Minimization of artifact protein aggregation using tetradecyl sulfate and hexadecyl sulfate in capillary gel electrophoresis under reducing conditions

In the biopharmaceutical industry, CE-SDS assesses the purity, heterogeneity, and stability of therapeutic proteins. However, for mAb-1 and mAb-2, typical CE-SDS under reducing conditions produced atypical protein peak profiles, which led to biased purity results, thus were not acceptable for biologics manufacturing. This bias was caused by the formation of method-induced higher molecular weight artifacts, the levels of which correlated with protein concentration. Here we show that adding sodium tetradecyl and hexadecyl sulfates to the sample and the sieving gel buffer solutions was required to prevent formation of aggregate artifacts and to maintain detergent:protein uniformity, suggesting their importance during the sample preparation steps of heat denaturation and subsequent cooling as well as during capillary migration. For these proteins, we show that this uniformity was likely due to the ability of these detergents to bind proteins with markedly higher affinities compared to SDS. “CE-SC_XS” methods (where CE-SC_XS is CGE using detergent composed of a sodium sulfate head group and a hydrocarbon tail, with “C_X” representing various tail lengths), were developed with a sodium tetradecyl sulfate sample buffer and a sodium hexadecyl sulfate containing sieving gel buffer that minimized artifacts and provided robust characterization and release results for mAb-1 and mAb-2.     

Interlaboratory method validation of capillary electrophoresis sodium dodecyl sulfate (CE-SDS) methodology for analysis of mAbs

Capillary electrophoresis sodium dodecyl sulfate (CE-SDS) is an analytical method to assess the purity of proteins, commonly applied to monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in the biopharmaceutical industry. To address the need to standardize the CE-SDS method in the pharmaceutical industry and to enhance the confidence in method transfer between laboratories operating different commercial capillary electrophoresis (CE) instrument platforms, an interlaboratory CE-SDS method validation was organized involving 13 laboratories in 13 companies on four different types of commercial capillary electrophoresis instruments. In the validation, a commercial mAb therapeutic was used as the sample. The validation process followed the analytical guidelines set by the ICH guidelines (International Conference for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use). The method's precision, accuracy, linearity and range, and limit of quantitation (LOQ) were validated in the study. Variations of all the parameters validated in the study passed the pre-set criteria defined at the beginning of the study. The definition was based on previously published works and the intended application purpose of the CE-SDS method for mAbs. The study proved that the CE-SDS method fits its intended application purpose as a size impurity assay and size heterogeneity characterization assay for mAb therapeutic products. This study is the first time a CE-SDS method is validated by multiple laboratories using different commercial CE instrument platforms and on a commercial mAb therapeutic. Its results will enhance the confidence of the biopharmaceutical industry to develop CE-SDS methods and transfer CE-SDS methods between different laboratories.     

Applications of CE SDS gel in development of biopharmaceutical antibody-based products

CE SDS gel technique offers many advantages over the traditional labor-intensive SDS PAGE slab gel technology. The CE-based method has increasingly been applied to many protein analysis applications. Specific examples are provided for monoclonal antibody (mAb), though the technique can be adapted to many other therapeutic protein products. Applications of CE SDS gel method using Beckman PA800 with UV detection are presented and discussed with respect to mAb analysis, such as purity, quantitation of non-glycosylated heavy chain (NGHC) peak, identity, and stability. The stability of mAb is evaluated with respect to formulation buffer, accelerated temperature stress, UV light-exposure, and high pH conditions. Both reducing and non-reducing CE SDS gel conditions were applied and optimized to characterize mAb products. The data presented provides a "taste" of what CE SDS gel method can do to support the development of mAb products from early clone screening for product quality to the final product characterization. Since the CE SDS gel method is automatable, quantitative, robust, and allows for relatively high throughput, it provides both great analytical capacity and product coverage for a wide spectrum of protein product development in biopharmaceutical industry.     

