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Yüce M, Sert F, Torabfam M, Parlar A, Gürel B, Çakır N, Dağlıkoca DE, Khan MA, Çapan Y. Fractionated charge variants of biosimilars: A review of separation methods, structural and functional analysis. Anal Chim Acta 2021; 1152:238189. [PMID: 33648647 DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2020.12.064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2020] [Revised: 12/28/2020] [Accepted: 12/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The similarity between originator and biosimilar monoclonal antibody candidates are rigorously assessed based on primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary structures, and biological functions. Minor differences in such parameters may alter target-binding, potency, efficacy, or half-life of the molecule. The charge heterogeneity analysis is a prerequisite for all biotherapeutics. Monoclonal antibodies are prone to enzymatic or non-enzymatic structural modifications during or after the production processes, leading to the formation of fragments or aggregates, various glycoforms, oxidized, deamidated, and other degraded residues, reduced Fab region binding activity or altered FcR binding activity. Therefore, the charge variant profiles of the monoclonal antibodies must be regularly and thoroughly evaluated. Comparative structural and functional analysis of physically separated or fractioned charged variants of monoclonal antibodies has gained significant attention in the last few years. The fraction-based charge variant analysis has proved very useful for the biosimilar candidates comprising of unexpected charge isoforms. In this report, the key methods for the physical separation of monoclonal antibody charge variants, structural and functional analyses by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and surface plasmon resonance techniques were reviewed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meral Yüce
- Sabanci University, SUNUM Nanotechnology Research and Application Center, 34956, Istanbul, Turkey.
| | - Fatma Sert
- Sabanci University, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, 34956, Istanbul, Turkey; ILKO ARGEM Biotechnology R&D Center, 34906, Pendik, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Milad Torabfam
- Sabanci University, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, 34956, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Ayhan Parlar
- Sabanci University, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, 34956, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Büşra Gürel
- Sabanci University, SUNUM Nanotechnology Research and Application Center, 34956, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Nilüfer Çakır
- Sabanci University, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, 34956, Istanbul, Turkey; ILKO ARGEM Biotechnology R&D Center, 34906, Pendik, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Duygu E Dağlıkoca
- ILKO ARGEM Biotechnology R&D Center, 34906, Pendik, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Mansoor A Khan
- Texas A&M Health Sciences Centre, Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy, TX, 77843, USA
| | - Yılmaz Çapan
- ILKO ARGEM Biotechnology R&D Center, 34906, Pendik, Istanbul, Turkey; Hacettepe University, Faculty of Pharmacy, 06100, Ankara, Turkey.
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Farsang E, Horváth K, Beck A, Wang Q, Lauber M, Guillarme D, Fekete S. Impact of the column on effluent pH in cation exchange pH gradient chromatography, a practical study. J Chromatogr A 2020; 1626:461350. [PMID: 32797830 DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2020.461350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2020] [Revised: 06/09/2020] [Accepted: 06/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
In ionexchange chromatography, the pH gradient mode becomes more and more popular today for the analysis of therapeutic proteins as this mode can provide higher or alternative selectivity to the commonly used salt gradient mode. Ideally, a linear pH response is expected when performing linear gradients. However up to now, only a very few buffer systems have been developed and are commercially available which can perform nearly linear pH responses when flowing through a given column. It is also known that a selected buffer system (mobile phase) can work well on one column but can fail on other column. The goal of this study was to practically evaluate the effects that ionexchange columns (weak and strong exchangers) might have on effluent pH, when performing linear pH gradient separations of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. To attain this objective, the pH was monitored on-line at the column outlet using a specific setup. To make comprehensive observations of the phenomenon, four different mobile phase conditions and five cation exchange columns (weak and strong exchangers) were employed. The obtained pH responses were systematically compared to responses measured in the absence of the columns. From this work, it has become clear that both the column and mobile phase can have significant effects on pH gradient chromatography and that their combination must be considered when developing a new method. Phase systems (column + mobile phase) providing linear pH responses are indeed the most suitable for separating mAbs with different isoelectric points and, with them, it is possible to elute mAbs across wide retention time ranges and with high selectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evelin Farsang
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Pannonia, Egyetem u. 10., H-8200 Veszprém, Hungary
| | - Krisztián Horváth
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Pannonia, Egyetem u. 10., H-8200 Veszprém, Hungary
| | - Alain Beck
- Center of Immunology Pierre Fabre, 5 Avenue Napoléon III, BP 60497, 74160 Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, France
| | - Qi Wang
- Waters Corporation, 34 Maple Street, Milford, MA 01757-3696, United States; Current Address: Bristol Myers Squibb, 38 Jackson Rd, Devens, MA 01434, United States
| | - Matthew Lauber
- Waters Corporation, 34 Maple Street, Milford, MA 01757-3696, United States
| | - Davy Guillarme
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland, University of Geneva, CMU-Rue Michel Servet 1, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland
| | - Szabolcs Fekete
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland, University of Geneva, CMU-Rue Michel Servet 1, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland.
