101
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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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102
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Kingsbury JS, Lantz MM, Saini A, Wang MZ, Gokarn YR. Characterization of Opalescence in low Volume Monoclonal Antibody Solutions Enabled by Microscale Nephelometry. J Pharm Sci 2021; 110:3176-3182. [PMID: 34004217 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2021.05.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Revised: 05/08/2021] [Accepted: 05/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Monoclonal antibody (mAb)-based drugs are often prone to unfavorable solution behaviors including high viscosity, opalescence, phase separation, and aggregation at the high concentrations needed to enable patient-centric subcutaneous dosage forms. Given that these can have a detrimental impact on manufacturability, stability, and delivery, approaches to identifying, monitoring, and controlling these behaviors during drug development are critical. Opalescence presents a significant challenge due to its relationship to liquid-liquid phase separation. Quantitative characterization of opalescence via turbidimetry is often restrictive due to large volume requirements (>2 mL) and alternative microscale approaches based on light transmittance (Eckhardt et al., J Pharm Sci Technol. 1994, 48: 64-70) may pose challenging with respect to accuracy. To address the need for accurate and quantitative microscale opalescence measurements, we have evaluated the use of a 'de-tuned' static light scattering detector which requires <10 μL sample per measurement. We show that tuning of the laser power to a range far below that of traditional light scattering measurements results in a stable detector response that can be accurately calibrated to the nephelometric turbidity unit (NTU) scale using appropriate standards. The calibrated detector signal yields NTU values for mAbs and other protein solutions that are comparable to a commercial turbidimeter. We used this microscale approach to characterize the opalescence of 48 commercial mAb drug products and found that the majority have opalescence below 15 NTU. However, in products with mAb concentrations greater than 75 mg/mL, a broad range of opalescence was observed, in a few cases greater than 20 NTU. These measurements as well as nephelometric characterization of several IgG1 and IgG4 mAbs across a broad pH range highlight subclass-specific tendencies toward opalescence in high concentration solutions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Amandeep Saini
- Global CMC Development, Sanofi, Framingham, MA, 01701 USA
| | - Michael Z Wang
- Global CMC Development, Sanofi, Framingham, MA, 01701 USA.
| | - Yatin R Gokarn
- Global CMC Development, Sanofi, Framingham, MA, 01701 USA
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103
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Berner C, Menzen T, Winter G, Svilenov HL. Combining Unfolding Reversibility Studies and Molecular Dynamics Simulations to Select Aggregation-Resistant Antibodies. Mol Pharm 2021; 18:2242-2253. [PMID: 33928776 DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.1c00017] [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] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
The efficient development of new therapeutic antibodies relies on developability assessment with biophysical and computational methods to find molecules with drug-like properties such as resistance to aggregation. Despite the many novel approaches to select well-behaved proteins, antibody aggregation during storage is still challenging to predict. For this reason, there is a high demand for methods that can identify aggregation-resistant antibodies. Here, we show that three straightforward techniques can select the aggregation-resistant antibodies from a dataset with 13 molecules. The ReFOLD assay provided information about the ability of the antibodies to refold to monomers after unfolding with chemical denaturants. Modulated scanning fluorimetry (MSF) yielded the temperatures that start causing irreversible unfolding of the proteins. Aggregation was the main reason for poor unfolding reversibility in both ReFOLD and MSF experiments. We therefore performed temperature ramps in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to obtain partially unfolded antibody domains in silico and used CamSol to assess their aggregation potential. We compared the information from ReFOLD, MSF, and MD to size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) data that shows whether the antibodies aggregated during storage at 4, 25, and 40 °C. Contrary to the aggregation-prone molecules, the antibodies that were resistant to aggregation during storage at 40 °C shared three common features: (i) higher tendency to refold to monomers after unfolding with chemical denaturants, (ii) higher onset temperature of nonreversible unfolding, and (iii) unfolding of regions containing aggregation-prone sequences at higher temperatures in MD simulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolin Berner
