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Karmani D, Seifihesar N, Sultonova M, Blackmore B, Paulo JA, Harty M, Murphy JP. Carrier-Guided Proteome Analysis in a High Protein Background: An Improved Approach to Host Cell Protein Identification. J Proteome Res 2024. [PMID: 39382319 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.4c00158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/10/2024]
Abstract
Many shotgun proteomics experiments are negatively influenced by highly abundant proteins, such as those measuring residual host cell proteins (HCP) amidst highly abundant recombinant biotherapeutic or plasma proteins amidst albumin and immunoglobulins. While western blotting and ELISAs can reveal the presence of specific low abundance proteins from highly abundant background proteins, mass spectrometry approaches are required to define the low abundance protein composition in these scenarios. The challenge in detecting low abundance proteins in a high protein background by standard shotgun approaches is that spectra are often not triggered on their peptides in data dependent acquisition methods but rather on the highly abundant background peptides. Here, we use tandem mass tags (TMT) to introduce a carrier proteome approach to enhance the detection of proteins, such as from residual host cell proteomes amidst a highly abundant background. Using a mixture of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and E. coli as a mock high background/low abundance target protein formulation, we demonstrate proof-of-principle experiments allowing the improved detection of target proteins amidst a high protein background. While we observed significant coisolation interference, we mitigated it by using a spike-in interference detection TMT channel. Finally, we use the approach to identify 300 residual E. coli proteins from a protein A pulldown of a human IgG antibody, demonstrating that it may be applicable to analysis of HCPs in biotherapeutic protein formulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Divyanshi Karmani
- Department of Biology, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island C1A 4P3, Canada
| | - Niloofar Seifihesar
- Department of Biology, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island C1A 4P3, Canada
| | - Mukhayyo Sultonova
- Department of Biology, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island C1A 4P3, Canada
| | - Beau Blackmore
- Department of Biology, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island C1A 4P3, Canada
| | - Joao A Paulo
- Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, 240 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Matthew Harty
- BIOVECTRA Inc., 11 Aviation Avenue, Charlottetown Prince Edward Island C1E 0A1, Canada
| | - J Patrick Murphy
- Department of Biology, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island C1A 4P3, Canada
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2
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Huo S, Nie S, Cong Y, Wang S, Li N. In-Depth Host Cell Protein Analysis and Viral Protein Impurity Monitoring in Adeno-Associated Virus-Based Gene Therapy Products Using Optimized Wide Window Data-Dependent Acquisition Method. Anal Chem 2024. [PMID: 39263887 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.4c02400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/13/2024]
Abstract
Compared to other protein therapeutics, there is currently limited knowledge about the residual host cell proteins (HCPs) in adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene therapy products. This is primarily due to the lack of a robust and sensitive mass spectrometry-based method for HCP analysis in AAV samples. Existing liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry methods used for analyzing HCPs in therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) often cannot be directly applied to AAVs, due to some unique characteristics of AAV samples encountered during their development such as limited sample availability/protein concentration and the presence of surfactants. In this study, we have developed a novel workflow for robust and in-depth HCP analysis of AAV samples by combining wide-window data-dependent acquisition for improved low-abundance HCP detection with single-pot, solid-phase-enhanced sample preparation (SP3) for low-input sample preparation. Using this newly developed method, we were able to detect more than 650 HCPs in a commercial AAV1 sample with a high quantitative reproducibility. This represents a greater than 5-fold increase in HCP protein identification compared to an in-solution digestion method followed by traditional data-dependent acquisition. Similar benefits can also be achieved for other AAV serotypes that were produced internally and purified through different processes. The detection limit of this method is as low as 0.06 ng/mL, enabling more comprehensive HCP coverage in AAV samples. Moreover, for the first time, we have identified several process-related viral proteins, such as Rep 78 and E4. These proteins need to be closely monitored during AAV process development as they may present a greater risk for immunogenicity compared to HCPs that are derived from human HEK293 cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shihan Huo
- Analytical Chemistry Group, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6707, United States
| | - Song Nie
- Analytical Chemistry Group, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6707, United States
| | - Yongzheng Cong
- Analytical Chemistry Group, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6707, United States
| | - Shunhai Wang
- Analytical Chemistry Group, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6707, United States
| | - Ning Li
- Analytical Chemistry Group, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6707, United States
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3
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Kiyonami R, Melani R, Chen Y, Leon AID, Du M. Applying UHPLC-HRAM MS/MS Method to Assess Host Cell Protein Clearance during the Purification Process Development of Therapeutic mAbs. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:9687. [PMID: 39273634 PMCID: PMC11396427 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25179687] [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: 07/19/2024] [Revised: 08/26/2024] [Accepted: 09/04/2024] [Indexed: 09/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Host cell proteins (HCPs) are one of the process-related impurities that need to be well characterized and controlled throughout biomanufacturing processes to assure the quality, safety, and efficacy of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and other protein-based biopharmaceuticals. Although ELISA remains the gold standard method for quantification of total HCPs, it lacks the specificity and coverage to identify and quantify individual HCPs. As a complementary method to ELISA, the LC-MS/MS method has emerged as a powerful tool to identify and profile individual HCPs during the downstream purification process. In this study, we developed a sensitive, robust, and reproducible analytical flow ultra-high-pressure LC (UHPLC)-high-resolution accurate mass (HRAM) data-dependent MS/MS method for HCP identification and monitoring using an Orbitrap Ascend BioPharma Tribrid mass spectrometer. As a case study, the developed method was applied to an in-house trastuzumab product to assess HCP clearance efficiency of the newly introduced POROS™ Caprylate Mixed-Mode Cation Exchange Chromatography resin (POROS Caprylate mixed-mode resin) by monitoring individual HCP changes between the trastuzumab sample collected from the Protein A pool (purified by Protein A chromatography) and polish pool (purified by Protein A first and then further purified by POROS Caprylate mixed-mode resin). The new method successfully identified the total number of individual HCPs in both samples and quantified the abundance changes in the remaining HCPs in the polish purification sample.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Ying Chen
- Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bedford, MA 01730, USA
| | - A I De Leon
- Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bedford, MA 01730, USA
| | - Min Du
- Thermo Fisher Scientific, Lexington, MA 02421, USA
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4
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Šprager E, Möller J, Lin Y, Reisinger V, Bratkovič T, Lunder M, Vašl J, Krajnc A. Identification of Acyl-Protein Thioesterase-1 as a Polysorbate-Degrading Host Cell Protein in a Monoclonal Antibody Formulation Using Activity-Based Protein Profiling. J Pharm Sci 2024; 113:2128-2139. [PMID: 38772451 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2024.05.013] [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: 03/18/2024] [Revised: 05/13/2024] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 05/23/2024]
Abstract
Polysorbate (PS) degradation in monoclonal antibody (mAb) formulations poses a significant challenge in the biopharmaceutical industry. PS maintains protein stability during drug product's shelf life but is vulnerable to breakdown by low-abundance residual host cell proteins (HCPs), particularly hydrolytic enzymes such as lipases and esterases. In this study, we used activity-based protein profiling (ABPP) coupled with mass spectrometry to identify acyl-protein thioesterase-1 (APT-1) as a polysorbate-degrading HCP in one case of mAb formulation with stability problems. We validated the role of APT1 by matching the polysorbate degradation fingerprint in the mAb formulation with that of a recombinant APT1 protein. Furthermore, we found an agreement between APT1 levels and PS degradation rates in the mAb formulation, and we successfully halted PS degradation using APT1-specific inhibitors ML348 and ML211. APT1 was found to co-purify with a specific mAb via hitchhiking mechanism. Our work provides a streamlined approach to identifying critical HCPs in PS degradation, supporting quality-by-design principles in pharmaceutical development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ernest Šprager
- University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ljubljana, Slovenia; Novartis Technical Research & Development, Biologics Technical Development Mengeš, Novartis Pharmaceutical Manufacturing LLC, Slovenia
| | - Jens Möller
- Novartis Technical Research & Development, Analytical Characterization, Novartis Pharmaceutical Manufacturing GmbH, Kundl, Austria
| | - Yuhsien Lin
- Novartis Technical Research & Development, Analytical Characterization, Novartis Pharmaceutical Manufacturing GmbH, Kundl, Austria
| | - Veronika Reisinger
- Novartis Technical Research & Development, Analytical Characterization, Novartis Pharmaceutical Manufacturing GmbH, Kundl, Austria
| | - Tomaž Bratkovič
- University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Mojca Lunder
- University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Jožica Vašl
- Novartis Technical Research & Development, Biologics Technical Development Mengeš, Novartis Pharmaceutical Manufacturing LLC, Slovenia
| | - Aleksander Krajnc
- Novartis Technical Research & Development, Biologics Technical Development Mengeš, Novartis Pharmaceutical Manufacturing LLC, Slovenia.
