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Ruppen I, Verscheure L, Vandenheede I, Ortiz A, de Melo IS, Liebig T, Sandra P, Beydon ME, Sandra K. Characterization of mAb size heterogeneity originating from a cysteine to tyrosine substitution using denaturing and native LC-MS. J Pharm Biomed Anal 2023; 236:115743. [PMID: 37757547 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2023.115743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2023] [Revised: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 09/20/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023]
Abstract
Upon assessing the comparability between a biosimilar mAb and its reference product by non-reducing CE-SDS, increased levels of a heavy-heavy-light chain (HHL) variant, present as a low molecular weight (LMW) peak, were observed. RPLC-MS applied at top, middle-up and bottom-up level revealed the existence of Cys-to-Tyr substitutions, predominantly at position HC226 involved in connecting LC and HC, explaining the abundant HHL levels. Antigen binding was not impacted by the presence of this size variant suggesting a non-covalent association of Tyr substituted HHL and LC. The latter complex is not maintained in the denaturing conditions associated with CE-SDS and RPLC-MS. Its existence could, nevertheless, be confirmed by native SEC-MS which preserves non-covalent protein interactions during separation and electrospray ionization. Amino acid analysis furthermore demonstrated a depletion of Cys during the fed-batch process indicating that the observed size/sequence variant is not of genetic but rather of metabolic origin. Native SEC-MS showed that supplementing the cell culture medium with Cys halts misincorporation of Tyr and promotes the formation of the desired mAb structure. To the best of our knowledge, Cys-to-Tyr substitutions preventing interchain disulfide bridge formation have not been described earlier. This observation adds to the impressive structural heterogeneity reported to date for mAbs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabel Ruppen
- mAbxience Research, Manuel Pombo Angulo 28, 28050 Madrid, Spain
| | | | | | - Alexia Ortiz
- RIC group, President Kennedypark 26, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium
| | | | - Timo Liebig
- mAbxience Research, Manuel Pombo Angulo 28, 28050 Madrid, Spain
| | - Pat Sandra
- RIC group, President Kennedypark 26, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium
| | | | - Koen Sandra
- RIC group, President Kennedypark 26, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium.
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2
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Campuzano IDG, Sandoval W. Denaturing and Native Mass Spectrometric Analytics for Biotherapeutic Drug Discovery Research: Historical, Current, and Future Personal Perspectives. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MASS SPECTROMETRY 2021; 32:1861-1885. [PMID: 33886297 DOI: 10.1021/jasms.1c00036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Mass spectrometry (MS) plays a key role throughout all stages of drug development and is now as ubiquitous as other analytical techniques such as surface plasmon resonance, nuclear magnetic resonance, and supercritical fluid chromatography, among others. Herein, we aim to discuss the history of MS, both electrospray and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization, specifically for the analysis of antibodies, evolving through to denaturing and native-MS analysis of newer biologic moieties such as antibody-drug conjugates, multispecific antibodies, and interfering nucleic acid-based therapies. We discuss challenging therapeutic target characterization such as membrane protein receptors. Importantly, we compare and contrast the MS and hyphenated analytical chromatographic methods used to characterize these therapeutic modalities and targets within biopharmaceutical research and highlight the importance of appropriate MS deconvolution software and its essential contribution to project progression. Finally, we describe emerging applications and MS technologies that are still predominantly within either a development or academic stage of use but are poised to have significant impact on future drug development within the biopharmaceutic industry once matured. The views reflected herein are personal and are not meant to be an exhaustive list of all relevant MS performed within biopharmaceutical research but are what we feel have been historically, are currently, and will be in the future the most impactful for the drug development process.
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MESH Headings
- Antibodies, Monoclonal/analysis
- Automation, Laboratory
- Biopharmaceutics/methods
- Chromatography, Liquid
- Drug Discovery/methods
- Drug Industry/history
- History, 20th Century
- History, 21st Century
- Humans
- Immunoconjugates/analysis
- Immunoconjugates/chemistry
- Protein Denaturation
- Protein Processing, Post-Translational
- Proteins/analysis
- Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization/history
- Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization/instrumentation
- Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization/methods
- Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization/history
- Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization/instrumentation
- Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization/methods
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Affiliation(s)
- Iain D G Campuzano
- Discovery Attribute Sciences, Amgen Research, 1 Amgen Center Drive, Thousand Oaks, California 92130, United States
| | - Wendy Sandoval
- Department of Microchemistry, Proteomics and Lipidomics, Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, United States
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Harris C, Xu W, Grassi L, Wang C, Markle A, Hardman C, Stevens R, Miro-Quesada G, Hatton D, Wang J. Identification and characterization of an IgG sequence variant with an 11 kDa heavy chain C-terminal extension using a combination of mass spectrometry and high-throughput sequencing analysis. MAbs 2019; 11:1452-1463. [PMID: 31570042 PMCID: PMC6816433 DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2019.1667740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein primary structure is a potential critical quality attribute for biotherapeutics. Identifying and characterizing any sequence variants present is essential for product development. A sequence variant ~11 kDa larger than the expected IgG mass was observed by size-exclusion chromatography and two-dimensional liquid chromatography coupled with online mass spectrometry. Further characterization indicated that the 11 kDa was added to the heavy chain (HC) Fc domain. Despite the relatively large mass addition, only one unknown peptide was detected by peptide mapping. To decipher the sequence, the transcriptome of the manufacturing cell line was characterized by Illumina RNA-seq. Transcriptome reconstruction detected an aberrant fusion transcript, where the light chain (LC) constant domain sequence was fused to the 3ʹ end of the HC transcript. Translation of this fusion transcript generated an extended peptide sequence at the HC C-terminus corresponding to the observed 11 kDa mass addition. Nanopore-based genome sequencing showed multiple copies of the plasmid had integrated in tandem with one copy missing the 5ʹ end of the plasmid, deleting the LC variable domain. The fusion transcript was due to read-through of the HC terminator sequence into the adjacent partial LC gene and an unexpected splicing event between a cryptic splice-donor site at the 3ʹ end of the HC and the splice acceptor site at the 5ʹ end of the LC constant domain. Our study demonstrates that combining protein physicochemical characterization with genomic and transcriptomic analysis of the manufacturing cell line greatly improves the identification of sequence variants and understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire Harris
- Biopharmaceutical Development, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca , Cambridge , UK
| | - Weichen Xu
- Biopharmaceutical Development, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca , Gaithersburg , MD , USA
| | - Luigi Grassi
- Biopharmaceutical Development, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca , Cambridge , UK
| | - Chunlei Wang
- Biopharmaceutical Development, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca , Gaithersburg , MD , USA
| | - Abigail Markle
- Biopharmaceutical Development, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca , Gaithersburg , MD , USA
| | - Colin Hardman
- Data Science & Artificial Intelligence, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca , Cambridge , UK
| | - Richard Stevens
- Antibody Discovery and Protein Engineering, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca , Cambridge , UK
| | - Guillermo Miro-Quesada
- Data & Quantitative Sciences, Biopharmaceutical Development, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca , Gaithersburg , MD , USA
| | - Diane Hatton
- Biopharmaceutical Development, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca , Cambridge , UK
| | - Jihong Wang
- Biopharmaceutical Development, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca , Gaithersburg , MD , USA
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Rugbjerg P, Sommer MOA. Overcoming genetic heterogeneity in industrial fermentations. Nat Biotechnol 2019; 37:869-876. [DOI: 10.1038/s41587-019-0171-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2018] [Accepted: 05/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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