peg-arginase

peg-arginase (pegylated arginase) refers to pegylated formulations of the enzyme arginase, which catalyzes the conversion of the semi-essential amino acid L-arginine into L-ornithine and urea. Because many tumor cells exhibit arginine auxotrophy due to deficient expression of arginine-regenerating enzymes like argininosuccinate synthetase (ASS1) or ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC), systemic depletion of L-arginine via peg-arginase administration starves these cancer cells, leading to cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Pegylation (typically using PEG-5000) is employed to significantly extend the circulatory half-life of the enzyme and reduce its immunogenicity compared to the native form. Various forms of peg-arginase have been investigated, including recombinant human versions (such as BCT-100 and pegzilarginase) developed for cancers like hepatocellular carcinoma, melanoma, and acute myeloid leukemia, as well as animal-derived formulations (such as beef liver-extracted peg-arginase developed by Alexandria University) evaluated preclinically for breast cancer.

Brand names

Loargys

Other names

PEG-A1PEG-A-1PEG-A 1PEG-Arg1PEG-Arg-1PEG-Arg 1peg-Arg Ipegylated arginasepegylated arginase 1pegylated recombinant human arginaserhArg-peg5,000mw