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Impact of mammalian cell culture conditions on monoclonal antibody charge heterogeneity: an accessory monitoring tool for process development. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 2019; 46:1167-1178. [PMID: 31175523 PMCID: PMC6697719 DOI: 10.1007/s10295-019-02202-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2018] [Accepted: 05/30/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Recombinant monoclonal antibodies are predominantly produced in mammalian cell culture bioprocesses. Post-translational modifications affect the micro-heterogeneity of the product and thereby influence important quality attributes, such as stability, solubility, pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. The analysis of the surface charge distribution of monoclonal antibodies provides aggregated information about these modifications. In this work, we established a direct injection pH gradient cation exchange chromatography method, which determines charge heterogeneity from cell culture supernatant without any purification steps. This tool was further applied to monitor processes that were performed under certain process conditions. Concretely, we were able to provide insights into charge variant formation during a fed-batch process of a Chinese hamster ovary cell culture, in turn producing a monoclonal antibody under varying temperatures and glucose feed strategies. Glucose concentration impacted the total emergence of acidic variants, whereas the variation of basic species was mainly dependent on process temperature. The formation rates of acidic species were described with a second-order reaction, where a temperature increase favored the conversion. This platform method will aid as a sophisticated optimization tool for mammalian cell culture processes. It provides a quality fingerprint for the produced mAb, which can be tested, compared to the desired target and confirmed early in the process chain.
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Kahle J, Wätzig H. Determination of protein charge variants with (imaged) capillary isoelectric focusing and capillary zone electrophoresis. Electrophoresis 2018; 39:2492-2511. [DOI: 10.1002/elps.201800079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2018] [Revised: 04/03/2018] [Accepted: 04/17/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Julia Kahle
- Technische Universität Braunschweig; Institute of Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry; Braunschweig Germany
| | - Hermann Wätzig
- Technische Universität Braunschweig; Institute of Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry; Braunschweig Germany
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Goyon A, Excoffier M, Janin-Bussat MC, Bobaly B, Fekete S, Guillarme D, Beck A. Determination of isoelectric points and relative charge variants of 23 therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci 2017; 1065-1066:119-128. [PMID: 28961486 DOI: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2017.09.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 119] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2017] [Revised: 09/19/2017] [Accepted: 09/20/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Despite the popularity of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), data relative to their ionic physico-chemical properties are very scarce in the literature. In this work, isoelectric points (pIs) of 23 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved mAbs were determined by imaged capillary isoelectric focusing (icIEF), and ranged from 6.1 to 9.4. The obtained values were in good agreement with those calculated by both Vector NTI and MassLynx softwares. icIEF can therefore be considered as a reference technique for such a determination. The relative percentages of acidic and basic variants determined by cation exchange chromatography (CEX) using both salt- and pH-gradients were comprised between 15% and 30% for most mAbs and were in good agreement with each other, whereas generic icIEF seems to overestimate the amount of acidic charge variants in mAb products. To our knowledge, this is the first study focusing on the ionic properties of a wide range of FDA and EMA approved reference mAbs, using both generic chromatographic and electrophoretic methodologies. To illustrate the interest of the study for mAb developability purposes, ionic properties of a clinical mAb candidate (dalotuzumab) were also investigated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Goyon
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, University of Lausanne, Centre Médical Universitaire (CMU), Rue Michel-Servet 1, 1206, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Melissa Excoffier
- Center of Immunology Pierre Fabre, 5 Avenue Napoléon III, BP 60497, 74160 Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, France
| | - Marie-Claire Janin-Bussat
- Center of Immunology Pierre Fabre, 5 Avenue Napoléon III, BP 60497, 74160 Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, France
| | - Balazs Bobaly
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, University of Lausanne, Centre Médical Universitaire (CMU), Rue Michel-Servet 1, 1206, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Szabolcs Fekete
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, University of Lausanne, Centre Médical Universitaire (CMU), Rue Michel-Servet 1, 1206, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Davy Guillarme
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, University of Lausanne, Centre Médical Universitaire (CMU), Rue Michel-Servet 1, 1206, Geneva, Switzerland.
