Engineering resistance to trypsin inactivation into L-asparaginase through the production of a chimeric protein between the enzyme and a protective single-chain antibody.

We have demonstrated that a trypsin sensitive enzyme such as L-asparaginase can be rendered trypsin resistant by genetically fusing its gene with that of a single-chain antibody derived from a preselected monoclonal antibody capable of providing protection against trypsin. The chimeric L-asparaginase retained 75% of its original activity upon exposure to trypsin, whereas the native unprotected L-asparaginase control was totally inactivated.