or blood serum, including fibrinogen depleted forms, anticoagulated forms, and deriva¬ tives containing thrombin inhibitor.

Interference by other enzymes than the relevant comple- ment convertase may be reduced by carrying out the incubation of biomaterial and complement system and/or the substrate cleavage step in the presence of inhibitors of said other enzymes. The aim of the process may be to determine the comple¬ ment activating properties of a biomaterial, in which case the complement system will usually be derived from blood known to have an active classical pathway complement system, an active alternative pathway complement system, or both, such as pooled normal blood.

Alternatively, the aim of the process may be to deter¬ mine the complement response properties of a complement system, such as the blood of a patient suspected of having a complement deficiency, in which case biomaterials with known complement activating properties are used.

The invention furthermore relates to complement conver¬ tase substrates for use in a process as defined herein, in particular a labeled oligopeptide comprising an amino acid sequence corresponding to the cleavage site of a complement convertase, more particularly a labeled tripeptide having the general formula Leu-Gly-Arg-Label, or Leu-Ala-Arg-Label, or Gin-Lys-Arg-Label, wherein Label represents the label and the terminal amino group of the N-terminal amino acid may be blocked.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 shows schematically the interaction between blood and a foreign biomaterial. When blood is exposed to biomaterial, the contact system (Factor XII and cofactors) as well as the complement system (C3) will be activated. The contact system leads to further activation of the kinin, fibrinolytic and clotting system. Activation of the comple¬ ment system leads to generation of chemotaσtic and membrane attack complement peptides. The products generated trigger platelets and leucocytes to release enzymes. If this process escapes the natural control, a whole body inflammatory response may induce severe illness to patients.

Figure 2 shows schematically the classical and alterna- tive pathways of the complement system. The complement system is initiated through the classical or alternative pathway. The classical pathway components Cl, C2 and C4 are in parti¬ cular formed after antibody-antigen recognition, the alterna- tive pathway is initiated by C3b binding and stabilization of C3Bb by factors P and D on any foreign body surface, such as biomaterials. After C3 cleavage by this convertase, newly formed C3b will then bind to the target surface, thus ampli- fying the reaction. By both pathways C3 and subsequently C5 is cleaved by the respective convertases and the membrane attack complex is formed onto the target surface as well as soluble in blood. C3a and C5a fragments are chemotactic and activating for leucocytes. Figure 3a shows the substrate conversion results after incubation of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) in fibrinogen- depleted plasma (def PPP) for different substrates. After incubation of PDMS in def PPP, the washed PDMS was incubated in BOC-Leu-Gly-Arg-pNA solution while def PPP was mixed with H-Leu-Gly-Arg-pNA or Bz-Leu-Gly-Arg-pNA. Results are correc¬ ted for background colour. Enzymatic activity was formed as shown by cleavage of the R-Leu-Gly-Arg-pNA substrates. The substitution of R with BOC was most effective on the PDMS surface, H- and Bz-substitution were effective in the plasma solution.

Figure 3b shows the convertase activity formed onto the PDMS surface during incubation at variable times in plasma. The PDMS was incubated at a variable time in def PPP, washed and then subjected to BOC-Leu-Gly-Arg-pNA. Figure 4a shows the effect of ethylenediamine tetra- acetic acid (EDTA) during substrate cleavage. According to the protocol PDMS was incubated in defibrinated plasma and then removed. H- or Bz-substrate was then added to the plasma and incubated for 60 hours to develop colour. During this second incubation new complement convertases could be formed, unless EDTA was added. EDTA did not prevent substrate cleavage by formed complexes. Cleavage of Bz-Leu-Gly-Arg-pNA was not reduced by EDTA, which indicates aspecificity of this substrate. Figure 4b shows the effect of heating defibrinated plasma prior to the incubation. Def PPP was heated for 30 min at 56°C before PDMS was incubated therein. Factor B from the alternative complement pathway is known to denaturate at temperatures above 56°C. By treatment of plasma at that temperature the alternative pathway of complement becomes afunctional. If PDMS was incubated in heated plasma no further activation of the complement system was observed. Figures 5a,5b show the effect of different materials. PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane), PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) and PE (polyethylene) all showed binding of convertase on the surface (figure 5a, using BOC-Leu-Gly-Arg-pNA as substrate) and release in the incubation plasma (PPP) solution (figure 5b, using H-Leu-Gly-Arg-pNA as substrate) . With the present test conditions the measurement in plasma appeared most discriminative between the materials, showing PDMS as most activating.

