1
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Menneteau T, Saveliev S, Butré CI, Rivera AKG, Urh M, Delobel A. Addressing common challenges of biotherapeutic protein peptide mapping using recombinant trypsin. J Pharm Biomed Anal 2024; 243:116124. [PMID: 38520959 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2024.116124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2024] [Revised: 03/15/2024] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 03/25/2024]
Abstract
Peptide mapping is the key method for characterization of primary structure of biotherapeutic proteins. This method relies on digestion of proteins into peptides that are then analyzed for amino acid sequence and post-translational modifications. Owing to its high activity and cleavage specificity, trypsin is the protease of choice for peptide mapping. In this study, we investigated critical requirements of peptide mapping and how trypsin affects these requirements. We found that the commonly used MS-grade trypsins contained non-specific, chymotryptic-like cleavage activity causing generation of semi-tryptic peptides and degradation of tryptic-specific peptides. Furthermore, MS-grade trypsins contained pre-existing autoproteolytic peptides and, moreover, additional autoproteolytic peptides were resulting from prominent autoproteolysis during digestion. In our long-standing quest to improve trypsin performance, we developed novel recombinant trypsin and evaluated whether it could address major trypsin drawbacks in peptide mapping. The study showed that the novel trypsin was free of detectable non-specific cleavage activity, had negligible level of autoproteolysis and maintained high activity over the course of digestion reaction. Taking advantage of the novel trypsin advanced properties, especially high cleavage specificity, we established the application for use of large trypsin quantities to digest proteolytically resistant protein sites without negative side effects. We also tested trypsin/Lys-C mix comprising the novel trypsin and showed elimination of non-specific cleavages observed in the digests with the commonly used trypsins. In addition, the improved features of the novel trypsin allowed us to establish the method for accurate and efficient non-enzymatic PTM analysis in biotherapeutic proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Menneteau
- Quality Assistance SA, Technoparc de Thudinie 2, Donstiennes 6536, Belgium
| | - Sergei Saveliev
- Promega Corporation, 2800 Woods Hollow Road, Fitchburg, WI 53711, United States
| | - Claire I Butré
- Quality Assistance SA, Technoparc de Thudinie 2, Donstiennes 6536, Belgium
| | | | - Marjeta Urh
- Promega Corporation, 2800 Woods Hollow Road, Fitchburg, WI 53711, United States
| | - Arnaud Delobel
- Quality Assistance SA, Technoparc de Thudinie 2, Donstiennes 6536, Belgium.
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2
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Smith J, Guapo F, Strasser L, Millán-Martín S, Milian SG, Snyder RO, Bones J. Development of a Rapid Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) Identity Testing Platform through Comprehensive Intact Mass Analysis of Full-Length AAV Capsid Proteins. J Proteome Res 2023; 23:161-174. [PMID: 38123456 PMCID: PMC10775144 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.3c00513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2023] [Revised: 12/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/08/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
Adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) are commonly used as vectors for the delivery of gene therapy targets. Characterization of AAV capsid proteins (VPs) and their post-translational modifications (PTMs) have become a critical attribute monitored to evaluate product quality. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis of intact AAV VPs provides both quick and reliable serotype identification as well as proteoform information on each VP. Incorporating these analytical strategies into rapid good manufacturing practice (GMP)-compliant workflows containing robust, but simplified, data processing methods is necessary to ensure effective product quality control (QC) during production. Here, we present a GMP-compliant LC-MS workflow for the rapid identification and in-depth characterization of AAVs. Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) MS with difluoroacetic acid as a mobile phase modifier is utilized to achieve the intact separation and identification of AAV VPs and their potential proteoforms. Peptide mapping is performed to confirm PTMs identified during intact VP analysis and for in-depth PTM characterization. The intact separations platform is then incorporated into a data processing workflow developed using GMP-compliant software capable of rapid AAV serotype identification and, if desired, specific serotype PTM monitoring and characterization. Such a platform provides product QC capabilities that are easily accessible in a regulatory setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josh Smith
- Characterisation
and Comparability Laboratory, The National
Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training, Foster Avenue, Mount Merrion, Dublin A94 X099, Ireland
| | - Felipe Guapo
- Characterisation
and Comparability Laboratory, The National
Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training, Foster Avenue, Mount Merrion, Dublin A94 X099, Ireland
| | - Lisa Strasser
- Characterisation
and Comparability Laboratory, The National
Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training, Foster Avenue, Mount Merrion, Dublin A94 X099, Ireland
| | - Silvia Millán-Martín
- Characterisation
and Comparability Laboratory, The National
Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training, Foster Avenue, Mount Merrion, Dublin A94 X099, Ireland
| | - Steven G. Milian
- Patheon
Viral Vector Services, 13859 Progress Blvd, Alachua, Florida 32615, United States
| | - Richard O. Snyder
- Patheon
Viral Vector Services, 13859 Progress Blvd, Alachua, Florida 32615, United States
| | - Jonathan Bones
- Characterisation
and Comparability Laboratory, The National
Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training, Foster Avenue, Mount Merrion, Dublin A94 X099, Ireland
- School
of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin D04 V1W8.F, Ireland
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3
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Li X. Recent applications of quantitative mass spectrometry in biopharmaceutical process development and manufacturing. J Pharm Biomed Anal 2023; 234:115581. [PMID: 37494866 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2023.115581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2023] [Revised: 06/27/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
Biopharmaceutical products have seen rapid growth over the past few decades and continue to dominate the global pharmaceutical market. Aligning with the quality by design (QbD) framework and realization, recent advances in liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) instrumentation and related techniques have enhanced biopharmaceutical characterization capabilities and have supported an increased development of biopharmaceutical products. Beyond its routine qualitative characterization, the quantitative feature of LC-MS has unique applications in biopharmaceutical process development and manufacturing. This review describes the recent applications and implications of the advancement of quantitative MS methods in biopharmaceutical process development, and characterization of biopharmaceutical product, product-related variants, and process-related impurities. We also provide insights on the emerging applications of quantitative MS in the lifecycle of biopharmaceutical product development including quality control in the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) environment and process analytical technology (PAT) practices during process development and manufacturing. Through collaboration with instrument and software vendors and regulatory agencies, we envision broader adoption of phase-appropriate quantitative MS-based methods for the analysis of biopharmaceutical products, which in turn has the potential to enable manufacture of higher quality products for patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuanwen Li
- Analytical Research and Development, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., 126 E. Lincoln Avenue, Rahway, NJ 07065, USA.
