Analysis of Cytotoxicity and Immunogenic Properties of L-Asparaginase Extracted from Fungi: In Vivo Animal Model Studies

This study was designed to in-vivo evaluate the enzyme’s immunogenicity and cytotoxic characteristics of the L-asparaginase from fungi with the help of molecular methods. The isolated the L-asparaginase enzyme exhibited a heavy specific activity and showed no glutaminase activity. The study evaluated the dynamic balance between the proliferation and differentiation of the cells by determining the impact of L-asparaginase on growth factors like EGF, TGF-α, bFGF and VEGF. At the time of mucosal injury, these growth factors were found to be expressed at varying rates and times. In normal cells, these factors remained the same, which in turn infers that L-asparaginase caused no injury to normal cells in the rats. The current study found that Phaseolus vulgaris (P-Asp)-isolated L-asparaginase enhances the anti-proliferative nature and the apoptotic rate of cancerous cells than the necrosis or late apoptosis of the Jurkat leukemic cell line. Further, the in vivo study results found that the mice, when treated with P-Asp, showed less distinct immune responses. This can be confirmed through the low concentrations of IgG, IgE, IgM and mMCP-1 in the serum than the rest of the treated groups. So, P-Asp is proved to be a promising candidate for the treatment of ALL.