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5
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Maier M, Weiß L, Zeh N, Schmieder-Todtenhaupt V, Dehghani A, Felix MN, Heinzelmann D, Lindner B, Schmidt M, Studts J, Schulz P, Reisinger B, Otte K, Franzreb M, Lakatos D, Fischer S. Illuminating a biologics development challenge: systematic characterization of CHO cell-derived hydrolases identified in monoclonal antibody formulations. MAbs 2024; 16:2375798. [PMID: 38984665 PMCID: PMC11238916 DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2024.2375798] [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: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 06/30/2024] [Indexed: 07/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) and other biological drugs are affected by enzymatic polysorbate (PS) degradation that reduces product stability and jeopardizes the supply of innovative medicines. PS represents a critical surfactant stabilizing the active pharmaceutical ingredients, which are produced by recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines. While the list of potential PS-degrading CHO host cell proteins (HCPs) has grown over the years, tangible data on industrially relevant HCPs are still scarce. By means of a highly sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method, we investigated seven different mAb products, resulting in the identification of 12 potentially PS-degrading hydrolases, including the strongly PS-degrading lipoprotein lipase (LPL). Using an LPL knockout CHO host cell line, we were able to stably overexpress and purify the remaining candidate hydrolases through orthogonal affinity chromatography methods, enabling their detailed functional characterization. Applying a PS degradation assay, we found nine mostly secreted, PS-active hydrolases with varying hydrolytic activity. All active hydrolases showed a serine-histidine-aspartate/glutamate catalytical triad. Further, we subjected the active hydrolases to pH-screenings and revealed a diverse range of activity optima, which can facilitate the identification of residual hydrolases during bioprocess development. Ultimately, we compiled our dataset in a risk matrix identifying PAF-AH, LIPA, PPT1, and LPLA2 as highly critical hydrolases based on their cellular expression, detection in purified antibodies, active secretion, and PS degradation activity. With this work, we pave the way toward a comprehensive functional characterization of PS-degrading hydrolases and provide a basis for a future reduction of PS degradation in biopharmaceutical drug products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie Maier
- Bioprocess Development Biologicals, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
- Institute of Functional Interfaces, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Linus Weiß
- Bioprocess Development Biologicals, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
- Institute for Applied Biotechnology, University of Applied Sciences Biberach, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
| | - Nikolas Zeh
- Bioprocess Development Biologicals, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
| | | | - Alireza Dehghani
- Analytical Development Biologicals, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
| | - Marius Nicolaus Felix
- Analytical Development Biologicals, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
| | - Daniel Heinzelmann
- Bioprocess Development Biologicals, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
| | - Benjamin Lindner
- Bioprocess Development Biologicals, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
| | - Moritz Schmidt
- Bioprocess Development Biologicals, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
| | - Joey Studts
- Bioprocess Development Biologicals, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
| | - Patrick Schulz
- Bioprocess Development Biologicals, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
| | - Bernd Reisinger
- Analytical Development Biologicals, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
| | - Kerstin Otte
- Institute for Applied Biotechnology, University of Applied Sciences Biberach, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
| | - Matthias Franzreb
- Institute of Functional Interfaces, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Daniel Lakatos
- Bioprocess Development Biologicals, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
| | - Simon Fischer
- Bioprocess Development Biologicals, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
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6
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Beaumal C, Beck A, Hernandez-Alba O, Carapito C. Advanced mass spectrometry workflows for accurate quantification of trace-level host cell proteins in drug products: Benefits of FAIMS separation and gas-phase fractionation DIA. Proteomics 2023; 23:e2300172. [PMID: 37148167 DOI: 10.1002/pmic.202300172] [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: 03/31/2023] [Revised: 04/19/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAb) production relies on multiple purification steps before release as a drug product (DP). A few host cell proteins (HCPs) may co-purify with the mAb. Their monitoring is crucial due to the considerable risk they represent for mAb stability, integrity, and efficacy and their potential immunogenicity. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) commonly used for global HCP monitoring present limitations in terms of identification and quantification of individual HCPs. Therefore, liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) has emerged as a promising alternative. Challenging DP samples show an extreme dynamic range requiring high performing methods to detect and reliably quantify trace-level HCPs. Here, we investigated the benefits of adding high-field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) separation and gas phase fractionation (GPF) prior to data independent acquisition (DIA). FAIMS LC-MS/MS analysis allowed the identification of 221 HCPs among which 158 were reliably quantified for a global amount of 880 ng/mg of NIST mAb Reference Material. Our methods have also been successfully applied to two FDA/EMA approved DPs and allowed digging deeper into the HCP landscape with the identification and quantification of a few tens of HCPs with sensitivity down to the sub-ng/mg of mAb level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corentin Beaumal
- Laboratoire de Spectrométrie de Masse BioOrganique, IPHC UMR 7178, CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
- Infrastructure Nationale de Protéomique ProFI - FR2048, Strasbourg, France
| | - Alain Beck
- IRPF, Centre d'Immunologie Pierre-Fabre (CIPF), Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, France
| | - Oscar Hernandez-Alba
- Laboratoire de Spectrométrie de Masse BioOrganique, IPHC UMR 7178, CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
- Infrastructure Nationale de Protéomique ProFI - FR2048, Strasbourg, France
| | - Christine Carapito
- Laboratoire de Spectrométrie de Masse BioOrganique, IPHC UMR 7178, CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
- Infrastructure Nationale de Protéomique ProFI - FR2048, Strasbourg, France
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7
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Ji Q, Sokolowska I, Cao R, Jiang Y, Mo J, Hu P. A highly sensitive and robust LC-MS platform for host cell protein characterization in biotherapeutics. Biologicals 2023; 82:101675. [PMID: 37028215 DOI: 10.1016/j.biologicals.2023.101675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2022] [Revised: 02/25/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 04/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Host cell proteins (HCPs) are a major class of process-related impurities that need to be closely monitored during the production of biotherapeutics. Mass spectrometry (MS) has emerged as a promising tool for HCP analysis due to its specificity for individual HCP's identification and quantitation. However, utilization of MS as a routine characterization tool is still limited due to the time-consuming procedures, non-standardized instrumentation and methodologies, and the limited sensitivity compared to the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). In this study, we introduced a sensitive (limit of detection (LOD) at 1-2 ppm) and robust HCP profiling platform method with suitable precision and accuracy that can be readily adopted to antibodies and other biotherapeutic modalities without the need for HCP enrichment. The NIST mAb and multiple in-house antibodies were analyzed, and results were benchmarked with other reported studies. In addition, a targeted analysis method with optimized sample preparation for absolute quantitation of lipases was developed and qualified with an LOD of 0.6 ppm and precision of <15%, which can be further improved to an LOD of 5 ppb by using the nano-flow LC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qinqin Ji
- Large Molecules Analytical Development, Pharmaceutical Development & Manufacturing Sciences, Janssen Research & Development, LLC, 200 Great Valley Parkway, Malvern, PA, 19355, USA.