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4
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Morales A, Candreva J, Jayarathne T, Esterman AL, Voruganti S, Flagg SC, Slaney T, Liu P, Adamo M, Patel S, Das TK, Zeng M, Li X. A comprehensive strategy for the identification of biologics by liquid-chromatography-mass spectrometry for release testing in a regulated environment. J Pharm Biomed Anal 2023; 234:115580. [PMID: 37478550 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2023.115580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2023] [Revised: 07/10/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/23/2023]
Abstract
Identification (ID) testing is a regulatory requirement for biopharmaceutical manufacturing, requiring robust, GMP-qualified assays that can distinguish the therapeutic from any other in the facility. Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) is a powerful analytical tool used to identify and characterize biologics. While routinely leveraged for characterization, LC-MS is relatively rare in Quality Control (QC) settings due to its perceived complexity and scarcity of MS-trained personnel. However, employing LC-MS for identification of drug products has many advantages versus conventional ID techniques, including but not limited to its high specificity, rapid turn-around time, and ease of method execution. In this work, we outline the development and implementation of a comprehensive LC-MS based ID strategy for biologics release testing. Two main workflows (WFs) were developed: i) WF1, a subunit-based assay measuring the molecular weight of the light chain (LC) and heavy chain (HC) of an antibody upon reduction, and ii) WF2, intact mass measurement of the biologic upon N-deglycosylation by PNGase F. The proposed strategy is shown to be applicable for over 40 diverse model biologics including monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), biobetters such as antibody prodrugs/afucosylated mAbs, fusion proteins, multi-specific antibodies, Fabs, and large peptides, all with excellent mass accuracy (error typically < 20 ppm) and precision. It requires a single-step sample preparation and a single click to run and process the data upon method setup. This strategy has been successfully implemented for release testing in GMP labs. Challenges and considerations for the establishment of QC-friendly methods are discussed. It is also shown that these methods can be applied to the ID of more analytically complex biotherapeutics, such as fixed-dose combination (FDC) and drug products co-formulated with trace-level additives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Morales
- Biologics Development, Bristol Myers Squibb, New Brunswick, NJ, United States
| | - Jason Candreva
- Biologics Development, Bristol Myers Squibb, New Brunswick, NJ, United States
| | - Thilina Jayarathne
- Biologics Development, Bristol Myers Squibb, New Brunswick, NJ, United States
| | - Abbie L Esterman
- Biologics Development, Bristol Myers Squibb, New Brunswick, NJ, United States
| | - Sudhakar Voruganti
- Biologics Development, Bristol Myers Squibb, New Brunswick, NJ, United States
| | - Shannon C Flagg
- Biologics Development, Bristol Myers Squibb, New Brunswick, NJ, United States
| | - Thomas Slaney
- Biologics Development, Bristol Myers Squibb, New Brunswick, NJ, United States
| | - Peiran Liu
- Biologics Development, Bristol Myers Squibb, New Brunswick, NJ, United States
| | - Michael Adamo
- Analytical Strategy and Operations, Bristol Myers Squibb, New Brunswick, NJ, United States
| | - Saileshkumar Patel
- Analytical Strategy and Operations, Bristol Myers Squibb, New Brunswick, NJ, United States
| | - Tapan K Das
- Biologics Development, Bristol Myers Squibb, New Brunswick, NJ, United States
| | - Ming Zeng
- Biologics Development, Bristol Myers Squibb, New Brunswick, NJ, United States
| | - Xue Li
- Biologics Development, Bristol Myers Squibb, New Brunswick, NJ, United States.
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Dong W, Li Y. Complementary methods for monitoring hole-hole homodimer associated with a WuXiBody-based asymmetric bispecific antibody. Protein Expr Purif 2023:106316. [PMID: 37271410 DOI: 10.1016/j.pep.2023.106316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Revised: 05/25/2023] [Accepted: 06/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
WuXiBody is a bispecific antibody (bsAb) platform developed by WuXi Biologics. Its key feature is the replacement of one parental antibody's CH1/CL region with the T-cell receptor (TCR) constant domain, which prevents mispairing between non-cognate heavy chain and light chain. In addition, heavy chain heterodimerization in asymmetric WuXiBody molecule is promoted by the knobs-into-holes (KiH) technology. Despite the great success of KiH strategy in improving heterodimer formation, homodimers (especially the hole-hole homodimer) can still be generated at low levels. In general, detection and monitoring of homodimers during KiH bsAb purification are challenging as homodimers share similar physicochemical properties with the target heterodimeric bsAb. Nevertheless, the unique design of WuXiBody allows homodimers to be effectively detected and monitored by multiple methods. In the current work, with an asymmetric WuXiBody case study, we demonstrated that hole-hole homodimer can be effectively monitored by six chromatography methods including hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC), reversed phase (RP), cation exchange (CEX), KappaSelect, CaptureSelect CH1-XL and Protein L.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wanyuan Dong
- Downstream Process Development (DSPD), WuXi Biologics, 288 Fute Zhong Road, Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone, Shanghai, 200131, China
| | - Yifeng Li
- Downstream Process Development (DSPD), WuXi Biologics, 288 Fute Zhong Road, Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone, Shanghai, 200131, China.
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6
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VanAernum ZL, Sergi JA, Dey M, Toner T, Kilgore B, Lay-Fortenbery A, Wang Y, Bian S, Kochert BA, Bothe JR, Gao X, Richardson D, Schuessler HA. Discovery and Control of Succinimide Formation and Accumulation at Aspartic Acid Residues in The Complementarity-Determining Region of a Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibody. Pharm Res 2023; 40:1411-1423. [PMID: 36627449 DOI: 10.1007/s11095-022-03462-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Succinimide formation and isomerization alter the chemical and physical properties of aspartic acid residues in a protein. Modification of aspartic acid residues within complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) can be particularly detrimental to the efficacy of the molecule. The goal of this study was to characterize the site of succinimide accumulation in the CDR of a therapeutic mAb and understand its effects on potency. Furthermore, we aimed to mitigate succinimide accumulation through changes in formulation. METHODS Accumulation of succinimide was identified through intact and reduced LC-MS mass measurements. A low pH peptide mapping method was used for relative quantitation and localization of succinimide formation in the CDR. Statistical modeling was used to correlate levels of succinimide with basic variants and potency measurements. RESULTS Succinimide accumulation in Formulation A was accelerated when stored at elevated temperatures. A strong correlation between succinimide accumulation in the CDR, an increase in basic charge variants, and a decrease in potency was observed. Statistical modeling suggest that a combination of ion exchange chromatography and potency measurements can be used to predict succinimide levels in a given sample. Reformulation of the mAb to Formulation B mitigates succinimide accumulation even after extended storage at elevated temperatures. CONCLUSION Succinimide formation in the CDR of a therapeutic mAb can have a strong negative impact on potency of the molecule. We demonstrate that thorough characterization of the molecule by LC-MS, ion exchange chromatography, and potency measurements can facilitate changes in formulation that mitigate succinimide formation and the corresponding detrimental changes in potency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary L VanAernum
- Analytical Research and Development, Merck & Co., Inc., 126 E. Lincoln Ave, Rahway, NJ, 07065, USA.
