A,-Acid-glycoprotein

Properties and Structure. a -Acid glycoprotein (a -AGP) has a molecular mass of about 41,000 and consists of a peptide chain having 181 amino acid residues and five carbohydrate units (14,15). Two cystine disulfide cross-linkages connect residues 5 and 147 and residues 72 and 164. The carbohydrate units comprise 45% of the molecule and contain siaUc acid, hexosamine, and neutral hexoses. In phosphate buffer the isoelectric point of the... 

EoUowing po administration moricizine is completely absorbed from the GI tract. The dmg undergoes considerable first-pass hepatic metabolism so that only 30—40% of the dose is bioavailable. Moricizine is extensively (95%) bound to plasma protein, mainly albumin and a -acid glycoprotein. The time to peak plasma concentrations is 0.42—3.90 h. Therapeutic concentrations are 0.06—3.00 ]l/niL. Using radiolabeled moricizine, more than 30 metabolites have been noted but only 12 have been identified. Eight appear in urine. The sulfoxide metabolite is equipotent to the parent compound as an antiarrhythmic. Elimination half-life is 2—6 h for the unchanged dmg and known metabolites, and 84 h for total radioactivity of the labeled dmg (1,2). 

Absorption after po dosing is fairly complete. It undergoes extensive first-pass metaboHsm in the Hver and is 60% bioavailable. It is extensively bound (99%) to a -acid glycoproteins. Bepridil is almost completely metaboli2ed in the Hver. Seventeen metaboHtes have been identified but only the 4-hydroxy-A/-phenyl-bepridil has some pharmacological activity. The elimination half-life is 33—42 h (107). 

Proteins. A chiral stationary phase with immobilized a -acid glycoprotein on silica beads was introduced by Hermansson in 1983 [18, 19]. Several other proteins such as chicken egg albumin (ovalbumin), human serum albumin, and cellohy-drolase were also used later for the preparation of commercial CSPs. Their selectivity is believed to occur as a result of excess of dispersive forces acting on the more retained enantiomer [17]. These separation media often exhibit only modest loading capacity. 

Acute phase response proteins (eg, C-reactive protein, a,-acid glycoprotein [orosomucoid])... 

Bovine serum albumin covalently bonded to silica and a-acid glycoprotein immobilized on silica have been used to resolve a wide range of acidic and basic drugs and amino acid derivatives [807-810]. Because of their complex structures, however, the... 

Chiral stationary phases for the separation of enantiomers (optically active isomers) are becoming increasingly important. Among the first types to be synthesized were chiral amino acids ionically or covalently bound to amino-propyl silica and named Pirkle phases after their originator. The ionic form is susceptable to hydrolysis and can be used only in normal phase HPLC whereas the more stable covalent type can be used in reverse phase separations but is less stereoselective. Polymeric phases based on chiral peptides such as bovine serum albumin or a -acid glycoproteins bonded to... 

K Schmid. Human plasma a,-acid glycoprotein—biochemical properties, the amino acid sequence and the structure of carbohydrate moiety, variants and polymorphism. In P Baumann, CB Eap, WE Muller, JP Tillement, eds. Al-pharacid glycoprotein genetics, biochemistry, physiological function, and pharmacology. Alan R. Liss, New York, 1989, pp 7-22. 

A Amini, C Pettersson, D Westerlund. Enantioresolution of disopyramide by capillary affinity electrokinetic chromatography with human a,-acid glycoprotein (AGP) as chiral selector applying a partial-filling technique. Electrophoresis 18 950-957, 1997. 

Most of the drugs are transported bound to nonspecific sites on plasma proteins, mostly to albumin (for acidic drugs) and to a -acid glycoprotein (for basic drugs). Binding to other proteins like ceruloplasmin and transcortin generally occurs to a much smaller extent. The binding is usually reversible and depends on the individual compound. 

Secretion of nonglycosylated macromolecules in the presence of tunicamycin has also been investigated in a number of other cells. Rat-liver cell-secretion ol albumin (a carbohydrate-free protein), transferrin, and a-acid glycoprotein was not inhibited, and, in chick-liver cells, only a decrease by 10-25% in the secretion of transferrin and the apoprotein B chain of very-low-density lipoprotein was noted.463,464 The secretion of ovalbumin (a glycoprotein) from hen oviduct was not blocked by tunicamycin.465... 

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