| | - Izabela Sokolowska
- Large Molecules Analytical Development, Pharmaceutical Development & Manufacturing Sciences, Janssen Research & Development, LLC, 200 Great Valley Parkway, Malvern, PA, 19355, USA.
| | - Rui Cao
- Large Molecules Analytical Development, Pharmaceutical Development & Manufacturing Sciences, Janssen Research & Development, LLC, 200 Great Valley Parkway, Malvern, PA, 19355, USA.
| | - Yulei Jiang
- Large Molecules Analytical Development, Pharmaceutical Development & Manufacturing Sciences, Janssen Research & Development, LLC, 200 Great Valley Parkway, Malvern, PA, 19355, USA.
| | - Jingjie Mo
- Large Molecules Analytical Development, Pharmaceutical Development & Manufacturing Sciences, Janssen Research & Development, LLC, 200 Great Valley Parkway, Malvern, PA, 19355, USA.
| | - Ping Hu
- Large Molecules Analytical Development, Pharmaceutical Development & Manufacturing Sciences, Janssen Research & Development, LLC, 200 Great Valley Parkway, Malvern, PA, 19355, USA.
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8
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E SY, Hu Y, Molden R, Qiu H, Li N. Identification and Quantification of a Problematic Host Cell Protein to Support Therapeutic Protein Development. J Pharm Sci 2023; 112:673-679. [PMID: 36220394 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2022.10.008] [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: 07/10/2022] [Revised: 10/05/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Monitoring of residual host cell proteins (HCPs) in therapeutic protein is essential to ensure product quality, safety and efficacy. Despite the development of advanced mass spectrometry techniques and optimized workflows, identifying and quantifying all problematic HCPs present at low levels remain challenging. Here, we developed a practical, effective strategy for the identification and quantification of low abundance HCPs, which facilitates the improvement of downstream purification process to eliminate potentially problematic HCPs. A case study of using this strategy to investigate a problematic HCP is presented. Initially, a commonly used native digestion approach coupled with UPLC-MS/MS was applied for HCP profiling, wherein several lipases and proteases were identified in a monoclonal antibody named mAb1 in early stages of purification process development. A highly active lipase, liver carboxylesterase (CES), was found to be responsible for polysorbate 80 degradation. To facilitate process improvement, after the identification of CES, we developed a highly sensitive LC-MS/MS-MRM assay with a lower limit of quantification of 0.05 ppm for routine monitoring of the CES in mAb1 produced through the different processes. This workflow was applied in low-level lipase identification and absolute quantification, which facilitated the investigation of polysorbate degradation and downstream purification improvement to further remove the problematic HCP. The current MRM method increased the sensitivity of HCP quantification by over 10-fold that in previously published studies, thus meeting the needs for quantification of problematic HCPs at sub-ppm to ppb levels during drug development. This workflow could be readily adapted to the detection and quantification of other problematic HCPs present at extremely low levels in therapeutic protein drug candidates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sook Yen E
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., Tarrytown, NY, 10591-6707, USA
| | - Yunli Hu
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., Tarrytown, NY, 10591-6707, USA.
| | - Rosalynn Molden
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., Tarrytown, NY, 10591-6707, USA
| | - Haibo Qiu
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., Tarrytown, NY, 10591-6707, USA.
| | - Ning Li
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., Tarrytown, NY, 10591-6707, USA
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9
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Guo J, Kufer R, Li D, Wohlrab S, Greenwood-Goodwin M, Yang F. Technical advancement and practical considerations of LC-MS/MS-based methods for host cell protein identification and quantitation to support process development. MAbs 2023; 15:2213365. [PMID: 37218066 PMCID: PMC10208169 DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2023.2213365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Host cell proteins (HCPs) are process-related impurities derived from the manufacturing of recombinant biotherapeutics. Residual HCP in drug products, ranging from 1 to 100 ppm (ng HCP/mg product) or even below sub-ppm level, may affect product quality, stability, efficacy, or safety. Therefore, removal of HCPs to appropriate levels is critical for the bioprocess development of biotherapeutics. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis has become an important tool to identify, quantify, and monitor the clearance of individual HCPs. This review covers the technical advancement of sample preparation strategies, new LC-MS-based techniques, and data analysis approaches to robustly and sensitively measure HCPs while overcoming the high dynamic range analytical challenges. We also discuss our strategy for LC-MS-based HCP workflows to enable fast support of process development throughout the product life cycle, and provide insights into developing specific analytical strategies leveraging LC-MS tools to control HCPs in process and mitigate their potential risks to drug quality, stability, and patient safety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jia Guo
- Protein Analytical Chemistry, Genentech, A Member of the Roche Group, South San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Regina Kufer
- Pharma Technical Development Analytics, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Penzberg, Germany
| | - Delia Li
- Protein Analytical Chemistry, Genentech, A Member of the Roche Group, South San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Stefanie Wohlrab
- Pharma Technical Development Analytics, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Penzberg, Germany
| | | | - Feng Yang
- Protein Analytical Chemistry, Genentech, A Member of the Roche Group, South San Francisco, CA, USA
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10
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Hu M, Molden R, Hu Y, Huang Y, Qiu H, Li N. Host cell protein identification in monoclonal antibody high molecular weight species. J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci 2022; 1210:123448. [PMID: 36115198 DOI: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2022.123448] [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: 06/13/2022] [Revised: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/30/2022] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
Abstract
High molecular weight (HMW) species are product-related variants that may impact therapeutic product safety and efficacy. Therefore, HMW species and aggregates are considered critical quality attributes and their levels should be closely monitored and controlled during drug development, commercial manufacturing, and shelf-life storage period for therapeutic monoclonal antibody drug products. Various biophysical and analytical methods have been developed to characterize the HMW species to understand their mechanisms of formation and assess potential product risk. However, host cell protein (HCP) analysis has seldom been conducted to characterize the impurities in aggregates. In this work, HCP analysis of enriched HMW species and drug substance (DS) from five different monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) was performed. More HCPs are identified in the enriched HMW than in the DS, thus demonstrating a potential interaction between HCPs and HMW. Certain HCPs, including commonly detected HCPs and problematic HCPs, were enriched in HMW fractions. Especially, the most abundant HCP from mAb1, CC motif chemokine, was 46 times more abundant in enriched HMW than DS. The enriched HMW was further fractionated into enriched dimers and enriched very HMW (vHMW) fractions. The CC motif chemokine was found to interact mainly with mAb1 dimer species rather than vHMW fraction. Removing the HMW species from mAb1 significantly decreased the CC motif chemokine level in the final mAb1 DS. Our findings demonstrate that some HCPs are more preferentially bound to HMW species and this finding may provide a new opportunity for removing HCPs in downstream purification steps.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengqi Hu
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, NY, 10591-6707, USA
| | - Rosalynn Molden
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, NY, 10591-6707, USA
| | - Yunli Hu
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, NY, 10591-6707, USA.
