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Zhao R, Liu N, Zheng Z, Li G. Enhanced Stability Differentiation of Therapeutic Polyclonal Antibodies with All Ion Unfolding-Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MASS SPECTROMETRY 2023; 34:2289-2295. [PMID: 37682774 DOI: 10.1021/jasms.3c00215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/10/2023]
Abstract
Compared with monoclonal antibodies, polyclonal antibodies (pAbs) have rather significant characteristics, including lower cost, shorter production cycle, and higher affinity. Therefore, to facilitate their applications in clinic, it is equally critical to comprehensively characterize the conformational stabilities of pAb at the molecular weight-resolved scale, which is technically challenging due to the lack of an effective analytical tool capable of simultaneously providing both stability and molecular weight information within an acceptable error range. Ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) has grown as an alternative to rapidly assess protein conformational stability with accurate molecular weight information maintained, especially when equipped with a collision-induced unfolding (CIU) regime. Dynamic and transient conformational intermediates can be captured with the CIU-IM-MS technique, adding to traditional static structural measurements with collisional cross section. Most CIU-IM-MS-centered protocols are focusing on the application to isolated, targeted protein ions, namely, analyzing one single charge state at one time, limiting its analytical throughput and speed. In this study, we employed an enhanced unfolding regime, all ion unfolding (AIU), capable of the simultaneous operation of numerous ions at a time during stepped unfolding processes to analyze pAb. Results show that AIU can quantitatively characterize the subtle differences in conformational stability among four structurally similar pAbs with improved resolving capability by around a 2-4-fold increment in both stability and structure differentiating parameters. Besides, AIU also benefits from considerably saved time cost and improved spectrum quality with an elevated signal-to-noise ratio.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rui Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biosensing and Molecular Recognition, Research Center for Analytical Science, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Ning Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biosensing and Molecular Recognition, Research Center for Analytical Science, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Zhen Zheng
- School of Pharmacy, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China
| | - Gongyu Li
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biosensing and Molecular Recognition, Research Center for Analytical Science, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
- Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin 300192, China
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Zhang F, Richter G, Bourgeois B, Spreitzer E, Moser A, Keilbach A, Kotnik P, Madl T. A General Small-Angle X-ray Scattering-Based Screening Protocol for Studying Physical Stability of Protein Formulations. Pharmaceutics 2021; 14:69. [PMID: 35056965 PMCID: PMC8778066 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14010069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2021] [Revised: 12/22/2021] [Accepted: 12/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
A fundamental step in developing a protein drug is the selection of a stable storage formulation that ensures efficacy of the drug and inhibits physiochemical degradation or aggregation. Here, we designed and evaluated a general workflow for screening of protein formulations based on small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Our SAXS pipeline combines automated sample handling, temperature control, and fast data analysis and provides protein particle interaction information. SAXS, together with different methods including turbidity analysis, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and SDS-PAGE measurements, were used to obtain different parameters to provide high throughput screenings. Using a set of model proteins and biopharmaceuticals, we show that SAXS is complementary to dynamic light scattering (DLS), which is widely used in biopharmaceutical research and industry. We found that, compared to DLS, SAXS can provide a more sensitive measure for protein particle interactions, such as protein aggregation and repulsion. Moreover, we show that SAXS is compatible with a broader range of buffers, excipients, and protein concentrations and that in situ SAXS provides a sensitive measure for long-term protein stability. This workflow can enable future high-throughput analysis of proteins and biopharmaceuticals and can be integrated with well-established complementary physicochemical analysis pipelines in (biopharmaceutical) research and industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fangrong Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Gastrointestinal Cancer, Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350122, China;
- Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signaling, Metabolism and Aging, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Medical University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria; (G.R.); (B.B.); (E.S.)
| | - Gesa Richter
- Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signaling, Metabolism and Aging, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Medical University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria; (G.R.); (B.B.); (E.S.)
| | - Benjamin Bourgeois
- Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signaling, Metabolism and Aging, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Medical University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria; (G.R.); (B.B.); (E.S.)
| | - Emil Spreitzer
- Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signaling, Metabolism and Aging, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Medical University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria; (G.R.); (B.B.); (E.S.)
| | - Armin Moser
- Anton Paar GmbH, 8054 Graz, Austria; (A.M.); (A.K.); (P.K.)
| | | | - Petra Kotnik
- Anton Paar GmbH, 8054 Graz, Austria; (A.M.); (A.K.); (P.K.)
| | - Tobias Madl
- Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signaling, Metabolism and Aging, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Medical University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria; (G.R.); (B.B.); (E.S.)