| | - Joseph A Sergi
- Analytical Research and Development, Merck & Co., Inc., 126 E. Lincoln Ave, Rahway, NJ, 07065, USA
| | - Monisha Dey
- Biostatistics and Research Decision Sciences, Merck & Co., Inc., 126 E. Lincoln Ave, Rahway, NJ, 07065, USA
| | - Timothy Toner
- Analytical Research and Development, Merck & Co., Inc., 126 E. Lincoln Ave, Rahway, NJ, 07065, USA
| | - Bruce Kilgore
- Analytical Research and Development, Merck & Co., Inc., 126 E. Lincoln Ave, Rahway, NJ, 07065, USA
| | - Ashley Lay-Fortenbery
- Preclinical Development, Merck & Co., Inc, 126 E. Lincoln Ave, Rahway, NJ, 07065, USA
| | - Yi Wang
- Analytical Research and Development, Merck & Co., Inc., 126 E. Lincoln Ave, Rahway, NJ, 07065, USA
- Biologics Process and Analytical Development, National Resilience, Inc, Waltham, MA, 02451, USA
| | - Shengjie Bian
- Analytical Research and Development, Merck & Co., Inc., 126 E. Lincoln Ave, Rahway, NJ, 07065, USA
- CMC Regulatory & Technical Strategy, Amicus Therapeutics Inc. Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Brent A Kochert
- Analytical Research and Development, Merck & Co., Inc., 126 E. Lincoln Ave, Rahway, NJ, 07065, USA
| | - Jameson R Bothe
- Analytical Research and Development, Merck & Co., Inc., 126 E. Lincoln Ave, Rahway, NJ, 07065, USA
| | - Xinliu Gao
- Analytical Research and Development, Merck & Co., Inc., 126 E. Lincoln Ave, Rahway, NJ, 07065, USA
| | - Douglas Richardson
- Analytical Research and Development, Merck & Co., Inc., 126 E. Lincoln Ave, Rahway, NJ, 07065, USA
| | - Hillary A Schuessler
- Analytical Research and Development, Merck & Co., Inc., 126 E. Lincoln Ave, Rahway, NJ, 07065, USA
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7
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Spanov B, Baartmans B, Olaleye O, Nicolardi S, Govorukhina N, Wuhrer M, van de Merbel NC, Bischoff R. Revealing charge heterogeneity of stressed trastuzumab at the subunit level. Anal Bioanal Chem 2023; 415:1505-1513. [PMID: 36693954 PMCID: PMC9974696 DOI: 10.1007/s00216-023-04547-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2022] [Revised: 12/24/2022] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Trastuzumab is known to be heterogeneous in terms of charge. Stressing trastuzumab under physiological conditions (pH 7.4 and 37 °C) increases charge heterogeneity further. Separation of charge variants of stressed trastuzumab at the intact protein level is challenging due to increasing complexity making it difficult to obtain pure charge variants for further characterization. Here we report an approach for revealing charge heterogeneity of stressed trastuzumab at the subunit level by pH gradient cation-exchange chromatography. Trastuzumab subunits were generated after limited proteolytic cleavage with papain, IdeS, and GingisKHAN®. The basic pI of Fab and F(ab)2 fragments allowed to use the same pH gradient for intact protein and subunit level analysis. Baseline separation of Fab subunits was obtained after GingisKHAN® and papain digestion and the corresponding modifications were determined by LC-MS/MS peptide mapping and middle-down MALDI-ISD FT-ICR MS. The described approach allows a comprehensive charge variant analysis of therapeutic antibodies that have two or more modification sites in the Fab region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baubek Spanov
- Department of Analytical Biochemistry, Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy, University of Groningen, A Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Bas Baartmans
- Department of Analytical Biochemistry, Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy, University of Groningen, A Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Oladapo Olaleye
- Department of Analytical Biochemistry, Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy, University of Groningen, A Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Simone Nicolardi
- Center for Proteomics and Metabolomics, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Natalia Govorukhina
- Department of Analytical Biochemistry, Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy, University of Groningen, A Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Manfred Wuhrer
- Center for Proteomics and Metabolomics, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Nico C van de Merbel
- Department of Analytical Biochemistry, Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy, University of Groningen, A Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV, Groningen, The Netherlands.,Bioanalytical Laboratory, ICON, Amerikaweg 18, 9407 TK, Assen, The Netherlands
| | - Rainer Bischoff
- Department of Analytical Biochemistry, Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy, University of Groningen, A Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV, Groningen, The Netherlands.