| | - Alain Beck
- Center of Immunology Pierre Fabre, 5 Avenue Napoléon III, BP 60497, 74160 Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, France
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Rustandi RR, Wang F, Lancaster C, Kristopeit A, Thiriot DS, Heinrichs JH. Ion-Exchange Chromatography to Analyze Components of a Clostridium difficile Vaccine. Methods Mol Biol 2016; 1476:269-277. [PMID: 27507348 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-6361-4_20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Ion-exchange (IEX) chromatography is one of many separation techniques that can be employed to analyze proteins. The separation mechanism is based on a reversible interaction between charged amino acids of a protein to the charged ligands attached to a column at a given pH. This interaction depends on both the pI and conformation of the protein being analyzed. The proteins are eluted by increasing the salt concentration or pH gradient. Here we describe the use of this technique to characterize the charge variant heterogeneities and to monitor stability of four protein antigen components of a Clostridium difficile vaccine. Furthermore, the IEX technique can be used to monitor reversion to toxicity for formaldehyde-treated Clostridium difficile toxins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard R Rustandi
- Vaccine Analytical Department, Merck Research Laboratories, Merck & Co., Inc., 770 Sumneytown Pike, P.O. Box 4, WP42A-30, West Point, PA, 19486, USA.
| | - Feng Wang
- Merck Research Laboratories, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA
| | - Catherine Lancaster
- Vaccine Analytical Department, Merck Research Laboratories, Merck & Co., Inc., West Point, PA, USA
| | - Adam Kristopeit
- Merck Research Laboratories, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA
| | - David S Thiriot
- Merck Research Laboratories, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA
| | - Jon H Heinrichs
- Merck Research Laboratories, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA
- Sanofi Pasteur, Swiftwater, PA, USA
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Rustandi RR, Hamm M, Lancaster C, Loughney JW. Applications of an Automated and Quantitative CE-Based Size and Charge Western Blot for Therapeutic Proteins and Vaccines. Methods Mol Biol 2016; 1466:197-217. [PMID: 27473492 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-4014-1_16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) is a versatile and indispensable analytical tool that can be applied to characterize proteins. In recent years, labor-intensive SDS-PAGE and IEF slab gels have been replaced with CE-SDS (CGE) and CE-IEF methods, respectively, in the biopharmaceutical industry. These two CE-based methods are now an industry standard and are an expectation of the regulatory agencies for biologics characterization. Another important and traditional slab gel technique is the western blot, which detects proteins using immuno-specific reagents after SDS-PAGE separation. This technique is widely used across industrial and academic laboratories, but it is very laborious, manual, time-consuming, and only semi-quantitative. Here, we describe the applications of a relatively new CE-based western blot technology which is automated, fast, and quantitative. We have used this technology for both charge- and size-based CE westerns to analyze biotherapeutic and vaccine products. The size-based capillary western can be used for fast antibody screening, clone selection, product titer, identity, and degradation while the charge-based capillary western can be used to study product charge heterogeneity. Examples using this technology for monoclonal antibody (mAb), Enbrel, CRM197, and Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) vaccine proteins are presented here to demonstrate the utility of the capillary western techniques. Details of sample preparation and experimental conditions for each capillary western mode are described in this chapter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard R Rustandi
- Merck Research Laboratories, Vaccine Analytical Development, 770 Sumneytown Pike, WP42A-30, P.O. Box 4, West Point, PA, 19486, USA.
