Recombinant Bitistatin for Imaging Thrombi and Emboli

Bitistatin is a 84 amino acid peptide that recognizes the platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor ademonstrated to target specifically to thrombi and emboli. The limited supply of bitistatin, as of tsnake venom of Bitis Arietans. The objective of this project is to produce bitistatin as a recombinabacteria or yeast, to ensure a sufficient and consistent supply of a homogenous protein, which is escharacterization and development into a radiopharmaceutical for deep venous thrombosis and pulmonaryThe DNA sequence encoding the protein is deduced from the amino acid sequence of bitistatin, and wilcombination of long DNA oligonucleotide synthesis and polymerase chain reaction. The DNA will be subappropriate bacterial (MN14pBEV) and/or yeast (Pichia) expression vector. The expressed recombinantpurified and characterized. Meanwhile, optimization of radiolabeling conditions for bitistatin prepawill be performed. Optimized procedures will be employed to radiolabel the recombinant bitistatin. Bthe recombinant and snake-venom-purified bitistatin, before and after radiolabeling, will be compareinhibition assay.