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8
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Ai Y, Gunawardena HP, Li X, Kim YI, Dewald HD, Chen H. Standard-Free Absolute Quantitation of Antibody Deamidation Degradation and Host Cell Proteins by Coulometric Mass Spectrometry. Anal Chem 2022; 94:12490-12499. [PMID: 36018377 PMCID: PMC10492508 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.2c02709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Proteomic absolute quantitation strategies mainly rely on the use of synthetic stable isotope-labeled peptides or proteins as internal standards, which are highly costly and time-consuming to synthesize. To circumvent this limitation, we recently developed a coulometric mass spectrometry (CMS) approach for absolute quantitation of proteins without the use of standards, based on the electrochemical oxidation of oxidizable surrogate peptides, followed by mass spectrometry measurement of the peptide oxidation yield. Previously, CMS was only applied for single-protein quantitation. In this study, first, we demonstrated absolute quantitation of multiple proteins in a mixture (e.g., β-lactoglobulin B, α-lactalbumin, and carbonic anhydrase) by CMS in one run, without using any standards. The CMS quantitation result was validated with a traditional isotope dilution method. Second, CMS can be used for absolute quantitation of a low-level target protein in a mixture; for instance, 500 ppm of PLBL2, a problematic host cell protein (HCP), in the presence of a highly abundant monoclonal antibody (mAb) was successfully quantified by CMS with no use of standards. Third, taking one step further, this study demonstrated the unprecedented quantitative analysis of deamidated peptide products arising from the mAb heavy chain deamidation reaction. In particular, absolute quantitation of the deamidation succinimide intermediate which had not been performed before due to the lack of standard was conducted by CMS, for the first time. Overall, our data suggest that CMS has potential utilities for quantitative proteomics and biotherapeutic drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongling Ai
- Department of Chemistry & Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States
| | - Harsha P Gunawardena
- Janssen Research & Development, The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, Spring House, Pennsylvania 19477, United States
| | - Xuanwen Li
- Analytical Research & Development, Merck & Co., Inc., 2000 Galloping Hill Road, Kenilworth, New Jersey 07033, United States
| | - Yong-Ick Kim
- Department of Chemistry & Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States
| | - Howard D Dewald
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ohio University, Chemistry Building, 133 University Terrace, Athens, Ohio 45701, United States
| | - Hao Chen
- Department of Chemistry & Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States
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9
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Liu T, Xu J, Guo Q, Zhang D, Li J, Qian W, Guo H, Zhou X, Hou S. Identification, Efficacy, and Stability Evaluation of Succinimide Modification With a High Abundance in the Framework Region of Golimumab. Front Chem 2022; 10:826923. [PMID: 35449588 PMCID: PMC9017650 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2022.826923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2021] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Succinimide (Asu) is the intermediate for asparagine deamidation in therapeutic proteins, and it can be readily hydrolyzed to form aspartate and iso-aspartate residues. Moreover, Asu plays an important role in the protein degradation pathways, asparagine deamidation, and aspartic acid isomerization. Here, Asu modification with a high abundance in the framework region (FR) of golimumab was first reported, the effect of denaturing buffer pH on the Asu modification homeostasis was studied, and the results revealed that it was relatively stable over a pH range of 6.0–7.0 whereas a rapid decrease at pH 8.0. Then, the peptide-based multi-attribute method (MAM) analyses showed that the Asu formation was at Asn 43 in the FR of the heavy chain. Meanwhile, the efficacy [affinity, binding and bioactivity, complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) activity, and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity] and stability of the Asu modification of golimumab were evaluated, and the current results demonstrated comparable efficacy and stability between the Asu low- and high-abundance groups. Our findings provide valuable insights into Asu modification and its effect on efficacy and stability, and this study also demonstrates that there is a need to develop a broad-spectrum, rapid, and accurate platform to identify and characterize new peaks in the development of therapeutic proteins, particularly for antibody drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Liu
- Department of Oncology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- State Key Laboratory of Antibody Medicine and Targeted Therapy, Shanghai, China
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Quality Control of Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibodies, Shanghai, China
| | - Jin Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Antibody Medicine and Targeted Therapy, Shanghai, China
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Quality Control of Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibodies, Shanghai, China
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, China
- Shanghai Zhangjiang Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China
| | - Qingcheng Guo
- Taizhou Mabtech Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., Taizhou, China
| | - Dapeng Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Antibody Medicine and Targeted Therapy, Shanghai, China
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Quality Control of Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibodies, Shanghai, China
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, China
| | - Jun Li
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, China
| | - Weizhu Qian
- State Key Laboratory of Antibody Medicine and Targeted Therapy, Shanghai, China
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Quality Control of Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibodies, Shanghai, China
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, China
| | - Huaizu Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Antibody Medicine and Targeted Therapy, Shanghai, China
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Quality Control of Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibodies, Shanghai, China
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, China
- Shanghai Zhangjiang Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China
- *Correspondence: Huaizu Guo, ; Xinli Zhou, ; Sheng Hou,
| | - Xinli Zhou
- Department of Oncology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- *Correspondence: Huaizu Guo, ; Xinli Zhou, ; Sheng Hou,
| | - Sheng Hou
- State Key Laboratory of Antibody Medicine and Targeted Therapy, Shanghai, China
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Quality Control of Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibodies, Shanghai, China
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, China
- *Correspondence: Huaizu Guo, ; Xinli Zhou, ; Sheng Hou,
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10
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Zarei M, Wang P, Jonveaux J, Haller FM, Gu B, Koulov AV, Jahn M. A novel protocol for in-depth analysis of recombinant adeno-associated virus capsid proteins using UHPLC-MS/MS. RAPID COMMUNICATIONS IN MASS SPECTROMETRY : RCM 2022; 36:e9247. [PMID: 34951071 DOI: 10.1002/rcm.9247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2021] [Revised: 12/16/2021] [Accepted: 12/19/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE In-depth characterization of the three capsid viral proteins (VPs 1, 2, and 3) of adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) is immediately needed to ensure the consistency in gene therapy products and processes. These proteins are typically present at very low concentrations in matrices containing high concentrations of excipients and salts. Thus, there is a need for convenient methods for sample preparation before proteomic analysis. The aim of this study was to meet this need by developing a fast, reliable approach for isolating VPs in a manner enabling their efficient digestion and in-depth characterization using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). METHODS VPs from Anc80 were precipitated with different organic solvents, and the resulting precipitates were dissolved in either sodium deoxycholate (SDC) and N-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside (DDM) or guanidine hydrochloride (Gu-HCl). The peptides obtained by the following enzymatic digestion by either trypsin or Asp-N were analyzed using LC-MS/MS. RESULTS We found that precipitation with chloroform/methanol/water results in fast, efficient preparation of VP samples, allowing 100% and 99.2% amino acid sequence coverage of VP1 for trypsin and Asp-N digestion, respectively. This also allowed complete sequence confirmation of VP1, VP2, and VP3 of Anc80, as well as characterization of the amino acid sequences of the N- and C-terminal regions of each VP, together with their post-translational modifications (PTMs). CONCLUSIONS The presented method enables fast, reliable, and relatively cheap sample preparation for identifying AAV serotypes and characterizing the heterogeneity of capsid viral proteins, including their PTMs.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Peng Wang
- Lonza Houston, Inc., Houston, Texas, USA
| | | | | | - Bingnan Gu
- Lonza Houston, Inc., Houston, Texas, USA
| | | | - Michael Jahn
- Lonza AG, Drug Product Services, Basel, Switzerland
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11
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Whole-Column Imaging Detection for Capillary Isoelectric Focusing: Its Applications in Pharmaceutical Industry and Recent Development of the Technology. Trends Analyt Chem 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.trac.2022.116567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
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12
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Gupta S, Jiskoot W, Schöneich C, Rathore AS. Oxidation and Deamidation of Monoclonal Antibody Products: Potential Impact on Stability, Biological Activity, and Efficacy. J Pharm Sci 2021; 111:903-918. [PMID: 34890632 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2021.11.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2021] [Revised: 11/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
The role in human health of therapeutic proteins in general, and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in particular, has been significant and is continuously evolving. A considerable amount of time and resources are invested first in mAb product development and then in clinical examination of the product. Physical and chemical degradation can occur during manufacturing, processing, storage, handling, and administration. Therapeutic proteins may undergo various chemical degradation processes, including oxidation, deamidation, isomerization, hydrolysis, deglycosylation, racemization, disulfide bond breakage and formation, Maillard reaction, and β-elimination. Oxidation and deamidation are the most common chemical degradation processes of mAbs, which may result in changes in physical properties, such as hydrophobicity, charge, secondary or/and tertiary structure, and may lower the thermodynamic or kinetic barrier to unfold. This may predispose the product to aggregation and other chemical modifications, which can alter the binding affinity, half-life, and efficacy of the product. This review summarizes major findings from the past decade on the impact of oxidation and deamidation on the stability, biological activity, and efficacy of mAb products. Mechanisms of action, influencing factors, characterization tools, clinical impact, and risk mitigation strategies have been addressed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Surbhi Gupta
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi-110016, India
| | - Wim Jiskoot
- Division of BioTherapeutics, Leiden Centre for Drug Research (LACDR), Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | | | - Anurag S Rathore
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi-110016, India.