| | - Yu Huang
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, NY, 10591-6707, USA
| | - Haibo Qiu
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, NY, 10591-6707, USA.
| | - Ning Li
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, NY, 10591-6707, USA
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Abstract
Mass spectrometry (MS) is a powerful technique for protein identification, quantification and characterization that is widely applied in biochemical studies, and which can provide data on the quantity, structural integrity and post-translational modifications of proteins. It is therefore a versatile and widely used analytic tool for quality control of biopharmaceuticals, especially in quantifying host-cell protein impurities, identifying post-translation modifications and structural characterization of biopharmaceutical proteins. Here, we summarize recent advances in MS-based analyses of these key quality attributes of the biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing processes.
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12
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Dovgan T, Golghalyani V, Zurlo F, Hatton D, Lindo V, Turner R, Harris C, Cui T. Targeted CHO cell engineering approaches can reduce HCP-related enzymatic degradation and improve mAb product quality. Biotechnol Bioeng 2021; 118:3821-3831. [PMID: 34125434 DOI: 10.1002/bit.27857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2021] [Revised: 05/16/2021] [Accepted: 06/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Host cell proteins (HCP) that co-purify with biologics produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells have been shown to impact product quality through proteolytic degradation of recombinant proteins, leading to potential product losses. Several problematic HCPs can remain in the final product even after extensive purification. Each recombinant cell line has a unique HCP profile that can be determined by numerous upstream and downstream factors, including clonal variation and the protein sequence of the expressed therapeutic molecule. Here, we worked with recombinant cell lines with high levels of copurifying HCPs, and showed that in those cell lines even modest downregulation (≤50%) of the difficult to remove HCP Cathepsin D, through stable short hairpin RNA interference or monoallelic deletion of the target gene using CRISPR-Cas9, is sufficient to greatly reduce levels of co-purifying HCP as measured by high throughput targeted LC-MS. This reduction led to improved product quality by reducing fragmentation of the drug product in forced degradation studies to negligible levels. We also show the potential of cell engineering to target other undesired HCPs and relieve the burden on downstream purification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatiana Dovgan
- Cell Culture and Fermentation Sciences, BioPharmaceutical Development, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, Cambridge, AstraZeneca, UK.,Purification Process Sciences, BioPharmaceutical Development, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, Cambridge, AstraZeneca, UK
| | - Vahid Golghalyani
- Analytical Sciences, BioPharmaceutical Development, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, Cambridge, AstraZeneca, UK
| | - Fabio Zurlo
- Cell Culture and Fermentation Sciences, BioPharmaceutical Development, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, Cambridge, AstraZeneca, UK
| | - Diane Hatton
- Cell Culture and Fermentation Sciences, BioPharmaceutical Development, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, Cambridge, AstraZeneca, UK
| | - Viv Lindo
- Analytical Sciences, BioPharmaceutical Development, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, Cambridge, AstraZeneca, UK
| | - Richard Turner
- Purification Process Sciences, BioPharmaceutical Development, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, Cambridge, AstraZeneca, UK
| | - Claire Harris
- Cell Culture and Fermentation Sciences, BioPharmaceutical Development, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, Cambridge, AstraZeneca, UK
| | - Tingting Cui
- Purification Process Sciences, BioPharmaceutical Development, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, Cambridge, AstraZeneca, UK
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13
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Nie S, Greer T, O'Brien Johnson R, Zheng X, Torri A, Li N. Simple and Sensitive Method for Deep Profiling of Host Cell Proteins in Therapeutic Antibodies by Combining Ultra-Low Trypsin Concentration Digestion, Long Chromatographic Gradients, and BoxCar Mass Spectrometry Acquisition. Anal Chem 2021; 93:4383-4390. [PMID: 33656852 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c03931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is a powerful tool for the analysis of host cell proteins (HCP) during antibody drug process development due to its sensitivity, selectivity, and adaptability. However, the enormous dynamic range between the therapeutic antibody and accompanying HCPs poses a significant challenge for LC-MS based detection of these low abundance impurities. To address this challenge, enrichment of HCPs via immunoaffinity, protein A, 2D-LC, or other strategies is typically performed. However, these enrichments are time-consuming and sometimes require a large quantity of sample. Here, we report a simple and sensitive strategy to analyze HCPs in therapeutic antibody samples without cumbersome enrichment by combining an ultra-low trypsin concentration during digestion under nondenaturing conditions, a long chromatographic gradient, and BoxCar acquisition (ULTLB) on a quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometer. Application of this strategy to the NIST monoclonal antibody standard (NISTmAb) resulted in the identification of 453 mouse HCPs, which is a significant increase in the number of identified HCPs without enrichment compared to previous reports. Known amounts of HCPs were spiked into the purified antibody drug substance, demonstrating that the method sensitivity is as low as 0.5 ppm. Thus, the ULTLB method represents a sensitive and simple platform for deep profiling of HCPs in antibodies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Song Nie
- Analytical Chemistry, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6707, United States
| | - Tyler Greer
- Analytical Chemistry, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6707, United States
| | - Reid O'Brien Johnson
- Analytical Chemistry, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6707, United States
| | - Xiaojing Zheng
- Analytical Chemistry, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6707, United States
| | - Albert Torri
- Analytical Chemistry, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6707, United States
| | - Ning Li
- Analytical Chemistry, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6707, United States
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14
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Camperi J, Goyon A, Guillarme D, Zhang K, Stella C. Multi-dimensional LC-MS: the next generation characterization of antibody-based therapeutics by unified online bottom-up, middle-up and intact approaches. Analyst 2021; 146:747-769. [DOI: 10.1039/d0an01963a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
This review presents an overview of current analytical trends in antibody characterization by multidimensional LC-MS approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julien Camperi
- Department of Protein Analytical Chemistry
- Genentech Inc
- South San Francisco
- USA
| | - Alexandre Goyon
- Department of Small Molecule Analytical Chemistry
- Genentech Inc
- South San Francisco
- USA
| | - Davy Guillarme
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
- University of Geneva
- 1206 Geneva
- Switzerland
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland (ISPSO)
| | - Kelly Zhang
- Department of Small Molecule Analytical Chemistry
- Genentech Inc
- South San Francisco
- USA
