The promising results of Dr. Brian Effer Roldan’s study could provide a new option to decrease the side effects and the immunogenicity the conventionally used drug for this pathology normally presents.

The main objective of the research carried out by Dr. Brian Effer Roldan was to investigate a possible biopharmaceutical alternative for acute lymphoblastic leukemia by obtaining an enzyme through glycosylation. With this work, he obtained his doctorate degree in Sciences with mention in Applied Cellular and Molecular Biology from the Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO) in Chile.

This is an innovative research project which, among the promising results, aims at the development of an alternative drug that is more economic and causes less side effects and organic effects thanks to its composition. The study is called: “Recombinant L-asparaginase of Dickeya chrysanthemi with homogenous glycosylation: a possible biopharmaceutical alternative for acute lymphoblastic leukemia”.

“My study consisted in obtaining an enzyme that is currently used to fight lymphoblastic leukemia, but in a different way: through glycosylation (addition of sugar), with the aim of reducing the side effects and the immunogenicity the conventional drug normally presents”, Dr. Effer explained.

One of the results of the study is the obtainment of three different protoforms of the same glycosylated enzyme and, besides, with low immunogenicity compared to the drug that is currently used on the market.

“If we manage to finish this with an economic proposal, it would be one of the few drugs for cancer that has been produced in Latin America. Another important factor is that this drug would be much cheaper, so that the people who need it would have another option. In addition, it would be an organic alternative to the drug that already exists – it is modified with synthetic polymers, while we used natural sugars, what makes it an organic alternative”, Dr. Effer pointed out.

The thesis of Dr. Effer was carried out at the Laboratory of Engineering, Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry of the Department of Chemical Engineering of the Universidad de La Frontera and in the Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Industrial Biotechnology of Microorganisms of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil. His supervisors were Dr. Jorge Farias (UFRO Chile) and Dr. Gisele Monteiro (USP Brazil).

Dr. Effer graduated as a fisheries engineer from the University of Magdalena in Santa Marta, Colombia, and entered the Ph.D. Program in 2014. The recently graduated Ph.D. student greatly valued the plus that this kind of Doctorate guarantees, since it allows to broaden the range of possibilities for research in different fields of interest.

“It was a very significant experience and I am very grateful that the UFRO opened its doors to me and my ideas. I hope that this study will be the basis for me to gain a foothold in the field of research here in Chile. I am a fisheries engineer and that has limited me to work in the field of hydrobiological resources, but by finishing this doctoral program, I broadened the range of options,” he explained.

During the elaboration of his thesis, Dr. Effer achieved four publications in ISI journals and one article submitted. In addition, he made two presentations at international congresses.

Written by: UFRO Communications Office
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