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13
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Cao M, De Mel N, Wang J, Parthemore C, Jiao Y, Chen W, Lin S, Liu D, Kilby G, Chen X. Characterization of N-Terminal Glutamate Cyclization in Monoclonal Antibody and Bispecific Antibody Using Charge Heterogeneity Assays and Hydrophobic Interaction Chromatography. J Pharm Sci 2021; 111:335-344. [PMID: 34516988 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2021.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Revised: 09/05/2021] [Accepted: 09/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
N-terminal glutamate (E) cyclization to form pyroglutamate (pE) generates charge heterogeneities for mAbs and proteins. Thus far, pE formation rate in lyophilized formulation as compared to in liquid formulation has not been reported. Impact of pE on antibody biological activity has only been predicted or assessed using stressed samples that may contain other confounding degradations besides pE. Additionally, application of hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) to separate pE has not been reported. In our study, N-terminal E cyclization was identified as the major degradation pathway in lyophilized formulation at elevated temperature for both monoclonal antibody (mAb-A) and IgG-like bispecific antibody (bsAb-A). pE was enriched in salt-gradient ion exchange chromatography (IEC) as pre-peak and in HIC as post-peak for both mAb-A and bsAb-A. Structure-function studies with pE-enriched IEC and HIC fractions confirmed that pE did not affect binding activities for mAb-A and bsAb-A. In vitro incubation of bsAb-A in serum and PBS revealed that the serum matrix may play a role in pE conversion in human serum, in contrast to the chemical reaction mechanism reported. These techniques can help in characterization of N-terminal E-to-pE cyclization and quality attribute severity assessment during therapeutic protein product development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingyan Cao
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, Biopharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, One Medimmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878.
| | - Niluka De Mel
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, Biopharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, One Medimmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878
| | - Jihong Wang
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, Biopharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, One Medimmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878
| | - Conner Parthemore
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, Biopharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, One Medimmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878
| | - Yang Jiao
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, Biopharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, One Medimmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878
| | - Weimin Chen
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, Biopharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, One Medimmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878
| | - Shihua Lin
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, Biopharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, One Medimmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878
| | - Dengfeng Liu
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, Biopharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, One Medimmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878
| | - Greg Kilby
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, Biopharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, One Medimmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878
| | - Xiaoyu Chen
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, Biopharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, One Medimmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878
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14
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Verscheure L, Cerdobbel A, Sandra P, Lynen F, Sandra K. Monoclonal antibody charge variant characterization by fully automated four-dimensional liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. J Chromatogr A 2021; 1653:462409. [PMID: 34325295 DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2021.462409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2021] [Revised: 07/09/2021] [Accepted: 07/09/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Fully automated characterization of monoclonal antibody (mAb) charge variants using four-dimensional liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (4D-LC-MS) is reported and illustrated. Charge variants resolved by cation-exchange chromatography (CEX) using a salt- or pH-gradient are collected in loops installed on a multiple heart-cutting valve and consequently subjected to online desalting, denaturation, reduction and trypsin digestion prior to LC-MS based peptide mapping. This innovation which substantially reduces turnaround time, sample manipulation, loss and artefacts and increases information gathering, is described in great technical detail, and applied to characterize the charge heterogeneity associated with three therapeutic mAbs. Sequence coverages > 95% are obtained for major and minor charge variants (> 1.0%). Post-translational modifications (PTMs) and modification sites are readily revealed in a repeatable manner including unstable succinimide intermediates which are not maintained when performing classical in-solution overnight digestion of offline collected CEX peaks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liesa Verscheure
- RIC group, President Kennedypark 26, Kortrijk 8500, Belgium; Separation Science Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281-S4, Ghent B-9000, Belgium
| | - An Cerdobbel
- RIC group, President Kennedypark 26, Kortrijk 8500, Belgium
| | - Pat Sandra
- RIC group, President Kennedypark 26, Kortrijk 8500, Belgium; Separation Science Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281-S4, Ghent B-9000, Belgium
| | - Frederic Lynen
- Separation Science Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281-S4, Ghent B-9000, Belgium
| | - Koen Sandra
- RIC group, President Kennedypark 26, Kortrijk 8500, Belgium; Separation Science Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281-S4, Ghent B-9000, Belgium.