Rapid Screening of Volatile Ion-Pair Reagents Using UHPLC and Robust Analytical Method Development Using DoE for an Acetyl Cholinesterase Inhibitor: Galantamine HBr

As over 70% of pharmaceutical compounds are bases, the analysis of these basic compounds by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) continues to be of great value and interesting. Acetyl cholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs), which contain the basic compounds like Rivastigmine tartrate, Galantamine hydrobromide and Donepezil with different polarities, were chosen for the study. A rapid screening of the volatile ion-pairing reagents was performed using modern techniques like ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC). The experiments were planned using the ??Design of Experiments?? (DoE) approach to identify the LC?CMS compatible ion-pair reagent. In this study, Heptafluorobutyric acid (HFBA) has given a very good peak shape with tailing factor at 1.4 and theoretical plates up to ~5,000 were observed, compared to tailing factor at 1.9 and theoretical plates up to ~3,000 with non-volatile ion-pair reagent sodium heptane sulphonate (SHS). Similarly retention with HFBA was optimum as ~5 min in short run time method compared to ~13 min with SHS. This ion-pair reagent has proved to be good replacement of sodium alkyl sulphonate modifiers. HFBA can also be used for semi-preparative work for isolation of impurities by just evaporating the solvents. It avoids the extraction of other inorganic modifiers.     

Surface Tension, Heat Capacity, and Volume of Amphiphilic Compounds in Formamide Solutions

Density measurements of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), sodium decyl sulfate (SDeS), sodium octyl sulfate(SOS), and sodium hexyl sulfate(SHS) in formamide (FA) as functions of the surfactant concentrations were carried out at 25°C. For SDS in FA, additional density measurements at 35 and 60°C and surface tension and specific heat capacity measurements at 25°C were also performed. From density and specific heat capacity data, the apparent molar volume and heat capacity of the surfactants as functions of concentration were calculated. The surface excess of SDS at the solution–air interface was also determined from the surface tension measurements using the Gibbs adsorption equation. Under our experimental conditions, none of the experimental results evidence micelle formation. In addition, volumetric studies of the hexanol–SDS–FA ternary system at 25°C evidence only interactions between the dispersed surfactant and alcohol.     

Activity and structural changes of mushroom tyrosinase induced by n-alkyl sulfates

Catecholase activity and structural changes of mushroom tyrosinase (MT) were studied in the presence of some n-alkyl sulfate derivatives. Experiments showed that MT reached its optimal activity in the presence of 1.5, 0.6, and 0.2 mM of sodium n-octyl sulfate (SOS), sodium n-dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and sodium n-tetradecyl sulfate (STS), respectively. Native and incubated MT with the n-alkyl sulfates were also investigated from structural point of view by far-UV circular dichroism (CD) and intrinsic fluorescence spectroscopy. At the above mentioned concentrations of SOS, SDS, and STS no change in the secondary structure of MT was observed. However, changes in the tertiary structure of the enzyme due to the presence of n-alkyl sulfates were obvious. Results of this research indicate that n-alkyl sulfate with longer chain induces greater conformational changes in MT, hence, can activate it at lower concentrations.     

Analysis of combinatorial chemistry samples by micellar electrokinetic chromatography

A micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) method has been developed that can evaluate the purity of samples generated in combinatorial chemistry libraries. This method uses an open tube capillary (27 cm x 50 microm) along with a run buffer composed of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin, and sodium tetraborate coupled with UV detection. Neutral compounds and compounds that were insoluble in aqueous buffers could be analyzed under these conditions in approximately 3 min. The concentration of SDS and the concentration of hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin effected the separation. The affect on selectivity resulting from the addition of an organic modifier to the run buffer was examined. The low background absorbency of the run buffer made for easy detection of compounds that absorbed at low UV wavelengths. The quick analysis time made this suitable for analysis of combinatorial chemistry samples.     

A comparative study of CE-SDS,SDS-PAGE,and Simple Western—Precision,repeatability, and apparent molecular mass shifts by glycosylation

SDS gel electrophoresis is a commonly used approach for monitoring purity and apparent molecular mass (Mr) of proteins, especially in the field of quality control of biopharmaceutical proteins. The technological installation of CE-SDS as the replacement of the slab gel technique (SDS-PAGE) is still in progress, leading to a continuous improvement of CE-SDS instruments. Various CE-SDS instruments, namely Maurice (CE-SDS/CE-SDS PLUS) and Wes by ProteinSimple as well as the microchip gel electrophoresis system LabChip® GXII Touch™ HT by PerkinElmer were tested for precision and repeatability compared to SDS-PAGE (Bio-Rad). For assessing these quality control parameters, standard model proteins with minor post-translational modifications were used. Overall, it can be concluded that the CE-SDS-based methods are similar to SDS-PAGE with respect to these parameters. Quality characteristics of test systems gain more significance by testing proteins that do not behave like model proteins. Therefore, glycosylated proteins were analyzed to comparatively investigate the influence of glycosylation on Mr determination in the different instruments. In some cases, high deviations were found both among the methods and with regard to reference values. This article provides possible explanations for these findings.     