| | - Cinzia Stella
- Department of Protein Analytical Chemistry
- Genentech Inc
- South San Francisco
- USA
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15
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O’Flaherty R, Bergin A, Flampouri E, Mota LM, Obaidi I, Quigley A, Xie Y, Butler M. Mammalian cell culture for production of recombinant proteins: A review of the critical steps in their biomanufacturing. Biotechnol Adv 2020; 43:107552. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2020.107552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2020] [Revised: 04/28/2020] [Accepted: 05/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
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16
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Chen IH, Xiao H, Li N. Improved host cell protein analysis in monoclonal antibody products through ProteoMiner. Anal Biochem 2020; 610:113972. [PMID: 32979367 DOI: 10.1016/j.ab.2020.113972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2020] [Revised: 09/15/2020] [Accepted: 09/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Host cell proteins (HCPs) impurities are critical quality attributes that have the potential to negatively impact the quality and safety profile of a biopharmaceutical product. Since HCPs often are present at low levels, developing highly sensitive analytical method for their identification and quantitation is critical for process optimization and improvement to reduce them in the final drug product. While an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) can capture and quantify overall HCP levels, liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is emerging as a powerful tool to monitor individual HCP levels during the purification process development. The massive dynamic range of protein species present in a therapeutic antibody is a major challenge for mass spectrometry-based methods to detect low-abundance HCP impurities. This study reports a powerful strategy to identify HCPs in antibody drug substance by applying ProteoMiner enrichment with optimized conditions followed by shotgun proteomic analysis. Using this strategy, we observed that the low abundance HCPs were enriched up to 1000-fold. In addition, by spiking in known amounts of HCPs to purified antibody drug substance with low levels of HCPs, we demonstrated that our method could detect HCP at a concentration as low as 0.05 ppm. When applying this methodology to the study of HCPs in NIST monoclonal antibody (NISTmAb), more than 500 HCPs were confidently identified, which tripled the number of identified HCPs that have been previously reported. Parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) results confirmed that the novel HCPs found using this method were enriched between 100 and 400-fold, highlighting that our method enriches and equalizes all proteins thus improving the sensitivity of HCP identification and quantification.
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Affiliation(s)
- I-Hsuan Chen
- Analytical Chemistry, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc, 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York, 10591-6706, United States
| | - Hui Xiao
- Analytical Chemistry, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc, 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York, 10591-6706, United States.
| | - Ning Li
- Analytical Chemistry, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc, 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York, 10591-6706, United States
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17
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Esser-Skala W, Segl M, Wohlschlager T, Reisinger V, Holzmann J, Huber CG. Exploring sample preparation and data evaluation strategies for enhanced identification of host cell proteins in drug products of therapeutic antibodies and Fc-fusion proteins. Anal Bioanal Chem 2020; 412:6583-6593. [PMID: 32691086 PMCID: PMC7442769 DOI: 10.1007/s00216-020-02796-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2020] [Revised: 06/22/2020] [Accepted: 06/30/2020] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals involves recombinant protein expression in host cells followed by extensive purification of the target protein. Yet, host cell proteins (HCPs) may persist in the final drug product, potentially reducing its quality with respect to safety and efficacy. Consequently, residual HCPs are closely monitored during downstream processing by techniques such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or high-performance liquid chromatography combined with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The latter is especially attractive as it provides information with respect to protein identities. Although the applied HPLC-MS/MS methodologies are frequently optimized with respect to HCP identification, acquired data is typically analyzed using standard settings. Here, we describe an improved strategy for evaluating HPLC-MS/MS data of HCP-derived peptides, involving probabilistic protein inference and peptide detection in the absence of fragment ion spectra. This data analysis workflow was applied to data obtained for drug products of various biotherapeutics upon protein A affinity depletion. The presented data evaluation strategy enabled in-depth comparative analysis of the HCP repertoires identified in drug products of the monoclonal antibodies rituximab and bevacizumab, as well as the fusion protein etanercept. In contrast to commonly applied ELISA strategies, the here presented workflow is process-independent and may be implemented into existing HPLC-MS/MS setups for drug product characterization and process development. Graphical abstract ![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Wolfgang Esser-Skala
- Bioanalytical Research Labs, Department of Biosciences, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunner Straße 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria.,Christian Doppler Laboratory for Innovative Tools for Biosimilar Characterization, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunner Straße 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Marius Segl
- Bioanalytical Research Labs, Department of Biosciences, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunner Straße 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria.,Christian Doppler Laboratory for Innovative Tools for Biosimilar Characterization, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunner Straße 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Therese Wohlschlager
- Bioanalytical Research Labs, Department of Biosciences, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunner Straße 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria.,Christian Doppler Laboratory for Innovative Tools for Biosimilar Characterization, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunner Straße 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Veronika Reisinger
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Innovative Tools for Biosimilar Characterization, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunner Straße 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria.,Technical Development Biosimilars, Global Drug Development, Novartis, Sandoz GmbH, Biochemiestraße 10, 6250, Kundl, Austria
| | - Johann Holzmann
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Innovative Tools for Biosimilar Characterization, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunner Straße 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria.,Technical Development Biosimilars, Global Drug Development, Novartis, Sandoz GmbH, Biochemiestraße 10, 6250, Kundl, Austria
| | - Christian G Huber
- Bioanalytical Research Labs, Department of Biosciences, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunner Straße 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria. .,Christian Doppler Laboratory for Innovative Tools for Biosimilar Characterization, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunner Straße 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria.
