Resin-based Slow-Release Peptides/Amino Acids for Ruminal Applications in Livestock.

     The ion-exchange resins will be designed from biopolymers with attached amino acids (acidic to basic group attached) with pectin pelleting as the backbone which is digestible at a given rate giving it a characteristic binding constant and therefore a release rate.  The ion-exchange matrix in the micropellet particles on which microbial cells can attach to uptake amino acid/peptides is via microbial-driven fimbriae and pili appendages across particulate surfaces. Concentrations/dosing levels in the volume compartment of the stomach will be calculated and measured rate of uptake of both amino acid/peptide mixture ratio calculated after recovery to measure isotope labels on amino acids from of peptides/amino acids. The nature of the microbial translation and adsorption will be observed by direct confocal and electron microscopy examination with time after sampling particulates from the harvested biopolymeric pellet fraction. Osmopharm SA is a company in southern Switzerland or nr. northern Italy that believes it has technology at hand to test and document the use of time-release capsules using their unique gel matrix (the exact biopolymer involved is not known to the author) with ion-exchange movement of H2O in the process of defragmentation of the micropelleted particles. 

The Proposed Experimental Design.

     Now for investigating the dynamics of feed delivery via carrier exchange matrices. Using in vivo studies utilizing rumen cannulated animals for rumen sampling can now be carried out with materials as with pectin designed with ion-exchange resin groups concentrated varied accordingly and of a pKa according to the neutral point of the peptide's amino acid profile loaded into the rumen as substrate in pectin using peptide dosed with 15N stable isotope label to populate rumen contents with mixing; time of mixing established and then random sampling carried out to 15% of pooled samples, 'killed' or stopped at time of sampling, and the total pool further subsampled; the microbial cell protein (MCP) fraction is separated and measured for 15N content via 15N-NMR using differential centrifugation for microbial cells and then hydrolyzed to separate by prep liquid-liquid HPLC chromatography before recovery quantitatively of the amino acid 15N load in ug/g MCP. Comparative study is made between peptide amino acid in the pectin gel matrix and 15N content in microbial cell protein to measure a so-called "Km" of the gel matrix binding capacity generating an "S" curve to saturation of 15N concentration in MCP vs. peptide amino acid concentration in the gel matrix with the "Km" determined by drawing a line at 0.5 of the "Y" axis, the range to saturation across to the "S" curve and down to the "X" axis.

     To determine the parameters to calculate experimentally a "Km," "in range," an in vitro study will be carried out first with an artificial rumen machine or Rusitec(R): a) concentration of 15N-peptide used in the gel, b) time of samplings given the mixing time in the volume of the Rusitec(R), c) the peptide compositional profile in amino acids to be synthesized and provided in bulk by the manufacturer, d) the manufacture of the gelled pellets by the pelleter machine of a given design, e) the current cost estimate of commonly available 15N amino acids labelled for making the peptides in the pellets, and f) the load of gel pellets into the Rusitec(R) machine. Analytics will be performed on the processed and treated subsamples from Rusitec(R) as per well-established technique in the laboratory as was referred to. 

     Note that upon investigation of rumen cannulated animals and their "dynamics" we control conditions to keep experimental protocol "neat" of inclusion of various feed materials at this point except in further practical e. g. s. with semi-purified feedstuffs like pelleted leaf meals and crushed grains (e. g. corn) and seed protein meals (soya bean or canola).

    There is another experimentl approach with more recent protocols involving direct imaging (qualitative only) using sampled rumen contents using an adapted Rusitec(R) and with fluorescent tagging of peptides with immunoglobulins or antibodies with uptake correlatable to binding constants by feed-grade resins or "backbone" particulates. There is a graphical illustration or plot to mathematically treat the data points to derive rate Km type equilibrium constants vs. the bulk MCP from sample produced microbially from crude protein (CP) with proximal analysis. 

   It is possible to derive a "homogeneous" mix of peptides from relatively pure proteins by treating with hydrolyzation chemically or using proteases and even "Cleantech" manufacturing of pure peptides of particular sequences at this time using a bioreactor with pure enzyme reagents. With grain and sugared binding molasses they can be reacted through heat extrusion also referred to as pelleting to produce the relatively protected bound peptide amino acids.

Concluding Remarks.

Time to get a heads up review on the latest to addressing further the 'gap' between earlier research on microbial metabolism of the rumen and other media related research that have more vaguely stipulated a relationship between amino acid peptides (APPs) on MCP and RUP (viz. microbial cell protein and rumen undigested protein) and their role in microbial cell protein synthesis. Let us know what you think about our proactive moves on a research university centre (viz. Chilliwack, BC) to sponsor federally approved research for demonstrating a direct relationship between amino acid release and affinity from peptides and the rate or yield of microbial protein synthesis from its protein synthetic machinery cellularly within the rumen environmental milieu.

No doubt, this is the first time new technology with ion-echange type resins used for slow time released drug agents in pharma now in use has been borrowed for use to studying microbial cell studies and MCP synthesis as one of 2 factors that was originally proposed to limit the efficiency of MCP synthes in rumen digestion in gMCP/kgOMD in the rumen: peptides/amino acids and water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC) especially where silage is involved in ruminant diets. Apart from critically measuring the rate of transport of peptides during uptake into cells other factors will also play a part in determining efficiencies. These will be discussed further elsewhere. These include ATP pools from OM digestion in the rumen including ATP from WSC vs. storage polysaccharides [insoluble fibre+fibroin or complex carbohydrates + sugars) and rate of MCP amino acids incorporation from pre-formed amino acids (PFAA) using labelled 15N-labelled in the amino and R-grouped positions (see: LYS, ARG, GLN) in the C-skeletons weighted by its compositional contribution to MCP AA profiling.

Also mentioned are developments in what are earmarked as the non-GMO, GRO front of probiotic rumen microbiotic manipulations using PNA-B12 biologics as proposed earlier by J. Trylska et al. (2017) at the Centre of New Technologies, U. of Warzawa, Poland (EU) to manipulate what is believed to rate-limiting oligopeptide transport processes through the outer cell membrane using approaches in regards of the channels for uptake, as: steric hindrance by channeling, gated-electrochemical processes, and steric and oligomeric length qualities and binding of ligands (cf. Km) and electrochemical charge qualities of oligomeric net charge on its residual length.  

Protected peptides for practical feeding are a spin-off using feed-grade carriers that are results of Maillard-type reaction products from chemically reacted sugars and protein residual amino acid side-groups including the formation of amide bonds, for e. g. with LYS and ARG, as possible candidate residues.