- Department of Pharmacy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Butenandtstr. 5, 81377 Munich, Germany
| | - Tim Menzen
- Coriolis Pharma Research GmbH, Fraunhoferstr. 18 b, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Gerhard Winter
- Department of Pharmacy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Butenandtstr. 5, 81377 Munich, Germany
| | - Hristo L Svilenov
- Department of Pharmacy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Butenandtstr. 5, 81377 Munich, Germany
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104
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Chi B, De Oliveira G, Gallagher T, Mitchell L, Knightley L, Gonzalez CC, Russell S, Germaschewski V, Pearce C, Sellick CA. Pragmatic mAb lead molecule engineering from a developability perspective. Biotechnol Bioeng 2021; 118:3733-3743. [PMID: 33913507 DOI: 10.1002/bit.27802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2021] [Revised: 03/26/2021] [Accepted: 04/15/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
As the number of antibody drugs being approved and marketed increases, our knowledge of what makes potential drug candidates a successful product has increased tremendously. One of the critical parameters that have become clear in the field is the importance of mAb "developability." Efforts are being increasingly focused on simultaneously selecting molecules that exhibit both desirable biological potencies and manufacturability attributes. In the current study mutations to improve the developability profile of a problematic antibody that inconsistently precipitates in a batch scale-dependent fashion using a standard platform purification process are described. Initial bioinformatic analysis showed the molecule has no obvious sequence or structural liabilities that might lead it to precipitate. Subsequent analysis of the molecule revealed the presence of two unusual positively charged mutations on the light chain at the interface of VH and VL domains, which were hypothesized to be the primary contributor to molecule precipitation during process development. To investigate this hypothesis, straightforward reversion to the germline of these residues was carried out. The resulting mutants have improved expression titers and recovered stability within a forced precipitation assay, without any change to biological activity. Given the time pressures of drug development in industry, process optimization of the lead molecule was carried out in parallel to the "retrospective" mutagenesis approach. Bespoke process optimization for large-scale manufacturing was successful. However, we propose that such context-dependent sequence liabilities should be included in the arsenal of in silico developability screening early in development; particularly since this specific issue can be efficiently mitigated without the requirement for extensive screening of lead molecule variants.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Tom Gallagher
- Kymab Ltd., Cambridge, UK.,F-star Therapeutics Ltd., Cambridge, UK
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105
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Laustsen AH, Greiff V, Karatt-Vellatt A, Muyldermans S, Jenkins TP. Animal Immunization, in Vitro Display Technologies, and Machine Learning for Antibody Discovery. Trends Biotechnol 2021; 39:1263-1273. [PMID: 33775449 DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2021.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2021] [Revised: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 03/03/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
For years, a discussion has persevered on the benefits and drawbacks of antibody discovery using animal immunization versus in vitro selection from non-animal-derived recombinant repertoires using display technologies. While it has been argued that using recombinant display libraries can reduce animal consumption, we hold that the number of animals used in immunization campaigns is dwarfed by the number sacrificed during preclinical studies. Thus, improving quality control of antibodies before entering in vivo studies will have a larger impact on animal consumption. Both animal immunization and recombinant repertoires present unique advantages for discovering antibodies that are fit for purpose. Furthermore, we anticipate that machine learning will play a significant role within discovery workflows, refining current antibody discovery practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas H Laustsen
- Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
| | - Victor Greiff
- Department of Immunology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | | | - Serge Muyldermans
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Timothy P Jenkins
- Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
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106
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Narayanan H, Dingfelder F, Butté A, Lorenzen N, Sokolov M, Arosio P. Machine Learning for Biologics: Opportunities for Protein Engineering, Developability, and Formulation. Trends Pharmacol Sci 2021; 42:151-165. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tips.2020.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2020] [Revised: 12/10/2020] [Accepted: 12/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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107
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Mieczkowski C, Cheng A, Fischmann T, Hsieh M, Baker J, Uchida M, Raghunathan G, Strickland C, Fayadat-Dilman L. Characterization and Modeling of Reversible Antibody Self-Association Provide Insights into Behavior, Prediction, and Correction. Antibodies (Basel) 2021; 10:antib10010008. [PMID: 33671864 PMCID: PMC7931086 DOI: 10.3390/antib10010008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2020] [Revised: 12/24/2020] [Accepted: 02/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Reversible antibody self-association, while having major developability and therapeutic implications, is not fully understood or readily predictable and correctable. For a strongly self-associating humanized mAb variant, resulting in unacceptable viscosity, the monovalent affinity of self-interaction was measured in the low μM range, typical of many specific and biologically relevant protein-protein interactions. A face-to-face interaction model extending across both the heavy-chain (HC) and light-chain (LC) Complementary Determining Regions (CDRs) was apparent from biochemical and mutagenesis approaches as well as computational modeling. Light scattering experiments involving individual mAb, Fc, Fab, and Fab'2 domains revealed that Fabs self-interact to form dimers, while bivalent mAb/Fab'2 forms lead to significant oligomerization. Site-directed mutagenesis of aromatic residues identified by homology model patch analysis and self-docking dramatically affected self-association, demonstrating the utility of these predictive approaches, while revealing a highly specific and tunable nature of self-binding modulated by single point mutations. Mutagenesis at these same key HC/LC CDR positions that affect self-interaction also typically abolished target binding with notable exceptions, clearly demonstrating the difficulties yet possibility of correcting self-association through engineering. Clear correlations were also observed between different methods used to assess self-interaction, such as Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Affinity-Capture Self-Interaction Nanoparticle Spectroscopy (AC-SINS). Our findings advance our understanding of therapeutic protein and antibody self-association and offer insights into its prediction, evaluation and corrective mitigation to aid therapeutic development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carl Mieczkowski
- Discovery Biologics, Protein Sciences, Merck & Co., Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA; (C.M.); (M.H.); (J.B.); (M.U.); (G.R.); (L.F.-D.)
| | - Alan Cheng
- Discovery Chemistry, Modeling and Informatics, Merck & Co., Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-650-496-4834
| | - Thierry Fischmann
- Department of Chemistry, Modeling and Informatics, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ 07033, USA; (T.F.); (C.S.)
| | - Mark Hsieh
- Discovery Biologics, Protein Sciences, Merck & Co., Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA; (C.M.); (M.H.); (J.B.); (M.U.); (G.R.); (L.F.-D.)
| | - Jeanne Baker
- Discovery Biologics, Protein Sciences, Merck & Co., Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA; (C.M.); (M.H.); (J.B.); (M.U.); (G.R.); (L.F.-D.)
| | - Makiko Uchida
- Discovery Biologics, Protein Sciences, Merck & Co., Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA; (C.M.); (M.H.); (J.B.); (M.U.); (G.R.); (L.F.-D.)
| | - Gopalan Raghunathan
- Discovery Biologics, Protein Sciences, Merck & Co., Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA; (C.M.); (M.H.); (J.B.); (M.U.); (G.R.); (L.F.-D.)
| | - Corey Strickland
- Department of Chemistry, Modeling and Informatics, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ 07033, USA; (T.F.); (C.S.)
| | - Laurence Fayadat-Dilman
- Discovery Biologics, Protein Sciences, Merck & Co., Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA; (C.M.); (M.H.); (J.B.); (M.U.); (G.R.); (L.F.-D.)