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15
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Ma F, Raoufi F, Bailly MA, Fayadat-Dilman L, Tomazela D. Hyphenation of strong cation exchange chromatography to native mass spectrometry for high throughput online characterization of charge heterogeneity of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. MAbs 2021; 12:1763762. [PMID: 32370592 PMCID: PMC7299211 DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2020.1763762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Characterization of charge heterogeneity in monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) is needed during developability assessment and downstream development of drug candidates. Charge heterogeneity can come from post-translational modifications like deamidation, isomerization, and sialylation. Elucidation of charge variants with mass spectrometry (MS) has historically been challenging. Due to the nonvolatility and high ionic strength of conventional buffer systems, labor-intensive offline fractionation followed by MS analysis is routinely used. Here, we describe an alternative strategy that directly couples strong cation exchange (SCX) chromatography to high-resolution Orbitrap MS for online native MS analysis (SCX-MS). A combined pH and salt gradient was used for universal separation of mAbs from a wide range of pI values (6.38 ~ 9.2), including infliximab (Remicade®, chimeric IgG1/kappa), NISTmab (humanized IgG1/kappa) and trastuzumab (Herceptin®, humanized IgG1/kappa), without tailoring of chromatographic profiles. Liquid chromatography and MS parameters were optimized to achieve high-quality spectra and enhanced detection of low abundant species under high flow rate conditions. Genedata Expressionist, a vendor agnostic software, was used for data processing. This integrated strategy allows unbiased characterization of numerous charge variant species and low molecular weight fragments (<0.05%) without post-column flow splitting. The application was further expanded with middle-up approaches for subdomain analysis, which demonstrated the versatility of the strategy for analysis of various construct types. With our analysis of mAbs during developability assessment and forced degradation studies, which aimed at assessing potential critical quality attributes in antibody drug molecules, we provide, for the first time, direct visualization of molecular alterations of mAbs at intact level. Furthermore, strong correlation was observed between this novel MS approach and analysis by capillary isoelectric focusing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fengfei Ma
- Protein Sciences, Discovery Biologics, Merck & Co., Inc., South San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Fahimeh Raoufi
- Protein Sciences, Discovery Biologics, Merck & Co., Inc., South San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Marc Andre Bailly
- Protein Sciences, Discovery Biologics, Merck & Co., Inc., South San Francisco, CA, USA
| | | | - Daniela Tomazela
- Protein Sciences, Discovery Biologics, Merck & Co., Inc., South San Francisco, CA, USA
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16
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Cao M, Parthemore C, Jiao Y, Korman S, Aspelund M, Hunter A, Kilby G, Chen X. Characterization and Monitoring of a Novel Light-heavy-light Chain Mispair in a Therapeutic Bispecific Antibody. J Pharm Sci 2021; 110:2904-2915. [PMID: 33894207 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2021.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2021] [Revised: 04/15/2021] [Accepted: 04/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Site-specific cysteine engineering, along with other genetic mutations, is broadly implemented in bispecific antibodies (bsAb). Thus far, homodimer, half hole antibody, one-light chain mispaired and light chain swapped variants have been reported as chain-pairing variants for the asymmetric IgG-like bispecific antibodies. Here we report a novel mispair in which the CH3 engineered cysteine on the hole heavy chain (HC) of a knob-into-hole (KiH) bsAb is linked to the engineered cysteine in CL through a disulfide bond, forming a LHL species in a bsAb construct. Due to its impact on bioactivity, it is critical to implement an analytical strategy to monitor this CQA and mitigate risk for the future products. A set of orthogonal physicochemical assays that include hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC), capillary electrophoresis sodium dodecyl sulfate (CE-SDS), reverse phase liquid chromatography ultra-performance chromatography mass spectrometry (RP-UPLC MS) and disulfide bond mapping have been utilized to monitor and characterize this chain-pairing impurity for manufacturing process control and product release. Our data shows the LHL mispair in condition medium (CM) is approximately 1.3 - 1.9%. LambdaFabSelect affinity chromatography removes two major chain-pairing variants in CM - i.e. the hole-hole homodimer and hole half-antibody, while retaining the LHL species. Process improvement in Capto Q (anion exchange) and HS50 (cation exchange) chromatography steps removes LHL to as low as 0.2% in the final product. We have demonstrated an orthogonal analytical methodology that is capable of characterizing and monitoring bsAb mispairing, suitable for use in manufacturing process control and product release, and can be potentially implemented for similar bsAb constructs with engineered disulfide bonds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingyan Cao
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, Biopharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, One Medimmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878, United States.
| | - Conner Parthemore
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, Biopharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, One Medimmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878, United States
| | - Yang Jiao
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, Biopharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, One Medimmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878, United States
| | - Samuel Korman
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, Biopharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, One Medimmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878, United States
| | - Matthew Aspelund
- Purification Process Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, Biopharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, One Medimmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878, United States
| | - Alan Hunter
- Purification Process Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, Biopharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, One Medimmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878, United States
| | - Greg Kilby
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, Biopharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, One Medimmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878, United States
| | - Xiaoyu Chen
- Analytical Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, Biopharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, One Medimmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878, United States.
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17
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Lee CH, Lou YC, Wang AHJ. DMTMM-Mediated Intramolecular Cyclization of Acidic Residues in Peptides/Proteins. ACS OMEGA 2021; 6:4708-4718. [PMID: 33644578 PMCID: PMC7905807 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c05503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2020] [Accepted: 01/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The formation of succinimide in proteins has attracted considerable attention in protein aging and biopharmaceutical research. The succinimide formation occurs spontaneously in proteins and is prone to hydrolysis to yield aspartate and isoaspartate, resulting in altered protein functions. Herein, we demonstrated that the coupling reagent 4-(4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)-4-methylmorpholinium chloride (DMTMM) can mediate intramolecular cyclization of aspartic acid to form succinimide efficiently in the LL37-derived short antimicrobial peptide KR12. The formation of succinimide in KR12 was confirmed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance. Moreover, the succinimide-containing KR12 displayed decreased antimicrobial activity, helicity, and serum stability in comparison with unmodified KR12. The succinimide formation usually changes the protein structure and function, and only in rare cases, it can help to maintain the protein stability. In addition to succinimide, DMTMM can also mediate intraresidue cyclization of N-terminal glutamate to form pyroglutamate. Our work thus provides a convenient and efficient method for preparation of succinimide/pyroglutamate-containing peptides, which can be used for studying their impact on peptide/protein function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chi-Hua Lee
- Institute
of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan
| | - Yuan-Chao Lou
- Biomedical
Translation Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan
| | - Andrew H.-J. Wang
- Institute
of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan
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18
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Shi RL, Xiao G, Dillon TM, McAuley A, Ricci MS, Bondarenko PV. Identification of critical chemical modifications by size exclusion chromatography of stressed antibody-target complexes with competitive binding. MAbs 2021; 13:1887612. [PMID: 33616001 PMCID: PMC7899689 DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2021.1887612] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Chemical modifications (attributes) in the binding regions of stressed therapeutic proteins may affect binding to target and efficacy of therapeutic proteins. The method presented here describes the criticality assessment of therapeutic antibody modifications by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) of competitive binding between a stressed antibody and its target, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2), followed by SEC fractionation and peptide mapping characterization of bound and unbound antibodies. When stressed antibody and its target were mixed at a stoichiometric molar ratio of 1:2, only antibody-receptor complex eluted from SEC, indicating that binding was not decreased to break the complex. When a smaller amount of the receptor was provided (1:1), the antibody species with modifications reducing binding eluted as unbound from SEC, while the antibody-receptor complex eluted as the bound fraction. Peptide mapping revealed ratios of modifications between unbound and bound fractions. Statistical analysis after triplicate measurements (n = 3) indicated that heavy chain (HC) D102 isomerization and light chain (LC) N30 deamidation were four-fold higher in unbound fraction with high statistical significance. Although HC N55 deamidation and M107 oxidation were also abundant, they were not statistically different between unbound and bound. Our findings agree with previously published potency measurements of collected CEX fractions and the crystal structure of antibody and HER2. Overall, competitive SEC of stressed antibody-receptor mixture followed by peptide mapping is a useful tool in revealing critical residues and modifications involved in the antibody-target binding, even if they elute as a complex from SEC when mixed at 1:2 stoichiometric ratio.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel Liuqing Shi