Figure 6 shows the effect of various inhibitors during the incubation. PDMS was incubated in defibrinated plasma aliquots which differed by the inhibitors added prior to incubation, i.e. EDTA, aprotinin, Cl-esterase inhibitor and thrombin inhibitor. EDTA almost completely prevented substrate conversion, aprotinin did not inhibit substrate conversion. This supports specificity of the substrate under these in vitro conditions for complement convertase activity, since aprotinin at the concentrations in this test inhibits kallikrein, plasmin, and (chymo)trypsin.

Detailed description of the invention

The subject invention provides an enzymatic technique to determine convertase activity towards synthetic peptides, which results in release of a labelling substance, such as a chromogenic, fluorescent, or radioactive label. Although the complement system is activated through enzymatic cleavage of Factors B, C3 and C5 by convertases, these enzymes have not yet been considered as useful markers for complement activation due to their intrinsic lability, short half life, but most of all due to their aspecific nature (39-42). Therefore it was a surprise to observe remaining activity of these convertases on the surface of materials, as well as in the fluid phase, which could be ascribed to complement convertase activity by using inhibi¬ tors of other potential substrate cleaving enzymes.

The amino acid sequence of the natural substrates for the complement convertases (Factors B, C3, C5) is known. Also the cleavage site of Factor B by the Factor B cleaving enzyme C3bD, of C3 by the C3 convertases (C4b2a and C3bBbP) and of C5 by the C5 convertase (C3bBb3bP) is known (43,44). Thus an artificial substrate resembling these structures could be used for these enzymatic processes. These small peptide sub- strates can be labeled in different ways (45,46) to measure the cleavage by the corresponding convertase activity. A suitable labeled peptide substrate for C3-convertase would be Leu-Ala-Arg-pNA, for C5-convertase Leu-Giy-Arg-pNA, and for Factor B-convertase Gin-Lys-Arg-pNA. The nature of the label is not critical, and the amino group of the N-terminal amino acid may be free (H-form) or blocked (e.g. by BOC or Bz).

The new enzymatic technique is based on the convertases formed on the surface of the test material and detects these convertases bound to the surface and/or free in plasma. Specifically for the bound complement proteins this technique is most suitable, in contrast to the hemolytic and immunolo¬ gic techniques. The new enzymatic technique shares the advan¬ tage of the hemolytic techniques in being relevant to the real activity of complement, since it measures important steps in the cascade. Also the new technique can reach the discriminating sensitivity of the immunologic techniques, since the existing convertase activity in plasma and on bio¬ materials is low, while it increases 2 to 5-fold after incu¬ bation of the biomaterial in plasma. Since the convertase remains active during substrate conversion, the development of the colour can be extended until discrimination between the test samples is possible. Another important aspect of the complement measurement on biomaterials with the presented in vitro technique is that substrate cleavage has been shown for human as well as various animal species (38,39).

Peptide substrates have been described in the past for the measurement of proteases. The synthesis of labeled sub¬ strates has been described (43). Most of the activated plasma proteases are highly specific when compared with digestive enzymes, such as trypsin or chymotrypsin. In most cases, the plasma proteases cleave only one or two peptide bonds in their natural substrates. This high enzyme specificity appa- rently is due to the recognition of a specific amino acid sequence near the sensitive bond or a specific conformation of these amino acids near the sensitive bond.

A number of studies of the effect of the various blood coagulation factors and complement enzymes have been publis- hed. Substrates containing 4-nitroaniline and amides of 7- amino-4-methylσoumarin have been particularly useful. None of these substrates, however, are completely specific. Other problems are the low rate of enzymatic hydrolysis and inter¬ ference with other plasma proteins, such as albumin. These disadvantages have made these substrate techniques for detection of complement activation in vivo difficult to interprete, since complement activation in vivo is accompa¬ nied by activation of other blood cascade systems with some effect on substrate conversion. The methodology described in this document enables a high specificity, mainly due to the fact that the biocompati¬ bility will be determined in vitro. In contrast to the measu¬ rements in blood samples from patients, during the in vitro measurement of biocompatibility, activation of cascades other than complement can be suppressed with commercially available inhibitors, allowing the process to be controlled (38). Moreover, complement convertases have the specific property to bind to the target biomaterial surface. Since the techni¬ que described herein is based on incubation of the test mate- rial in plasma followed by separation and washing of the test material, bound convertases on the material surface are separated from plasma prior to substrate conversion.