| | - Melissa Hamm
- Merck Research Laboratories, Vaccine Analytical Development, 770 Sumneytown Pike, WP42A-30, P.O. Box 4, West Point, PA, 19486, USA
| | - Catherine Lancaster
- Merck Research Laboratories, Vaccine Analytical Development, 770 Sumneytown Pike, WP42A-30, P.O. Box 4, West Point, PA, 19486, USA
| | - John W Loughney
- Merck Research Laboratories, Vaccine Analytical Development, 770 Sumneytown Pike, WP42A-30, P.O. Box 4, West Point, PA, 19486, USA
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Hamm M, Wang F, Rustandi RR. Development of a capillary zone electrophoresis method for dose determination in a tetravalent dengue vaccine candidate. Electrophoresis 2015; 36:2687-2694. [PMID: 26335452 DOI: 10.1002/elps.201500186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2015] [Revised: 08/25/2015] [Accepted: 08/27/2015] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Dengue is known to cause morbidity and mortality worldwide and currently there is neither available specific therapeutics to treat nor a vaccine to prevent this disease. Although efforts are being made, development of a vaccine against this disease remains challenging. Hawaii Biotech Inc developed a recombinant subunit envelope protein-based vaccine against all four serotypes produced in Drosophila S2 cells which were transferred over to Merck in 2010. Each subunit of the four dengue serotypes contains the N-terminal 80% of the amino acids comprising the envelope protein (DEN-80E). A Phase 1 study using only monovalent DEN1-80E was done by Hawaii Biotech Inc and most recently, a Phase 1 clinical trial of the tetravalent DEN-80E formulation (V180) was conducted. Here, we report the development of a dose assay for the tetravalent dengue vaccine-containing subunit protein of DEN1-80E, DEN2-80E, DEN3-80E, and DEN4-80E using various separation methods such as HPLC and CE. Based on the results of the comparison, the CZE separation was chosen as the most suitable method to perform the dose assay for the tetravalent dengue vaccine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa Hamm
- Vaccine Analytical Development, Merck Research Laboratories, West Point, PA, USA
| | - Feng Wang
- Vaccine Analytical Development, Merck Research Laboratories, West Point, PA, USA
| | - Richard R Rustandi
- Vaccine Analytical Development, Merck Research Laboratories, West Point, PA, USA
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Rustandi RR, Peklansky B, Anderson CL. Use of imaged capillary isoelectric focusing technique in development of diphtheria toxin mutant CRM197. Electrophoresis 2014; 35:1065-71. [PMID: 24375281 DOI: 10.1002/elps.201300386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2013] [Revised: 11/26/2013] [Accepted: 12/16/2013] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Richard R. Rustandi
- Vaccine Analytical Development; Merck Research Laboratories; West Point PA USA
| | - Brian Peklansky
- Vaccine Analytical Development; Merck Research Laboratories; West Point PA USA
| | - Carrie L. Anderson
- Vaccine Analytical Development; Merck Research Laboratories; West Point PA USA
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Rustandi RR, Wang F, Hamm C, Cuciniello JJ, Marley ML. Development of imaged capillary isoelectric focusing method and use of capillary zone electrophoresis in hepatitis B vaccine RECOMBIVAX HB®. Electrophoresis 2013; 35:1072-8. [PMID: 24812686 DOI: 10.1002/elps.201300422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Richard R. Rustandi
- Vaccine Analytical Development; Merck Research Laboratories; West Point PA USA
| | - Feng Wang
- Vaccine Analytical Development; Merck Research Laboratories; West Point PA USA
| | - Christopher Hamm
- Vaccine Analytical Development; Merck Research Laboratories; West Point PA USA
| | - Joseph J. Cuciniello
- Biologic Critical Reagents-Biochemistry; Merck Manufacturing Division; West Point PA USA
| | - Michelle L. Marley
- Biologic Critical Reagents-Biochemistry; Merck Manufacturing Division; West Point PA USA
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Talebi M, Nordborg A, Gaspar A, Lacher NA, Wang Q, He XZ, Haddad PR, Hilder EF. Charge heterogeneity profiling of monoclonal antibodies using low ionic strength ion-exchange chromatography and well-controlled pH gradients on monolithic columns. J Chromatogr A 2013; 1317:148-54. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2013.08.061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2013] [Revised: 08/13/2013] [Accepted: 08/16/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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