- Attribute Sciences, Process Development, Amgen Inc , Thousand Oaks, CA, USA
| | - Gang Xiao
- Attribute Sciences, Process Development, Amgen Inc , Thousand Oaks, CA, USA
| | - Thomas M Dillon
- Attribute Sciences, Process Development, Amgen Inc , Thousand Oaks, CA, USA
| | - Arnold McAuley
- Drug Product Technologies, Process Development, Amgen Inc , Thousand Oaks, CA, USA
| | - Margaret S Ricci
- Attribute Sciences, Process Development, Amgen Inc , Thousand Oaks, CA, USA.,Drug Product Technologies, Process Development, Amgen Inc , Thousand Oaks, CA, USA
| | - Pavel V Bondarenko
- Attribute Sciences, Process Development, Amgen Inc , Thousand Oaks, CA, USA
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19
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Kuang J, Tao Y, Song Y, Chemmalil L, Mussa N, Ding J, Li ZJ. Understanding the pathway and kinetics of aspartic acid isomerization in peptide mapping methods for monoclonal antibodies. Anal Bioanal Chem 2021; 413:2113-2123. [PMID: 33543314 DOI: 10.1007/s00216-021-03176-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2020] [Revised: 12/28/2020] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Isomerization of aspartic acid (Asp) in therapeutic proteins could lead to safety and efficacy concerns. Thus, accurate quantitation of various Asp isomerization along with kinetic understanding of the variant formations is needed to ensure optimal process development and sufficient product quality control. In this study, we first observed Asp-succinimide conversion in complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) Asp-Gly motif of a recombinant mAb through ion exchange chromatography, intact protein analysis by mass spectrometry, and LC-MS/MS. Then, we developed a specific peptide mapping method, with optimized sample digestion conditions, to accurately quantitate Asp-succinimide-isoAsp variants at peptide level without method-induced isomerization. Various kinetics of Asp-succinimide-isoAsp isomerization pathways were elucidated using 18O labeling followed by LC-MS analysis. Molecular modeling and molecular dynamic simulation provide additional insight on the kinetics of Asp-succinimide formation and stability of succinimide intermediate. Findings of this work shed light on the molecular construct and the kinetics of the formation of isoAsp and succinimide in peptides and proteins, which facilitates analytical method development, protein engineering, and late phase development for commercialization of therapeutic proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- June Kuang
- Biologics Development Organization, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Devens, MA, 01434, USA
| | - Yuanqi Tao
- Biologics Development Organization, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Devens, MA, 01434, USA
- Analytical Science Biologics, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, Lexington, MA, 02421, USA
| | - Yuanli Song
- Biologics Development Organization, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Devens, MA, 01434, USA
- Process Development & Manufacture Operations, GSK, MA, 02451, Waltham, USA
| | - Letha Chemmalil
- Biologics Development Organization, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Devens, MA, 01434, USA
| | - Nesredin Mussa
- Biologics Development Organization, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Devens, MA, 01434, USA
- Ultragenyx, CA, 94005, Brisbane, USA
| | - Julia Ding
- Biologics Development Organization, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Devens, MA, 01434, USA.
| | - Zheng Jian Li
- Biologics Development Organization, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Devens, MA, 01434, USA
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20
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Verscheure L, Oosterlynck M, Cerdobbel A, Sandra P, Lynen F, Sandra K. Middle-up characterization of monoclonal antibodies by online reduction liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. J Chromatogr A 2020; 1637:461808. [PMID: 33385741 DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2020.461808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2020] [Revised: 12/08/2020] [Accepted: 12/10/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
This study describes the fully automated middle-up characterization of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and next-generation variants by online reduction liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Proteins were trapped on-column and subjected to online desalting, denaturation and reduction prior to reversed phase elution of the created subunits in the MS. The evaluation of more than 20 different therapeutic proteins including full length mAbs (subclasses IgG1, IgG2 and IgG4), bispecific antibodies, antibody fragments, fusion proteins and antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) revealed that the online reduction method is as powerful as the widely applied offline sample preparation with dithiothreitol (DTT) as reducing agent and guanidine hydrochloride (Gnd.HCl) as denaturant and tackles some major disadvantages associated with the latter method, i.e. corrosion of stainless steel components, adduct formation impacting spectral quality and sample stability. The value of the online reduction LC-MS method is also enforced by its ability to reveal unstable antibody variants such as succinimide intermediates of asparagine deamidation and aspartic acid isomerization which are often lost when using the offline sample preparation method. The performance of the online reduction LC-MS set-up was verified and it was revealed that the method is precise with RSD values below 0.25% and 3.0% for retention time and area, respectively. Carry-over is within acceptable limits (< 0.5%) and the reducing buffer is stable up to 24 hours.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liesa Verscheure
- Research Institute for Chromatography (RIC), President Kennedypark 26, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium; Separation Science Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281-S4, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Marie Oosterlynck
- Chemistry Department, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, bus 2404, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - An Cerdobbel
- Research Institute for Chromatography (RIC), President Kennedypark 26, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium
| | - Pat Sandra
- Research Institute for Chromatography (RIC), President Kennedypark 26, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium; Separation Science Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281-S4, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Frederic Lynen
- Separation Science Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281-S4, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Koen Sandra
- Research Institute for Chromatography (RIC), President Kennedypark 26, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium; Separation Science Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281-S4, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
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21
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Ying Y, Li H. Recent progress in the analysis of protein deamidation using mass spectrometry. Methods 2020; 200:42-57. [PMID: 32544593 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2020.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2020] [Revised: 05/15/2020] [Accepted: 06/11/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Deamidation is a nonenzymatic and spontaneous posttranslational modification (PTM) that introduces changes in both structure and charge of proteins, strongly associated with aging proteome instability and degenerative diseases. Deamidation is also a common PTM occurring in biopharmaceutical proteins, representing a major cause of degradation. Therefore, characterization of deamidation alongside its inter-related modifications, isomerization and racemization, is critically important to understand their roles in protein stability and diseases. Mass spectrometry (MS) has become an indispensable tool in site-specific identification of PTMs for proteomics and structural studies. In this review, we focus on the recent advances of MS analysis in protein deamidation. In particular, we provide an update on sample preparation, chromatographic separation, and MS technologies at multi-level scales, for accurate and reliable characterization of protein deamidation in both simple and complex biological samples, yielding important new insight on how deamidation together with isomerization and racemization occurs. These technological progresses will lead to a better understanding of how deamidation contributes to the pathology of aging and other degenerative diseases and the development of biopharmaceutical drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yujia Ying
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Sun Yat-sen University, No.132 Wai Huan Dong Lu, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou 510006, China; School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, China
| | - Huilin Li
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Sun Yat-sen University, No.132 Wai Huan Dong Lu, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou 510006, China; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Chiral Molecule and Drug Discovery, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510006, China.
