Preliminary investigations into macroscopic attenuated total reflection-fourier transform infrared imaging of intact spherical domains: spatial resolution and image distortion

Raman Spectroscopic Analysis Reveals Abnormal Fatty Acid Composition in Tumor Micro- and Macroenvironments in Human Breast and Rat Mammary Cancer

Fatty acids play essential roles in the growth and metastasis of cancer cells. To facilitate their avid growth and proliferation, cancer cells not only alter the fatty acid synthesis and metabolism intracellularly and extracellularly, but also in the macroenvironment via direct or indirect pathways. We report here, using Raman micro-spectroscopy, that an increase in the production of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) was identified in both cancerous and normal appearing breast tissue obtained from breast cancer patients and tumor-bearing rats. By minimizing confounding effects from mixed chemicals and optimizing the signal-to-noise ratio of Raman spectra, we observed a large-scale transition from monounsaturated fatty acids to PUFAs in the tumor while only a small subset of fatty acids transitioned to PUFAs in the tumor micro- and macroenvironment. These data have important implications for further clarifying the macroenvironmental effect of cancer progression and provide new potential approaches for characterizing the tumor micro- and macroenvironment of breast cancer in both pre-clinical animal studies and clinical applications.

In-column ATR-FTIR spectroscopy to monitor affinity chromatography purification of monoclonal antibodies

In recent years many monoclonal antibodies (mAb) have entered the biotherapeutics market, offering new treatments for chronic and life-threatening diseases. Protein A resin captures monoclonal antibody (mAb) effectively, but the binding capacity decays over repeated purification cycles. On an industrial scale, replacing fouled Protein A affinity chromatography resin accounts for a large proportion of the raw material cost. Cleaning-in-place (CIP) procedures were developed to extend Protein A resin lifespan, but chromatograms cannot reliably quantify any remaining contaminants over repeated cycles. To study resin fouling in situ, we coupled affinity chromatography and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy for the first time, by embedding an attenuated total reflection (ATR) sensor inside a micro-scale column while measuring the UV 280 nm and conductivity. Our approach quantified the in-column protein concentration in the resin bed and determined protein conformation. Our results show that Protein A ligand leached during CIP. We also found that host cell proteins bound to the Protein A resin even more strongly than mAbs and that typical CIP conditions do not remove all fouling contaminants. The insights derived from in-column ATR-FTIR spectroscopic monitoring could contribute to mAb purification quality assurance as well as guide the development of more effective CIP conditions to optimise resin lifespan.

Cleaning-in-place of immunoaffinity resins monitored by in situ ATR-FTIR spectroscopy

In the next 10 years, the pharmaceutical industry anticipates that revenue from biotherapeutics will overtake those generated from small drug molecules. Despite effectively treating a range of chronic and life-threatening diseases, the high cost of biotherapeutics limits their use. For biotherapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), an important production cost is the affinity resin used for protein capture. Cleaning-in-place (CIP) protocols aim to optimise the lifespan of the resin by slowing binding capacity decay. Binding assays can determine resin capacity from the mobile phase, but do not reveal the underlying causes of Protein A ligand degradation. The focus needs to be on the stationary phase to examine the effect of CIP on the resin. To directly determine both the local Protein A ligand concentration and conformation on two Protein A resins, we developed a method based on attenuated total reflection (ATR) Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. ATR-FTIR spectroscopic imaging revealed that applying a carefully controlled load to agarose beads produces an even and reproducible contact with the internal reflection element. This allowed detection and quantification of the binding capacity of the stationary phase. ATR-FTIR spectroscopy also showed that Protein A proteolysis does not seem to occur under typical CIP conditions (below 1 M NaOH). However, our data revealed that concentrations of NaOH above 0.1 M cause significant changes in Protein A conformation. The addition of >0.4 M trehalose during CIP significantly reduced NaOH-induced ligand unfolding observed for one of the two Protein A resins tested. Such insights could help to optimise CIP protocols in order to extend resin lifetime and reduce mAb production costs.

The application of non-linear curve fitting routines to the analysis of mid-infrared images obtained from single polymeric microparticles

For the first time, we report a series of time resolved images of a single PLGA microparticle undergoing hydrolysis at 70 °C that have been obtained using attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic (ATR-FTIR) imaging. A novel partially supervised non-linear curve fitting (NLCF) tool was developed to identify and fit peaks to the infrared spectrum obtained from each pixel within the 64 × 64 array. The output from the NLCF was evaluated by comparison with a traditional peak height (PH) data analysis approach and multivariate curve resolution alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) analysis for the same images, in order to understand the limitations and advantages of the NLCF methodology. The NLCF method was shown to facilitate consistent spatial resolution enhancement as defined using the step-edge approach on dry microparticle images when compared to images derived from both PH measurements and MCR-ALS. The NLCF method was shown to improve both the S/N and sharpness of images obtained during an evolving experiment, providing a better insight into the magnitude of hydration layers and particle dimension changes during hydrolysis. The NLCF approach facilitated the calculation of hydrolysis rate constants for both the glycolic (kG) and lactic (kL) acid segments of the PLGA copolymer. This represents a real advantage over MCR-ALS which could not distinguish between the two segments due to colinearity within the data. The NLCF approach made it possible to calculate the hydrolysis rate constants from a single pixel, unlike the peak height data analysis approach which suffered from poor S/N at each pixel. These findings show the potential value of applying NLCF to the study of real-time chemical processes at the micron scale, assisting in the understanding of the mechanisms of chemical processes that occur within microparticles and enhancing the value of the mid-IR ATR analysis.

Micro- and macro-attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic imaging. Plenary Lecture at the 5th International Conference on Advanced Vibrational Spectroscopy, 2009, Melbourne, Australia

Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopic imaging has become a very powerful method in chemical analysis. In this review paper we describe a variety of opportunities for obtaining FT-IR images using the attenuated total reflection (ATR) approach and provide an overview of fundamental aspects, accessories, and applications in both micro- and macro-ATR imaging modes. The advantages and versatility of both ATR imaging modes are discussed and the spatial resolution of micro-ATR imaging is demonstrated. Micro-ATR imaging has opened up many new areas of study that were previously precluded by inadequate spatial resolution (polymer blends, pharmaceutical tablets, cross-sections of blood vessels or hair, surface of skin, single live cells, cancerous tissues). Recent applications of ATR imaging in polymer research, biomedical and forensic sciences, objects of cultural heritage, and other complex materials are outlined. The latest advances include obtaining spatially resolved chemical images from different depths within a sample, and surface-enhanced images for macro-ATR imaging have also been presented. Macro-ATR imaging is a valuable approach for high-throughput analysis of materials under controlled environments. Opportunities exist for chemical imaging of dynamic aqueous systems, such as dissolution, diffusion, microfluidics, or imaging of dynamic processes in live cells.