The present invention provides a technique to determine one important aspect of the biocompatibility from biomate- rials, being the extent of complement activation. The present invention allows in vitro determination of complement activa¬ tion by incubating biological fluids, blood or blood products with biomaterials, allowing the complement system to be acti- vated and complement convertases to bind to the biomaterials surface. Subsequently, the biomaterials are washed to remove unbound blood proteins and cells and then the biomaterials are incubated in medium containing specific substrate, allo- wing cleavage of this substrate by complement convertases. This cleavage can then be measured due to release of colour, fluorochromes, radioactive label, etc.

In general, substrates in the present invention are labeled tripeptides, although larger structures are not limited hereby. The substrates have or comprise an amino acid sequence resembling the cleavage site of the natural sub¬ strate for the complement convertases or any other amino acid sequence with low Km and high specificity. The concentration of the substrate in the test procedure will normally be in the order of μM in order to have no substrate limitation during the test procedure.

Blood or blood plasma must be anticoagulated during incubation with the biomaterials. Some anticoagulants, such as the Ca⁴"^1" depleting agents citrate and EDTA, also affect the complement system. Mg⁺⁺ may be used in these situations to allow alternative pathway complement activation. More preferably, serum or fibrinogen depleted plasma or blood/ plasma with specific thrombin inhibitors is used to prevent clotting during incubation with biomaterials. A technique described in the present invention may be used in the screening of biomaterials to select the proper ones for construction of medical devices. It may also be used by test laboratories for blood biocompatibility testing. Further it may be used for research purposes during clinical use of medical devices or inversily to test the ability of an unknown blood sample to react with biomaterials.

The present invention also provides conditions to ensure specificity of the technique for complement convertases rather than other enzymes to cleave the substrates, by intro- duction of inhibitors for other enzymes during substrate conversion.

The present invention comprises measurement of comple¬ ment activation both on the material surface and in the fluid phase. Dependent on the material surface, convertases are released in the biological fluid.

The present invention provides measurement of complement activation in human or animal biological fluid. The present invention allows discrimination between activation of the alternative or classical pathway of the complement system, by employing Ca⁺⁺ or Mg⁺⁺ in the biologi¬ cal fluid during incubation with biomaterials, by means of heat treatment of the biological fluid or by inhibition of one of these pathways e.g. with antibodies.

The present invention enables measurement of complement convertase binding to biomaterials during clinical use of these biomaterials by incubation of these used and washed biomaterials in the substrate medium. The present invention allows measurement of convertase activity with substrates labeled with chromophores or fluoro- genes or other suitable markers which are released during peptide cleavage of substrate by the complement convertase. The present invention provides the possibility to characterize complement activation by any device, independent of three-dimensional structure or size. If needed the incuba¬ tion time with substrate can be adjusted to the number of convertases formed during incubation which might be dependent on the surface area and material characteristics of the test material.

The present invention can also be used to detect any deficiencies of the complement system to respond to standar¬ dized material with well defined characteristics with respect to complement activation. These standardized materials can be activators of the alternative or classical complement pathway. The advantage of this technique over the existing hemolytic or immunologic techniques is that screening for complement deficiency is possible without specialized labora¬ tory techniques. The present invention can even be developed into a bedside monitoring of complement.

The present invention can be performed at varying tempe¬ ratures, such as at room temperature or at 37°C, the main effect is the reaction speed. The present invention allows a great extent of standar¬ dization for both the measurement of biocompatibility from biomaterials with pooled normal serum and for the measurement of complement response from patients plasma to standard bio- materials. For the biocompatibility measurement one batch of serum can be stored deep frozen in aliquots, for complement testing one batch of uniform material can be used.