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108
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Makowski EK, Wu L, Desai AA, Tessier PM. Highly sensitive detection of antibody nonspecific interactions using flow cytometry. MAbs 2021; 13:1951426. [PMID: 34313552 PMCID: PMC8317921 DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2021.1951426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Revised: 06/29/2021] [Accepted: 06/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The rapidly evolving nature of antibody drug development has resulted in technologies that generate vast numbers (hundreds to thousands) of lead antibody candidates during early discovery. These candidates must be rapidly pared down to identify the most drug-like candidates for in-depth analysis of their safety and efficacy, which can only be performed on a limited number of antibodies due to time and resource requirements. One key biophysical property of successful antibody therapeutics is high specificity, defined as low levels of nonspecific binding or polyspecificity. Although there has been some progress in developing assays for detecting antibody polyspecificity, most of these assays are limited by poor sensitivity or assay formats that require proprietary antibody surface display methods, and some of these assays use complex and poorly defined polyspecificity reagents. Here we report the PolySpecificity Particle (PSP) assay, a sensitive flow cytometry assay for evaluating antibody nonspecific interactions that overcomes previous limitations and can be used for evaluating diverse types of IgGs, multispecific antibodies and Fc-fusion proteins. Our approach uses micron-sized magnetic beads coated with Protein A to capture antibodies at extremely dilute concentrations (<0.02 mg/mL). Flow cytometry analysis of polyspecificity reagent binding to these conjugates results in sensitive detection of differences in nonspecific interactions for clinical-stage antibodies. Our PSP assay strongly discriminates between antibodies with different levels of polyspecificity using previously reported polyspecificity reagents that are either well-defined proteins or highly complex protein mixtures. Moreover, we also find that a unique reagent, namely ovalbumin, results in the best assay sensitivity and specificity. Importantly, our assay is much more sensitive than standard assays such as ELISAs. We expect that our simple, sensitive, and high-throughput PSP assay will accelerate the development of safe and effective antibody therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lina Wu
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan
| | - Alec A. Desai
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan
| | - Peter M. Tessier
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
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109
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Azevedo Reis Teixeira A, Erasmus MF, D’Angelo S, Naranjo L, Ferrara F, Leal-Lopes C, Durrant O, Galmiche C, Morelli A, Scott-Tucker A, Bradbury ARM. Drug-like antibodies with high affinity, diversity and developability directly from next-generation antibody libraries. MAbs 2021; 13:1980942. [PMID: 34850665 PMCID: PMC8654478 DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2021.1980942] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Revised: 09/09/2021] [Accepted: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Therapeutic antibodies must have "drug-like" properties. These include high affinity and specificity for the intended target, biological activity, and additional characteristics now known as "developability properties": long-term stability and resistance to aggregation when in solution, thermodynamic stability to prevent unfolding, high expression yields to facilitate manufacturing, low self-interaction, among others. Sequence-based liabilities may affect one or more of these characteristics. Improving the stability and developability of a lead antibody is typically achieved by modifying its sequence, a time-consuming process that often results in reduced affinity. Here we present a new antibody library format that yields high-affinity binders with drug-like developability properties directly from initial selections, reducing the need for further engineering or affinity maturation. The innovative semi-synthetic design involves grafting natural complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) from human antibodies into scaffolds based on well-behaved clinical antibodies. HCDR3s were amplified directly from B cells, while the remaining CDRs, from which all sequence liabilities had been purged, were replicated from a large next-generation sequencing dataset. By combining two in vitro display techniques, phage and yeast display, we were able to routinely recover a large number of unique, highly developable antibodies against clinically relevant targets with affinities in the subnanomolar to low nanomolar range. We anticipate that the designs and approaches presented here will accelerate the drug development process by reducing the failure rate of leads due to poor antibody affinities and developability.Abbreviations: AC-SINS: affinity-capture self-interaction nanoparticle spectroscopy; CDR: complementarity-determining region; CQA: critical quality attribute; ELISA: enzyme-linked immunoassay; FACS: fluorescence-activated cell sorting; Fv: fragment variable; GM-CSF: granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor; HCDR3: heavy chain CDR3; IFN2a: interferon α-2; IL6: interleukin-6; MACS: magnetic-activated cell sorting; NGS: next generation sequencing; PCR: polymerase chain reaction; SEC: size-exclusion chromatography; SPR: surface plasmon resonance; TGFβ-R2: transforming growth factor β-R2; VH: variable heavy; VK: variable kappa; VL: variable light; Vl: variable lambda.
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110
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The Impact of Product and Process Related Critical Quality Attributes on Immunogenicity and Adverse Immunological Effects of Biotherapeutics. J Pharm Sci 2020; 110:1025-1041. [PMID: 33316242 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2020.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2020] [Revised: 12/03/2020] [Accepted: 12/04/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The pharmaceutical industry has experienced great successes with protein therapeutics in the last two decades and with novel modalities, including cell therapies and gene therapies, more recently. Biotherapeutics are complex in structure and present challenges for discovery, development, regulatory, and life cycle management. Biotherapeutics can interact with the immune system that may lead to undesired immunological responses, including immunogenicity, hypersensitivity reactions (HSR), injection site reactions (ISR), and others. Many product and process related critical quality attributes (CQAs) have the potential to trigger or augment such immunological responses to the product. Tremendous efforts, both clinically and preclinically, have been invested to understand the impact of product and process related CQAs on adverse immunological effects. The information and knowledge are critical for the implementation of Quality by Design (QbD), which requires risk assessment and establishment of specifications and control strategies for CQAs. A quality target product profile (QTPP) that identifies the key CQAs through process development can help assign severity scores based on safety, immunogenicity, pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of the molecule. Gaps and future directions related to biotherapeutics and emerging novel modalities are presented.