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18
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Johnson RO, Greer T, Cejkov M, Zheng X, Li N. Combination of FAIMS, Protein A Depletion, and Native Digest Conditions Enables Deep Proteomic Profiling of Host Cell Proteins in Monoclonal Antibodies. Anal Chem 2020; 92:10478-10484. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c01175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Reid O’Brien Johnson
- Analytical Chemistry, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6707, United States
| | - Tyler Greer
- Analytical Chemistry, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6707, United States
| | - Milos Cejkov
- Analytical Chemistry, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6707, United States
| | - Xiaojing Zheng
- Analytical Chemistry, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6707, United States
| | - Ning Li
- Analytical Chemistry, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6707, United States
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19
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Mörtstedt H, Makower Å, Edlund PO, Sjöberg K, Tjernberg A. Improved identification of host cell proteins in a protein biopharmaceutical by LC–MS/MS using the ProteoMiner™ Enrichment Kit. J Pharm Biomed Anal 2020; 185:113256. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2020.113256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2019] [Revised: 03/02/2020] [Accepted: 03/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
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20
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Ma J, Kilby GW. Sensitive, Rapid, Robust, and Reproducible Workflow for Host Cell Protein Profiling in Biopharmaceutical Process Development. J Proteome Res 2020; 19:3396-3404. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.0c00252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jiao Ma
- CMC Analytical, GlaxoSmithKline, 1250 S. Collegeville Road, Collegeville, Pennsylvania 19426, United States
| | - Greg W. Kilby
- CMC Analytical, GlaxoSmithKline, 1250 S. Collegeville Road, Collegeville, Pennsylvania 19426, United States
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21
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Chen IH, Xiao H, Daly T, Li N. Improved Host Cell Protein Analysis in Monoclonal Antibody Products through Molecular Weight Cutoff Enrichment. Anal Chem 2020; 92:3751-3757. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.9b05081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- I-Hsuan Chen
- Analytical Chemistry, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6706, United States
| | - Hui Xiao
- Analytical Chemistry, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6706, United States
| | - Thomas Daly
- Analytical Chemistry, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6706, United States
| | - Ning Li
- Analytical Chemistry, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591-6706, United States
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22
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Challenges to industrial mAb bioprocessing—removal of host cell proteins in CHO cell bioprocesses. Curr Opin Chem Eng 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.coche.2018.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
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23
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Háda V, Bagdi A, Bihari Z, Timári SB, Fizil Á, Szántay C. Recent advancements, challenges, and practical considerations in the mass spectrometry-based analytics of protein biotherapeutics: A viewpoint from the biosimilar industry. J Pharm Biomed Anal 2018; 161:214-238. [PMID: 30205300 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2018.08.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2018] [Revised: 08/08/2018] [Accepted: 08/10/2018] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
The extensive analytical characterization of protein biotherapeutics, especially of biosimilars, is a critical part of the product development and registration. High-resolution mass spectrometry became the primary analytical tool used for the structural characterization of biotherapeutics. Its high instrumental sensitivity and methodological versatility made it possible to use this technique to characterize both the primary and higher-order structure of these proteins. However, even by using high-end instrumentation, analysts face several challenges with regard to how to cope with industrial and regulatory requirements, that is, how to obtain accurate and reliable analytical data in a time- and cost-efficient way. New sample preparation approaches, measurement techniques and data evaluation strategies are available to meet those requirements. The practical considerations of these methods are discussed in the present review article focusing on hot topics, such as reliable and efficient sequencing strategies, minimization of artefact formation during sample preparation, quantitative peptide mapping, the potential of multi-attribute methodology, the increasing role of mass spectrometry in higher-order structure characterization and the challenges of MS-based identification of host cell proteins. On the basis of the opportunities in new instrumental techniques, methodological advancements and software-driven data evaluation approaches, for the future one can envision an even wider application area for mass spectrometry in the biopharmaceutical industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viktor Háda
- Analytical Department of Biotechnology, Gedeon Richter Plc, Hungary.
| | - Attila Bagdi
- Analytical Department of Biotechnology, Gedeon Richter Plc, Hungary
| | - Zsolt Bihari
- Analytical Department of Biotechnology, Gedeon Richter Plc, Hungary
| | | | - Ádám Fizil
- Analytical Department of Biotechnology, Gedeon Richter Plc, Hungary
| | - Csaba Szántay
- Spectroscopic Research Department, Gedeon Richter Plc, Hungary.
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24
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Huang L, Wang N, Mitchell CE, Brownlee T, Maple SR, De Felippis MR. A Novel Sample Preparation for Shotgun Proteomics Characterization of HCPs in Antibodies. Anal Chem 2017; 89:5436-5444. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.7b00304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Lihua Huang
- Bioproduct Research and Development,
Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, Indiana 46285, United States
| | - Ning Wang
- Bioproduct Research and Development,
Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, Indiana 46285, United States
| | - Charles E. Mitchell
- Bioproduct Research and Development,
Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, Indiana 46285, United States
| | - Tammy Brownlee
- Bioproduct Research and Development,
Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, Indiana 46285, United States
| | - Steven R. Maple
- Bioproduct Research and Development,
Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, Indiana 46285, United States
| | - Michael R. De Felippis
- Bioproduct Research and Development,
Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, Indiana 46285, United States
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25
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Walker DE, Yang F, Carver J, Joe K, Michels DA, Yu XC. A modular and adaptive mass spectrometry-based platform for support of bioprocess development toward optimal host cell protein clearance. MAbs 2017; 9:654-663. [PMID: 28346045 DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2017.1303023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
A modular and adaptive mass spectrometry (MS)-based platform was developed to provide fast, robust and sensitive host cell protein (HCP) analytics to support process development. This platform relies on one-dimensional ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (1D UHPLC) combined with several different MS data acquisition strategies to meet the needs of purification process development. The workflow was designed to allow HCP composition and quantitation for up to 20 samples per day, a throughput considered essential for real time bioprocess development support. With data-dependent acquisition (DDA), the 1D UHPLC-MS/MS method had excellent speed and demonstrated robustness in detecting unknown HCPs at ≥ 50 ng/mg (ppm) level. Combining 1D UHPLC with sequential window acquisition of all theoretical spectra (SWATH) MS enabled simultaneous detection and quantitation of all HCPs in single-digit ng/mg range within 1 hour, demonstrating for the first time the benefit of SWATH MS as a technique for HCP analysis. As another alternative, a targeted MS approach can be used to track the clearance of specific known HCP under various process conditions. This study highlights the importance of designing a robust LC-MS/MS workflow that not only allows HCP discovery, but also affords greatly improved process knowledge and capability in HCP removal. As an orthogonal and complementary detection approach to traditional HCP analysis by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, the reported LC-MS/MS workflow supports the development of bioprocesses with optimal HCP clearance and the production of safe and high quality therapeutic biopharmaceuticals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donald E Walker
- a Protein Analytical Chemistry , Genentech, A Member of the Roche Group , South San Francisco , CA , USA
| | - Feng Yang
- a Protein Analytical Chemistry , Genentech, A Member of the Roche Group , South San Francisco , CA , USA
| | - Joseph Carver
- a Protein Analytical Chemistry , Genentech, A Member of the Roche Group , South San Francisco , CA , USA
| | - Koman Joe
- a Protein Analytical Chemistry , Genentech, A Member of the Roche Group , South San Francisco , CA , USA
| | - David A Michels
- a Protein Analytical Chemistry , Genentech, A Member of the Roche Group , South San Francisco , CA , USA
| | - X Christopher Yu