Use of CE-SDS gel for characterization of monoclonal antibody hinge region clipping due to copper and high pH stress

CE-SDS gel technique has been used extensively in the field of monoclonal antibody (mAb) as a tool for product purity, stability, and characterization. It offers many advantages over the traditional labor-intensive SDS-PAGE slab gel technology with respect to speed and resolution. Monoclonal antibodies are known to cleave in the hinge region due to extreme pH, high temperature and in the presence of metals, especially copper. This cleavage will impact the shelf lifetime of mAb product hence its quality. CESDS gel method using Beckman PA800 with UV detection is used to characterize the effects of copper and other metals such as iron and zinc on mAb clipping. In addition, mAb integrity under high temperature and high pH stress conditions was also evaluated and the results clearly show that CE-SDS gel can distinguish clipping due to copper versus heat and/or high pH. The data presented illustrate the power of this simple CESDS gel technique in supporting the development of mAb from product quality and stability to the final product characterization.     

Characterization of particle surface and morphology in vinyl acetate-butyl acrylate emulsion copolymers — Influence of the copolymerization pathway

Surface characterization was investigated in vinyl acetate (VAc) butyl acrylate (BuA) copolymer latexes of various compositions and prepared with four different emulsion polymerization processes: conventionnal batch, composition-controlled batch, core-shell, emulsifier-free semi-continuous. Surface end-groups (sulfate or carboxylic) titration results were first compared and discussed according to the type of process and as a function of conversion. As previously shown [1], it was confirmed that batch latex particles present a heterogeneous structure with a rich VAc outlayer, as in core-shell particles. As expected, semi-continuous and composition-controlled batch particles exhibit surface end-group characteristics revealing a more homogeneous distribution of both monomers within the particles. These differences in particle morphology were corroborated by analyzing water-polymer interface in these latexes using the soap titration method, with the sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) or sodium hexadecyl sulfate (SHS) as emulsifier probes. When the BuA was batch-polymerized onto PVAc seed particles, the estimated surface composition seemed to show that probably phase rearrangement occurs in the particle during the synthesis or upon aging. It was also confirmed that SDS displays an abnormal adsorption due to complexation and solubilization in the rich-VAc shell of the particles.     

Meat species identification by linear discriminant analysis of capillary electrophoresis protein profiles

The objective of this study was to utilize linear discriminant analysis (LDA) in the interpretation of capillary electrophoresis-sodium dodecyl sulfate polymer-filled capillary gel electrophoresis (CE-SDS) meat protein profiles for the identification of meat species. The specific objectives were 1) to collect quantitative data on water-soluble and saline-soluble proteins of different meat species obtained by CE-SDS and 2) to apply LDA on collected CE-SDS protein data for the development of a pattern recognition statistical model useful in the differentiation of meat species. Samples were raw beef top and eye round, boneless fresh pork ham and loin, turkey leg and breast meat, and mechanically deboned turkey meat collected on six different occasions, making a total of 42 samples. Additionally, 14 samples were used as test samples to determine the classification ability of the procedure. Quantitative protein data obtained by CE-SDS was used to generate separate LDA models for either water- or saline-soluble protein extracts. Although a saline solution was a more efficient meat protein-extracting agent, as shown by a higher total protein concentration and a larger number of peaks, water-soluble CE-SDS protein profiles gave more distinctive discrimination among meat species. The correct classification given by LDA on water-soluble protein data was 100% for all meat species, except pork (94%). Conversely, the correct classification on saline-soluble protein data was 88% for beef and mechanically deboned turkey meat, and 94% and 100% for turkey and pork meat, respectively. LDA proved to be a useful pattern recognition procedure in the interpretation of CE-SDS protein profiles for the identification of meat species.     

Simultaneous separation of sixteen positional and optical isomers of the tryptophan family by ligand-exchange micellar electrokinetic chromatography

Summary Ligand-exchange micellar electrokinetic chromatography has been used for the simultaneous separation of 16 positional and optical isomers of the tryptophan family. The Cu(II) complex with L-hydroxyproline was used as the chiral selector. Two groups of anionic surfactant, linear alkylbenzenesulfonates (LAS) and straight-chain alkyl sulfates such as sodiumn-decyl sulfate (SDeS), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and sodiumn-tetradecyl sulfate (STS), were used for simultaneous separation. The best result was obtained by use of SDS. The influence of SDS concentration and of pH on the separation was investigated. The separation behavior in the absence of the Cu(II) complex with L-hydroxyproline was also examined. Use of organic modifiers causes the resolution to decrease. Relationships between the logarithm of the octanol-water partition coefficient (logP _OW) and resolution, and between logP _OW and migration time are discussed.     