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111
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Greiff V, Yaari G, Cowell LG. Mining adaptive immune receptor repertoires for biological and clinical information using machine learning. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.coisb.2020.10.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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112
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Mieczkowski C, Bahmanjah S, Yu Y, Baker J, Raghunathan G, Tomazela D, Hsieh M, McCoy M, Strickland C, Fayadat-Dilman L. Crystal Structure and Characterization of Human Heavy-Chain Only Antibodies Reveals a Novel, Stable Dimeric Structure Similar to Monoclonal Antibodies. Antibodies (Basel) 2020; 9:antib9040066. [PMID: 33266498 PMCID: PMC7709113 DOI: 10.3390/antib9040066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2020] [Revised: 10/20/2020] [Accepted: 11/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
We report the novel crystal structure and characterization of symmetrical, homodimeric humanized heavy-chain-only antibodies or dimers (HC2s). HC2s were found to be significantly coexpressed and secreted along with mAbs from transient CHO HC/LC cotransfection, resulting in an unacceptable mAb developability attribute. Expression of full-length HC2s in the absence of LC followed by purification resulted in HC2s with high purity and thermal stability similar to conventional mAbs. The VH and CH1 portion of the heavy chain (or Fd) was also efficiently expressed and yielded a stable, covalent, and reducible dimer (Fd2). Mutagenesis of all heavy chain cysteines involved in disulfide bond formation revealed that Fd2 intermolecular disulfide formation was similar to Fabs and elucidated requirements for Fd2 folding and expression. For one HC2, we solved the crystal structure of the Fd2 domain to 2.9 Å, revealing a highly symmetrical homodimer that is structurally similar to Fabs and is mediated by conserved (CH1) and variable (VH) contacts with all CDRs positioned outward for target binding. Interfacial dimer contacts revealed by the crystal structure were mutated for two HC2s and were found to dramatically affect HC2 formation while maintaining mAb bioactivity, offering a potential means to modulate novel HC2 formation through engineering. These findings indicate that human heavy-chain dimers can be secreted efficiently in the absence of light chains, may show good physicochemical properties and stability, are structurally similar to Fabs, offer insights into their mechanism of formation, and may be amenable as a novel therapeutic modality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carl Mieczkowski
- Discovery Biologics, Protein Sciences, Merck & Co., Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA; (Y.Y.); (J.B.); (G.R.); (D.T.); (M.H.); (L.F.-D.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-650-496-6501
| | - Soheila Bahmanjah
- Department of Chemistry, Modeling and Informatics, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ 07033, USA; (S.B.); (C.S.)
| | - Yao Yu
- Discovery Biologics, Protein Sciences, Merck & Co., Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA; (Y.Y.); (J.B.); (G.R.); (D.T.); (M.H.); (L.F.-D.)
| | - Jeanne Baker
- Discovery Biologics, Protein Sciences, Merck & Co., Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA; (Y.Y.); (J.B.); (G.R.); (D.T.); (M.H.); (L.F.-D.)
| | - Gopalan Raghunathan
- Discovery Biologics, Protein Sciences, Merck & Co., Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA; (Y.Y.); (J.B.); (G.R.); (D.T.); (M.H.); (L.F.-D.)
| | - Daniela Tomazela
- Discovery Biologics, Protein Sciences, Merck & Co., Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA; (Y.Y.); (J.B.); (G.R.); (D.T.); (M.H.); (L.F.-D.)
| | - Mark Hsieh
- Discovery Biologics, Protein Sciences, Merck & Co., Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA; (Y.Y.); (J.B.); (G.R.); (D.T.); (M.H.); (L.F.-D.)
| | - Mark McCoy
- Department of Pharmacology, Mass Spectrometry & Biophysics, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ 07033, USA;
| | - Corey Strickland
- Department of Chemistry, Modeling and Informatics, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ 07033, USA; (S.B.); (C.S.)
| | - Laurence Fayadat-Dilman
- Discovery Biologics, Protein Sciences, Merck & Co., Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA; (Y.Y.); (J.B.); (G.R.); (D.T.); (M.H.); (L.F.-D.)