- a Protein Analytical Chemistry , Genentech, A Member of the Roche Group , South San Francisco , CA , USA
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26
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Chiverton LM, Evans C, Pandhal J, Landels AR, Rees BJ, Levison PR, Wright PC, Smales CM. Quantitative definition and monitoring of the host cell protein proteome using iTRAQ - a study of an industrial mAb producing CHO-S cell line. Biotechnol J 2016; 11:1014-24. [PMID: 27214759 PMCID: PMC5031201 DOI: 10.1002/biot.201500550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2015] [Revised: 02/28/2016] [Accepted: 05/12/2016] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
There are few studies defining CHO host cell proteins (HCPs) and the flux of these throughout a downstream purification process. Here we have applied quantitative iTRAQ proteomics to follow the HCP profile of an antibody (mAb) producing CHO-S cell line throughout a standard downstream purification procedure consisting of a Protein A, cation and anion exchange process. We used both 6 sample iTRAQ experiment to analyze technical replicates of three samples, which were culture harvest (HCCF), Protein A flow through and Protein A eluate and an 8 sample format to analyze technical replicates of four sample types; HCCF compared to Protein A eluate and subsequent cation and anion exchange purification. In the 6 sample iTRAQ experiment, 8781 spectra were confidently matched to peptides from 819 proteins (including the mAb chains). Across both the 6 and 8 sample experiments 936 proteins were identified. In the 8 sample comparison, 4187 spectra were confidently matched to peptides from 219 proteins. We then used the iTRAQ data to enable estimation of the relative change of individual proteins across the purification steps. These data provide the basis for application of iTRAQ for process development based upon knowledge of critical HCPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lesley M Chiverton
- Centre for Molecular Processing and School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK
| | - Caroline Evans
- ChELSI Institute, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Jagroop Pandhal
- ChELSI Institute, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Andrew R Landels
- ChELSI Institute, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | | | | | - Phillip C Wright
- ChELSI Institute, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
| | - C Mark Smales
- Centre for Molecular Processing and School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK.
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27
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Stoll D, Danforth J, Zhang K, Beck A. Characterization of therapeutic antibodies and related products by two-dimensional liquid chromatography coupled with UV absorbance and mass spectrometric detection. J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci 2016; 1032:51-60. [PMID: 27267072 DOI: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2016.05.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2016] [Revised: 05/14/2016] [Accepted: 05/20/2016] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
The development of analytical tools for the characterization of large biomolecules is an emerging and rapidly evolving area. This development activity is motivated largely by the current trend involving the increase in development and use of large biomolecules for therapeutic uses. Given the inherent complexity of these biomolecules, which arises from their sheer size and possibilities for chemical modification as well as changes over time (e.g., through modification in solution, aggregation), two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC) has attracted considerable interest as an analytical tool to address the challenges faced in characterizing these materials. The immediate potential benefits of 2D-LC over conventional one-dimensional liquid chromatography in this context include: (1) higher overall resolving power; (2) complementary information gained from two dimensions of separation in a single analysis; and (3) enabling indirect coupling of separation modes that are inherently incompatible with mass spectrometric (MS) detection (e.g., ion-exchange, because of high-salt eluents) to MS through a more compatible second dimension separation such as reversed-phase LC. In this review we summarize the work in this area, most of which has occurred in the past five years. Although the future is bright for further development in this area, some challenges have already been addressed through new 2D-LC methods. These include: (1) deep characterization of monoclonal antibodies to understand charge heterogeneity, glycosylation patterns, and other modifications; (2) characterization of antibody-drug conjugates to understand the extent and localization of small molecule conjugation; (3) detailed study of excipients in protein drug formulations; and (4) detection of host-cell proteins on biotherapeutic molecule preparations. We fully expect that in the near future we will see this list expanded, and that continued development will lead to methods with further improved performance metrics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dwight Stoll
- Gustavus Adolphus College, Department of Chemistry, St. Peter, MN, USA.
| | - John Danforth
- Gustavus Adolphus College, Department of Chemistry, St. Peter, MN, USA
| | - Kelly Zhang
- Genentech, 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Alain Beck
- Center of Immunology Pierre Fabre, 5 Avenue Napoléon III, BP 60497, 74160 Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, France
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28
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Doneanu CE, Anderson M, Williams BJ, Lauber MA, Chakraborty A, Chen W. Enhanced Detection of Low-Abundance Host Cell Protein Impurities in High-Purity Monoclonal Antibodies Down to 1 ppm Using Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry Coupled with Multidimensional Liquid Chromatography. Anal Chem 2015; 87:10283-91. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.5b02103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Catalin E. Doneanu
- Waters Corporation, 34 Maple
Street, Milford, Massachusetts 01757, United States
| | - Malcolm Anderson
- Waters Corporation, Stamford
Avenue, Altrincham Road, Wilmslow, SK9 4AX, U.K
| | - Brad J. Williams
- Waters Corporation, 100 Cummings
Center, Suite 407N, Beverly, Massachusetts 01915, United States
| | - Matthew A. Lauber
- Waters Corporation, 34 Maple
Street, Milford, Massachusetts 01757, United States
| | - Asish Chakraborty
- Waters Corporation, 34 Maple
Street, Milford, Massachusetts 01757, United States
| | - Weibin Chen
- Waters Corporation, 34 Maple
Street, Milford, Massachusetts 01757, United States
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29
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Bracewell DG, Francis R, Smales CM. The future of host cell protein (HCP) identification during process development and manufacturing linked to a risk-based management for their control. Biotechnol Bioeng 2015; 112:1727-37. [PMID: 25998019 PMCID: PMC4973824 DOI: 10.1002/bit.25628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 110] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2014] [Revised: 03/04/2015] [Accepted: 04/21/2015] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The use of biological systems to synthesize complex therapeutic products has been a remarkable success. However, during product development, great attention must be devoted to defining acceptable levels of impurities that derive from that biological system, heading this list are host cell proteins (HCPs). Recent advances in proteomic analytics have shown how diverse this class of impurities is; as such knowledge and capability grows inevitable questions have arisen about how thorough current approaches to measuring HCPs are. The fundamental issue is how to adequately measure (and in turn monitor and control) such a large number of protein species (potentially thousands of components) to ensure safe and efficacious products. A rather elegant solution is to use an immunoassay (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA]) based on polyclonal antibodies raised to the host cell (biological system) used to synthesize a particular therapeutic product. However, the measurement is entirely dependent on the antibody serum used, which dictates the sensitivity of the assay and the degree of coverage of the HCP spectrum. It provides one summed analog value for HCP amount; a positive if all HCP components can be considered equal, a negative in the more likely event one associates greater risk with certain components of the HCP proteome. In a thorough risk-based approach, one would wish to be able to account for this. These issues have led to the investigation of orthogonal analytical methods; most prominently mass spectrometry. These techniques can potentially both identify and quantify HCPs. The ability to measure and monitor thousands of proteins proportionally increases the amount of data acquired. Significant benefits exist if the information can be used to determine critical HCPs and thereby create an improved basis for risk management. We describe a nascent approach to risk assessment of HCPs based upon such data, drawing attention to timeliness in relation to biosimilar initiatives. The development of such an approach requires databases based on cumulative knowledge of multiple risk factors that would require national and international regulators, standards authorities (e.g., NIST and NIBSC), industry and academia to all be involved in shaping what is the best approach to the adoption of the latest bioanalytical technology to this area, which is vital to delivering safe efficacious biological medicines of all types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel G Bracewell
- Department of Biochemical Engineering, Advanced Centre for Biochemical Engineering, University College London, Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AH, UK.