The invention will be illustrated by the following examples which merely serve to illustrate the invention and not to limit it to the details shown. These examples demon¬ strate that we have evaluated a technique to detect the activation of the complement system, when a biomaterial is in contact with blood plasma. In our experiments it is shown that the biomaterial binds complement convertase and releases these convertases in plasma, which results in conversion of specific substrate. So activation of the complement system by biomaterials can now be measured directly in the fluid as well as on the surface.

In these experiments we have also shown that by means of this technique a classification can be made between different biomaterials with regard to the complement-biocompatibility. Therefore this test may become a powerful tool to assess this biocompatibility of biomaterials in the selection and testing of materials to be used in medical devices.

Example 1

Human blood was collected from a healthy volunteer by vena puncture. Blood was mixed immediately with sodium citrate (0.316%, final concentration) to prevent clotting. Then blood was centrifuged (llOOxg) to obtain separation between plasma and blood cells. In our experiments we used this citrated human plasma after treatment with reptilase to coagulate fibrinogen. This plasma, deficient of fibrinogen (def PPP), contains the other coagulation components and can be mixed with Ca⁺⁺ containing buffer to optimize complement activation. This def PPP was stored in aliquots at -80^*C. We diluted this in 50mM TRIS buffer + 33mM CaCl₂ (pH 7.4) to a percentage of 20% prior to use. The biomaterial PDMS (polydimethyl-siloxane, silicon rubber) was cut into 1 cm² pieces . For cleaning the biomaterial it was incubated at first in 70% ethanol, and then rinsed in 0.9% NaCl. During the experiment the pieces of biomaterials were incubated in 500 μl diluted def PPP during 0, 10, 30, or 60 min at room temperature. After incubation, the biomaterials were rinsed 3 times with saline. Then the biomaterials were incubated in BOC-Leu-Gly-Arg-pNA, diluted in TRIS buffer +33mM CaCl₂, during 60 hours at room temperature in the dark. Simultaneously, also 100 μl def PPP, in which the biomate¬ rials had been incubated, were mixed with 100 μl of H-Leu- Gly-Arg-pNA or Bz-Leu-Gly-Arg-pNA, diluted in TRIS buffer, supplemented with 33mM CaCl₂- After these 60 hours the OD was measured at 405 nm in a spectrophotometer (microplate reader 3550 UV; Biorad, Richmond, California, USA).

These experiments showed colour formation releasing from PDMS with substrate BOC-Leu-Gly-Arg-pNA and in the incubated def PPP with substrates H-Leu-Gly-Arg-pNA and Bz-Leu-Gly-Arg- pNA (Figure 3a) . Then, the effect of the incubation time of the biomate¬ rial in plasma was investigated.

It is shown that substrate conversion, expressed as OD 405 nm, increases when the biomaterial is for a longer time in contact with plasma (Figure 3b), indicating more C5- convertase formation. Since in this experiment after an incubation time of 30 min there was sufficient conversion, this incubation time was chosen in further experiments as a standard time.

Example 2

To verify the specificity of complement convertase activity, PDMS was incubated with diluted def PPP supplemen¬ ted with Ca⁺⁺ (allowing convertases to be formed) or with EDTA (preventing convertase formation) . This experiment showed that EDTA completely prevented convertase formation, indicating some specificity of substrate for complement activation. In a second experiment the incubated def PPP was incuba¬ ted in the presence of Ca⁺⁺ as described above and 100 μl def PPP was collected after 30 minutes. Then this collected def PPP was incubated with H-Leu-Gly-Arg-pNA and Bz-Leu-Gly- Arg-pNA in the presence of Ca⁺⁺ or in the absence of Ca⁺⁺ with EDTA. The formed convertases remained active in EDTA, while additional convertase activity was formed in the presence of Ca⁺⁺ during the incubation of activated def PPP with substrate H-Leu-Gly-Arg-pNA (figure 4a). This neoforma- tion of convertases can be considered as an artifact. Thus the second incubation of def PPP with substrate must be performed in Ca⁺⁺ Mg⁺⁺ chelating medium, like EDTA. Substrate Bz-Leu-Gly-Arg-pNA is considered non-specific for complement activation, since EDTA did not inhibit further cleavage of this substrate.