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113
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RNase H-dependent PCR enables highly specific amplification of antibody variable domains from single B-cells. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0241803. [PMID: 33152031 PMCID: PMC7643965 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2020] [Accepted: 10/20/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Immunization-based antibody discovery platforms require robust and effective protocols for the amplification, cloning, expression, and screening of antibodies from large numbers of B-cells in order to effectively capture the diversity of an experienced Ig-repertoire. Multiplex PCR using a series of forward and reverse primers designed to recover antibodies from a range of different germline sequences is challenging because primer design requires the recovery of full length antibody sequences, low starting template concentrations, and the need for all the primers to function under the same PCR conditions. Here we demonstrate several advantages to incorporating RNase H2-dependent PCR (rh-PCR) into a high-throughput, antibody-discovery platform. Firstly, rh-PCR eliminated primer dimer synthesis to below detectable levels, thereby eliminating clones with a false positive antibody titer. Secondly, by increasing the specificity of PCR, the rh-PCR primers increased the recovery of cognate antibody variable regions from single B-cells, as well as downstream recombinant antibody titers. Finally, we demonstrate that rh-PCR primers provide a more homogeneous sample pool and greater sequence quality in a Next Generation Sequencing-based approach to obtaining DNA sequence information from large numbers of cloned antibody cognate pairs. Furthermore, the higher specificity of the rh-PCR primers allowed for a better match between native antibody germline sequences and the VL/VH fragments amplified from single B-cells.
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Karlberg M, de Souza JV, Fan L, Kizhedath A, Bronowska AK, Glassey J. QSAR Implementation for HIC Retention Time Prediction of mAbs Using Fab Structure: A Comparison between Structural Representations. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21218037. [PMID: 33126648 PMCID: PMC7663183 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21218037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Revised: 10/22/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) constitute a rapidly growing biopharmaceutical sector. However, their growth is impeded by high failure rates originating from failed clinical trials and developability issues in process development. There is, therefore, a growing need for better in silico tools to aid in risk assessment of mAb candidates to promote early-stage screening of potentially problematic mAb candidates. In this study, a quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) modelling workflow was designed for the prediction of hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) retention times of mAbs. Three novel descriptor sets derived from primary sequence, homology modelling, and atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were developed and assessed to determine the necessary level of structural resolution needed to accurately capture the relationship between mAb structures and HIC retention times. The results showed that descriptors derived from 3D structures obtained after MD simulations were the most suitable for HIC retention time prediction with a R2 = 0.63 in an external test set. It was found that when using homology modelling, the resulting 3D structures became biased towards the used structural template. Performing an MD simulation therefore proved to be a necessary post-processing step for the mAb structures in order to relax the structures and allow them to attain a more natural conformation. Based on the results, the proposed workflow in this paper could therefore potentially contribute to aid in risk assessment of mAb candidates in early development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Micael Karlberg
- School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK; (M.K.); (L.F.); (A.K.)
| | - João Victor de Souza
- Chemistry—School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK; (J.V.d.S.); (A.K.B.)
| | - Lanyu Fan
- School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK; (M.K.); (L.F.); (A.K.)
- Chemistry—School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK; (J.V.d.S.); (A.K.B.)
| | - Arathi Kizhedath
- School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK; (M.K.); (L.F.); (A.K.)
| | - Agnieszka K. Bronowska
- Chemistry—School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK; (J.V.d.S.); (A.K.B.)
| | - Jarka Glassey
- School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK; (M.K.); (L.F.); (A.K.)
