Study on Pegylation of Therapuetic Enzyme Uricase And Its Physio-Chemical Properties For Improving Its Pharmaceutical Characteristics

Abstract

Uricase (urate oxidase EC 1.7.3.3, UC) catalyses the oxidation of uric acid, a final product of purine catabolism to allantoin. In the present work, Uricase is bioconjugated using PEG (Polyethylene glycol) as a chemical tool for linking for obtaining conjugates with better and desirable pharmaceutical properties. Uricase from Bacillus fastidisous (Uc) was modified through PEGylation considering various concentrations of linear polyethyleneglycol-8KDa (PEG-8K). The Uc-PEG 8K conjugates, formed by conjugating Uc and PEG-8K in the ratio of 1:15 retained 87.5% of the initial uricolytic activity, and were highly stable at pH 6.0, which is quiet close to physiological pH and at a temperature of 16°C.