A third test for specificity was the incubation of PDMS with def PPP heated during 30 min at 56"C, in order to elimi¬ nate factor B from the alternative complement pathway. Under these conditions convertase formation was considerably redu- ced, indicating the importance of functional factor B from the alternative complement pathway in convertase formation by PDMS (Figure 4b) .

Example 3 We have investigated the effect of different types of biomaterial, since discrimination between materials is one of the major goals of this technique.

We used the materials: PDMS, PE (polyethylene) and PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) , which are all frequently used for medical devices. We have tested the effects of convertase formation in the solutions and onto the biomaterials. The materials PDMS, PE and PTFE activate the complement system, indicated by conversion of BOC-Leu-Gly-Arg-pNA and H-Leu- Gly-Arg-pNA (Figure 5a,b). PDMS appeared a stronger activator than PE, whereas PTFE was a very weak activator of complement. Example 4

A number of enzyme inhibitors was used to further specify the complement convertase test of the incubated def PPP with substrate H-Leu-Gly-Arg-pNA. During incubation with PDMS in different aliqouts a specific thrombin inhibitor (12581, Kabi), Cl esterase inhibitor (Sigma), the plasmin/ kallikrein/ chymotrypsin inhibitor aprotinin (Bayer) and EDTA was used. EDTA was the best inhibitor, followed by Cl- esterase inhibitor, then the thrombin inhibitor, then apro- tinin (Figure 6). This indicates that the main activity towards cleavage of the substrate H-Leu-Gly-Arg-pNA is complement dependent.

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Claims

1. A process for determining complement activation due to contact between a biomaterial and a complement system, comprising incubating in vitro the biomaterial with the complement system and determining the formation of a comple- ment convertase by using a substrate of the complement convertase and detecting cleavage of said substrate.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the biomaterial after said incubation with the complement system is separated therefrom and the determination of the formation of a comple- ment convertase is carried out with the separated biomate¬ rial, the separated complement system, or both.

3. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein said complement convertase is selected from the group consisting of Factor B convertase, C3 convertase and C5 convertase.

4. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein said complement convertase is C5 convertase.

5. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein said complement convertase substrate is a labeled oligopeptide comprising an amino acid sequence corresponding to the cleavage site of the complement convertase.

6. A process as claimed in claim 5, wherein said labeled oligopeptide is a labeled tripeptide having the general formula Leu-Gly-Arg-Label, or Leu-Ala-Arg-Label, or Gln-Lys- Arg-Label, wherein Label represents the label and the termi- nai amino group of the N-terminal amino acid may be blocked.

7. A process as claimed in claim 5, wherein the label in said labeled oligopeptide is selected from the group consis¬ ting of dyes, fluorochromes, radioactive atoms or groups, and enzymes.

8. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein either classi¬ cal pathway complement activation, alternative pathway complement activation, or both, are determined.

9. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein said complement system is a non-clotting derivative of blood, blood plasma or blood serum, including fibrinogen depleted forms, anticoagu¬ lated forms, and derivatives containing thrombin inhibitor.

10. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interfe¬ rence by other enzymes than the complement convertase is reduced by carrying out the incubation of biomaterial and complement system and/or the substrate cleavage step in the presence of inhibitors of said other enzymes.

11. A process as claimed in claim 1 to determine the comple¬ ment activating properties of a biomaterial, wherein said complement system is derived from blood known to have an active classical pathway complement system, an active alter¬ native pathway complement system, or both, such as pooled normal blood.

12. A process as claimed in claim 1 to determine the comple- ment response properties of a complement system, such as the blood of a patient suspected of having a complement deficiency, wherein biomaterials with known complement acti¬ vating properties are used.

13. A complement convertase substrate for use in a process as defined in any one of claims 1-12.

14. A labeled oligopeptide comprising an amino acid sequence corresponding to the cleavage site of a complement conver¬ tase, for use in a process as defined in any one of claims 1-12.

15. A labeled tripeptide having the general formula Leu-Gly- Arg-Label, or Leu-Ala-Arg-Label, or Gln-Lys-Arg-Label, where¬ in Label represents the label and the terminal amino group of the N-terminal amino acid may be blocked, for use in a process as defined in any one of claims 1-12.