- Correspondence:
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115
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Li Y, Qiao B, Olvera de la Cruz M. Protein Surface Printer for Exploring Protein Domains. J Chem Inf Model 2020; 60:5255-5264. [PMID: 32846088 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c00582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
The surface of proteins is vital in determining protein functions. Herein, a program, Protein Surface Printer (PSP), is built that performs multiple functions in quantifying protein surface domains. Two proteins, PETase and cytochrome P450, are used to validate that the program supports atomistic simulations with different combinations of programs and force fields. A case study is conducted on the structural analysis of the spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV and the human cell receptor ACE2. Although the surface domains of both spike proteins are highly similar, their receptor-binding domains (RBDs) and the O-linked glycan domains are structurally different. The O-linked glycan domain of SARS-CoV-2 is highly positively charged, which may promote binding to negatively charged human cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Li
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60201, United States
| | - Baofu Qiao
- Department of Material Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60201, United States
| | - Monica Olvera de la Cruz
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60201, United States.,Department of Material Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60201, United States.,Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60201, United States
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116
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Sawant MS, Streu CN, Wu L, Tessier PM. Toward Drug-Like Multispecific Antibodies by Design. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:E7496. [PMID: 33053650 PMCID: PMC7589779 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21207496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2020] [Revised: 10/02/2020] [Accepted: 10/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The success of antibody therapeutics is strongly influenced by their multifunctional nature that couples antigen recognition mediated by their variable regions with effector functions and half-life extension mediated by a subset of their constant regions. Nevertheless, the monospecific IgG format is not optimal for many therapeutic applications, and this has led to the design of a vast number of unique multispecific antibody formats that enable targeting of multiple antigens or multiple epitopes on the same antigen. Despite the diversity of these formats, a common challenge in generating multispecific antibodies is that they display suboptimal physical and chemical properties relative to conventional IgGs and are more difficult to develop into therapeutics. Here we review advances in the design and engineering of multispecific antibodies with drug-like properties, including favorable stability, solubility, viscosity, specificity and pharmacokinetic properties. We also highlight emerging experimental and computational methods for improving the next generation of multispecific antibodies, as well as their constituent antibody fragments, with natural IgG-like properties. Finally, we identify several outstanding challenges that need to be addressed to increase the success of multispecific antibodies in the clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manali S. Sawant
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (M.S.S.); (C.N.S.)
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA;
| | - Craig N. Streu
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (M.S.S.); (C.N.S.)
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA;
- Department of Chemistry, Albion College, Albion, MI 49224, USA
| | - Lina Wu
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA;
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Peter M. Tessier
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (M.S.S.); (C.N.S.)
- Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA;
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
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117
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Wasalathanthri DP, Rehmann MS, Song Y, Gu Y, Mi L, Shao C, Chemmalil L, Lee J, Ghose S, Borys MC, Ding J, Li ZJ. Technology outlook for real‐time quality attribute and process parameter monitoring in biopharmaceutical development—A review. Biotechnol Bioeng 2020; 117:3182-3198. [DOI: 10.1002/bit.27461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2020] [Revised: 05/30/2020] [Accepted: 06/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Matthew S. Rehmann
- Biologics Process Development Bristol‐Myers Squibb Company Devens Massachusetts
| | - Yuanli Song
- Biologics Process Development Bristol‐Myers Squibb Company Devens Massachusetts
| | - Yan Gu
- Biologics Process Development Bristol‐Myers Squibb Company Devens Massachusetts
| | - Luo Mi
- Biologics Process Development Bristol‐Myers Squibb Company Devens Massachusetts
| | - Chun Shao
- Biologics Process Development Bristol‐Myers Squibb Company Devens Massachusetts
| | - Letha Chemmalil
- Biologics Process Development Bristol‐Myers Squibb Company Devens Massachusetts
| | - Jongchan Lee
- Biologics Process Development Bristol‐Myers Squibb Company Devens Massachusetts
| | - Sanchayita Ghose
- Biologics Process Development Bristol‐Myers Squibb Company Devens Massachusetts
| | - Michael C. Borys
- Biologics Process Development Bristol‐Myers Squibb Company Devens Massachusetts
| | - Julia Ding
- Biologics Process Development Bristol‐Myers Squibb Company Devens Massachusetts
| | - Zheng Jian Li
- Biologics Process Development Bristol‐Myers Squibb Company Devens Massachusetts
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