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22
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Unique Impacts of Methionine Oxidation, Tryptophan Oxidation, and Asparagine Deamidation on Antibody Stability and Aggregation. J Pharm Sci 2020; 109:656-669. [DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2019.10.051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2019] [Revised: 10/22/2019] [Accepted: 10/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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23
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Chen T, Han J, Guo G, Wang Q, Wang Y, Li Y. Monitoring removal of hole-hole homodimer by analytical hydrophobic interaction chromatography in purifying a bispecific antibody. Protein Expr Purif 2019; 164:105457. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pep.2019.105457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2019] [Revised: 07/17/2019] [Accepted: 07/22/2019] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
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24
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Cao M, Xu W, Niu B, Kabundi I, Luo H, Prophet M, Chen W, Liu D, Saveliev SV, Urh M, Wang J. An Automated and Qualified Platform Method for Site-Specific Succinimide and Deamidation Quantitation Using Low-pH Peptide Mapping. J Pharm Sci 2019; 108:3540-3549. [DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2019.07.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2019] [Revised: 07/26/2019] [Accepted: 07/26/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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25
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Zhou K, Cao X, Bautista J, Chen Z, Hershey N, Ludwig R, Tao L, Zeng M, Das TK. Structure-Function Assessment and High-Throughput Quantification of Site-Specific Aspartate Isomerization in Monoclonal Antibody Using a Novel Analytical Tool Kit. J Pharm Sci 2019; 109:422-428. [PMID: 31469998 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2019.08.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2019] [Revised: 08/14/2019] [Accepted: 08/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Isomerization of surface-exposed aspartic acid (Asp) in the complementarity-determining regions of therapeutic proteins could potentially impact their target binding affinity because of the sensitive location, and often requires complex analytical tactics to understand its effect on structure-function and stability. Inaccurate quantitation of Asp-isomerized variants, especially the succinimide intermediate, presents major challenge in understanding Asp degradation kinetics, its stability, and consequently establishing a robust control strategy. As a practical solution to this problem, a comprehensive analytical tool kit has been developed, which provides a solution to fully characterize and accurately quantify the Asp-related product variants. The toolkit offers a combination of 2 steps, an ion-exchange chromatography method to separate and enrich the isomerized variants in the folded structure for structure-function evaluation and a novel focused peptide mapping method to quantify the individual complementarity-determining region isomerization components including the unmodified Asp, succinimide, and isoaspartate. This novel procedure allowed an accurate quantification of each Asp-related variant and a comprehensive assessment of the functional impact of Asp isomerization, which ultimately helped to establish an appropriate control strategy for this critical quality attribute.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaimeng Zhou
- Drug Product Science and Technology, Bristol-Myers Squibb, 1 Squibb Drive, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901
| | - Xiang Cao
- Analytical Development, BioTherapeutics Development, Janssen Research & Development, LLC, 200 Great Valley Pkwy, Malvern, Pennsylvania 19355
| | - James Bautista
- Drug Product Science and Technology, Bristol-Myers Squibb, 1 Squibb Drive, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901
| | - Zhi Chen
- Drug Product Science and Technology, Bristol-Myers Squibb, 1 Squibb Drive, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901
| | - Neil Hershey
- Analytical Development, BioTherapeutics Development, Janssen Research & Development, LLC, 200 Great Valley Pkwy, Malvern, Pennsylvania 19355
| | - Richard Ludwig
- Biophysical and Chemical Characterization Center of Excellence, Bristol-Myers Squibb, 311 Pennington Rocky Hill Rd, Pennington, New Jersey 08534
| | - Li Tao
- Biophysical and Chemical Characterization Center of Excellence, Bristol-Myers Squibb, 311 Pennington Rocky Hill Rd, Pennington, New Jersey 08534
| | - Ming Zeng
- Drug Product Science and Technology, Bristol-Myers Squibb, 1 Squibb Drive, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901.
| | - Tapan K Das
- Biophysical and Chemical Characterization Center of Excellence, Bristol-Myers Squibb, 311 Pennington Rocky Hill Rd, Pennington, New Jersey 08534
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26
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Qiu H, Wei R, Jaworski J, Boudanova E, Hughes H, VanPatten S, Lund A, Day J, Zhou Y, McSherry T, Pan CQ, Sendak R. Engineering an anti-CD52 antibody for enhanced deamidation stability. MAbs 2019; 11:1266-1275. [PMID: 31199181 PMCID: PMC6748592 DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2019.1631117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Deamidation evaluation and mitigation is an important aspect of therapeutic antibody developability assessment. We investigated the structure and function of the Asn-Gly deamidation in a human anti-CD52 IgG1 antibody light chain complementarity-determining region 1, and risk mitigation through protein engineering. Antigen binding affinity was found to decrease about 400-fold when Asn33 was replaced with an Asp residue to mimic the deamidation product, suggesting significant impacts on antibody function. Other variants made at Asn33 (N33H, N33Q, N33H, N33R) were also found to result in significant loss of antigen binding affinity. The co-crystal structure of the antigen-binding fragment bound to a CD52 peptide mimetic was solved at 2.2Å (PDB code 6OBD), which revealed that Asn33 directly interacts with the CD52 phosphate group via a hydrogen bond. Gly34, but sits away from the binding interface, rendering it more amendable to mutagenesis without affecting affinity. Saturation mutants at Gly34 were prepared and subjected to forced deamidation by incubation at elevated pH and temperature. Three mutants (G34R, G34K and G34Q) showed increased resistance to deamidation by LC-MS peptide mapping, while maintaining high binding affinity to CD52 antigen measured by Biacore. A complement -dependent cytotoxicity assay indicated that these mutants function by triggering antibody effector function. This study illustrates the importance of structure-based design and extensive mutagenesis to mitigate antibody developability issues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huawei Qiu
- Biologics Research, Sanofi , Framingham , MA , USA
| | - Ronnie Wei
- Biologics Research, Sanofi , Framingham , MA , USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Anders Lund
- Biologics Development, Sanofi , Framingham , MA , USA
| | - Jaime Day
- Biologics Development, Sanofi , Framingham , MA , USA
| | - Yanfeng Zhou
- Biologics Research, Sanofi , Framingham , MA , USA
| | | | - Clark Q Pan
- Biologics Research, Sanofi , Framingham , MA , USA
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