| | | | - C Mark Smales
- Centre for Molecular Processing, School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK, CT2 7NJ
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30
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Farrell A, Mittermayr S, Morrissey B, Mc Loughlin N, Navas Iglesias N, Marison IW, Bones J. Quantitative host cell protein analysis using two dimensional data independent LC-MS(E). Anal Chem 2015; 87:9186-93. [PMID: 26280711 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.5b01377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Host cell proteins (HCPs) are bioprocess-related impurities arising from cell-death or secretion from nonhuman cells used for recombinant protein production. Clearance of HCPs through downstream purification (DSP) is required to produce safe and efficacious therapeutic proteins. While traditionally measured using anti-HCP ELISA, more in-depth approaches for HCP characterization may ensure that risks to patients from HCPs are adequately assessed. Mass spectrometry methods provide rationale for targeted removal strategies through the provision of both qualitative and quantitative HCP information. A high pH, low pH, reversed-phase data independent 2D-LC-MS(E) proteomic platform was applied to determine HCP repertoires in the Protein A purified monoclonal antibody (mAb) samples as a function of culture harvest time, elution buffer used for DSP and also following inclusion of additional DSP steps. Critical quality attributes (CQAs) were examined for mAbs purified with different Protein A elution buffers to ensure that the selected buffers not only minimized the HCP profile but also exhibited no adverse effect on product quality. Results indicated that an arginine based Protein A elution buffer minimized the levels of HCPs identified and quantified in a purified mAb sample and also demonstrated no impact on product CQAs. It was also observed that mAbs harvested at later stages of cell culture contained higher concentrations of HCPs but that these were successfully removed by the addition of DSP steps complementary to Protein A purification. Taken together, our results showed how mass spectrometry based methods for HCP determination in conjunction with careful consideration of processing parameters such as harvest time, Protein A elution buffers, and subsequent DSP steps can reduce the HCP repertoire of therapeutic mAbs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy Farrell
- Characterisation and Comparability Laboratory, NIBRT-The National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training , Foster Avenue, Mount Merrion, Blackrock, Co., Dublin, Ireland.,School of Biotechnology, Dublin City University , Glasnevin, Dublin 9, Ireland
| | - Stefan Mittermayr
- Characterisation and Comparability Laboratory, NIBRT-The National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training , Foster Avenue, Mount Merrion, Blackrock, Co., Dublin, Ireland
| | - Brian Morrissey
- Characterisation and Comparability Laboratory, NIBRT-The National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training , Foster Avenue, Mount Merrion, Blackrock, Co., Dublin, Ireland
| | - Niaobh Mc Loughlin
- Characterisation and Comparability Laboratory, NIBRT-The National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training , Foster Avenue, Mount Merrion, Blackrock, Co., Dublin, Ireland
| | - Natalia Navas Iglesias
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Granada , Avenue Fuentenueva S/N, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Ian W Marison
- School of Biotechnology, Dublin City University , Glasnevin, Dublin 9, Ireland
| | - Jonathan Bones
- Characterisation and Comparability Laboratory, NIBRT-The National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training , Foster Avenue, Mount Merrion, Blackrock, Co., Dublin, Ireland
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31
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Bee JS, Tie L, Johnson D, Dimitrova MN, Jusino KC, Afdahl CD. Trace levels of the CHO host cell protease cathepsin D caused particle formation in a monoclonal antibody product. Biotechnol Prog 2015; 31:1360-9. [DOI: 10.1002/btpr.2150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2015] [Revised: 07/19/2015] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jared S. Bee
- Analytical Biotechnology; MedImmune, One MedImmune Way; Gaithersburg MD 20878
| | - Liu Tie
- Analytical Biotechnology; MedImmune, One MedImmune Way; Gaithersburg MD 20878
| | - Douglas Johnson
- Analytical Biotechnology; MedImmune, One MedImmune Way; Gaithersburg MD 20878
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32
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Madsen JA, Farutin V, Carbeau T, Wudyka S, Yin Y, Smith S, Anderson J, Capila I. Toward the complete characterization of host cell proteins in biotherapeutics via affinity depletions, LC-MS/MS, and multivariate analysis. MAbs 2015; 7:1128-37. [PMID: 26291024 DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2015.1082017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Host cell protein (HCP) impurities are generated by the host organism during the production of therapeutic recombinant proteins, and are difficult to remove completely. Though commonly present in small quantities, if levels are not controlled, HCPs can potentially reduce drug efficacy and cause adverse patient reactions. A high resolution approach for thorough HCP characterization of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies is presented herein. In this method, antibody samples are first depleted via affinity enrichment (e.g., Protein A, Protein L) using milligram quantities of material. The HCP-containing flow-through is then enzymatically digested, analyzed using nano-UPLC-MS/MS, and proteins are identified through database searching. Nearly 700 HCPs were identified from samples with very low total HCP levels (< 1 ppm to ∼ 10 ppm) using this method. Quantitation of individual HCPs was performed using normalized spectral counting as the number of peptide spectrum matches (PSMs) per protein is proportional to protein abundance. Multivariate analysis tools were utilized to assess similarities between HCP profiles by: 1) quantifying overlaps between HCP identities; and 2) comparing correlations between individual protein abundances as calculated by spectral counts. Clustering analysis using these measures of dissimilarity between HCP profiles enabled high resolution differentiation of commercial grade monoclonal antibody samples generated from different cell lines, cell culture, and purification processes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Yan Yin
- a Momenta Pharmaceuticals ; Cambridge , MA USA
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33
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Prentice KM, Wallace A, Eakin CM. Inline Protein A Mass Spectrometry for Characterization of Monoclonal Antibodies. Anal Chem 2015; 87:2023-8. [PMID: 25647041 DOI: 10.1021/ac504502e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth M. Prentice
- Department of Analytical
Sciences, Amgen Inc., 1201 Amgen Court West, Seattle, Washington 98119, United States
| | - Alison Wallace
- Department of Analytical
Sciences, Amgen Inc., 1201 Amgen Court West, Seattle, Washington 98119, United States
| | - Catherine M. Eakin
- Department of Analytical
Sciences, Amgen Inc., 1201 Amgen Court West, Seattle, Washington 98119, United States
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