- BioTechMed-Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria
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Richardson K, Langridge D, Dixit SM, Ruotolo BT. An Improved Calibration Approach for Traveling Wave Ion Mobility Spectrometry: Robust, High-Precision Collision Cross Sections. Anal Chem 2021; 93:3542-3550. [PMID: 33555172 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c04948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
The combination of ion-mobility (IM) separation with mass spectrometry (MS) has impacted global measurement efforts in areas ranging from food analysis to drug discovery. Reasons for the broad adoption of IM-MS include its significantly increased peak capacity, duty-cycle, and ability to reconstruct fragmentation data in parallel, all of which greatly enable the analyses of complex mixtures. More fundamentally, however, measurements of ion-gas molecule collision cross sections (CCSs) are used to support compound identification and quantitation efforts as well as study the structures of large biomolecules. As the first commercialized form of IM-MS, Traveling Wave Ion Mobility (TWIM) devices are operated at low pressures (∼3 mbar) and voltages, are relatively short (∼25 cm), and separate ions on a timescale of tens of milliseconds. These qualities make TWIM ideally suited for hybridization with MS. Owing to the complicated motion of ions in TWIM devices, however, IM transit times must be calibrated to enable CCS measurements. Applicability of these calibrations has hitherto been restricted to primarily singly charged small molecules and some classes of large, multiply charged ions under a significantly narrower range of instrument conditions. Here, we introduce and extensively characterize a dramatically improved TWIM calibration methodology. Using over 2500 experimental TWIM data sets, covering ions that span over 3.5 orders of magnitude of molecular mass, we demonstrate robust calibrations for a significantly expanded range of instrument conditions, thereby opening up new analytical application areas and enabling the expansion of high-precision CCS measurements for both existing and next-generation TWIM instrumentation.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Richardson
- Waters Corporation, Stamford Avenue, Altrincham Road, Wilmslow SK9 4AX, United Kingdom
| | - D Langridge
- Waters Corporation, Stamford Avenue, Altrincham Road, Wilmslow SK9 4AX, United Kingdom
| | - S M Dixit
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, University Ave., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - B T Ruotolo
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, University Ave., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
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Dixit SM, Richardson K, Langridge D, Giles K, Ruotolo BT. A Novel Ion Pseudo-trapping Phenomenon within Traveling Wave Ion Guides. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MASS SPECTROMETRY 2020; 31:880-887. [PMID: 32134265 DOI: 10.1021/jasms.9b00095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The widespread use of traveling wave ion mobility (TWIM) technology in fields such as omics and structural biology motivates efforts to deepen our understanding of ion transport within such devices. Here, we describe a new advancement in TWIM theory, where pseudo-trapping within TW ion guides is characterized in detail. During pseudo-trapping, ions with different mobilities can travel with the same mean velocity, leaving others within the same TWIM experiment to separate as normal. Furthermore, pseudo-trapping limits typical band broadening experienced by ions during TWIM, manifesting as peaks with apparently improved IM resolving power, but all ions that undergo pseudo trapping are unable to separate by IM. SIMION simulations show that ions become locked into a repeated pattern of motion with respect to the TW reference frame during pseudo-trapping. We developed a simplified model capable of reproducing TW pseudo-trapping and reproducing trends observed in experimental data. Our model and simulations suggest that pseudo-trapping occurs only during experiments performed under static TWIM conditions, to an extent that depends on the detailed shape of the traveling wave. We show that pseudo-trapping alters the ion transit times and can adversely affect calibrated CCS measurements. Finally, we provide recommendations for avoiding unintentional pseudo-trapping in TWIM in order to obtain optimal separations and CCS determinations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sugyan M Dixit
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, 930 North University Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Keith Richardson
- Waters Corporation, Stamford Avenue, Altrincham Road, Wilmslow SK9 4AX, U.K
| | - David Langridge
- Waters Corporation, Stamford Avenue, Altrincham Road, Wilmslow SK9 4AX, U.K
| | - Kevin Giles
- Waters Corporation, Stamford Avenue, Altrincham Road, Wilmslow SK9 4AX, U.K
| | - Brandon T Ruotolo
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, 930 North University Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
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Beckett D, El-Baba TJ, Gilbert K, Clemmer DE, Raghavachari K. Untangling Hydrogen Bond Networks with Ion Mobility Spectrometry and Quantum Chemical Calculations: A Case Study on H +XPGG. J Phys Chem B 2019; 123:5730-5741. [PMID: 31241336 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.9b03803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry and quantum chemical calculations are used to determine the structures and stabilities of singly protonated XaaProGlyGly peptides: H+DPGG, H+NPGG, H+EPGG, and H+QPGG. The IMS distributions are similar, suggesting the peptides adopt closely related structures in the gas phase. Quantum chemical calculations show that all conformers seen in the experimental spectrum correspond to the cis configuration about the Xaa-Pro peptide bond, significantly different from the behavior seen previously for H+GPGG. Density functional theory and quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) investigations uncover a silent drama as a minor conformer not observed in the H+DPGG spectrum becomes the preferred conformer in H+QPGG, with both conformers being coincident in collision cross section. Investigation of the highly coupled hydrogen bond network, replete with CH···O interactions and bifurcated hydrogen bonds, reveals the cause of this effect as well as the absence of trans conformers from the spectra. A series of generalized observations are provided to aid in enzyme and ligand design using these coupled hydrogen bond motifs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Beckett
- Department of Chemistry , Indiana University , Bloomington Indiana 47401 , United States
| | - Tarick J El-Baba
- Department of Chemistry , Indiana University , Bloomington Indiana 47401 , United States
| | - Kevin Gilbert
- Department of Chemistry , Indiana University , Bloomington Indiana 47401 , United States
| | - David E Clemmer
- Department of Chemistry , Indiana University , Bloomington Indiana 47401 , United States
| | - Krishnan Raghavachari
- Department of Chemistry , Indiana University , Bloomington Indiana 47401 , United States
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