Cooperative alpha-helix formation of beta-lactoglobulin induced by sodium n-alkyl sulfates

It is generally assumed that folding intermediates contain partially formed native-like secondary structures. However, if we consider the fact that the conformational stability of the intermediate state is simpler than that of the native state, it would be expected that the secondary structures in a folding intermediate would not necessarily be similar to those of the native state. beta-Lactoglobulin is a predominantly beta-sheet protein, although it has a markedly high intrinsic preference for alpha-helical structure. The formation of non-native alpha-helical intermediate of beta-lactoglobulin was induced by n-alkyl sulfates including sodium octyl sulfate, SOS; sodium decyl sulfate, SDeS; sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS; and sodium tetradecyl sulfate, STS at special condition. The effect of n-alkyl sulfates on the structure of native beta-lactoglobulin at pH 2 was utilized to investigate the contribution of hydrophobic interactions to the stability of non-native alpha-helical intermediate. The addition of various concentrations of n-alkyl sulfates to the native state of beta-lactoglobulin (pH 2) appears to support the stabilized form of non-native alpha-helical intermediate at pH 2. The m values of the intermediate state of beta-lactoglobulin by SOS, SDeS, SDS and STS showed substantial variation. The enhancement of m values as the stability criterion of non-native alpha-helical intermediate state corresponded with increasing chain length of the cited n-alkyl sulfates. The present results suggest that the folding reaction of beta-lactoglobulin follows a non-hierarchical mechanism and hydrophobic interactions play important roles in stabilizing the non-native alpha-helical intermediate state.     

Chiral separation of raltitrexed by cyclodextrin-modified micellar electrokinetic chromatography

A rapid and effective method was developed for the chiral separation of raltitrexed (RD) enantiomers by carboxymethyl-beta-cyclodextrin (CM-β-CD)-modified micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC). Optimization of conditions including the type and concentration of the chiral selector, concentration of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), pH and concentration of the background electrolyte (BGE), capillary temperature, and applied voltage was investigated. The enantiomers of raltitrexed could be separated with satisfactory resolution and linear response by using 75 mM Tris-phosphate at pH 8.0 containing 30 mM SDS and 8 mM CM-β-CD as buffer system. Furthermore, the usefulness of this method was demonstrated in a purity test of a real synthetic drug sample. Figure Chiral separation of raltitrexed by CM-β-CD MEKC was optimized and applied to test the purity of a synthetic drug sample     

Low-density lipoprotein analysis in microchip capillary electrophoresis systems

Due to the mounting evidence for altered lipoprotein and cholesterol-lipoprotein content in several disease states, there has been an increasing interest in analytical methods for lipoprotein profiling for diagnosis. The separation of low- and high-density lipoproteins (LDL and HDL, respectively) has been recently demonstrated using a microchip capillary electrophoresis (CE) system [1]. In contrast to this previous study, the present report demonstrates that LDL analysis can be performed in an uncoated glass microchannel. Moreover, by adding sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) to the sample at a concentration well below the critical micellar concentration prior to injection, the LDL peak undergoes a focusing effect and exhibits an apparent efficiency of 2.2 x 10(7) plates/m. Laser light scattering experiments demonstrate that the low concentration of SDS used does not significantly alter lipoprotein particle size distribution within the time course that the analysis is performed. It is thus hypothesized that SDS nondisruptively coats LDL particles. The peak sharpening effect, observed only when SDS is added solely to the sample, is probably due to a mobility gradient created between the sample and the running buffer. The chip-based method demonstrated here has the potential for rapid analysis and sensitive detection of different LDL forms of clinical relevance.     

Relaxation Spectra and Viscoelastic Behavior of a Model Hydrophobically Modified Alkali-Soluble Emulsion (HASE) Polymer in Salt/SDS Solutions

The viscoelastic behavior of a semidilute hydrophobically modified alkali-soluble emulsion (HASE)-C20 polymer in NaCl and NaCl/SDS (sodium dodecyl sulfate) solutions was determined using a Rheometric fluids rheometer and the data were converted to relaxation spectra. The dynamic moduli can be fitted with a multiple modes Maxwell model. In the presence of increasing amounts of NaCl, the moduli decrease, where G', decreases more rapidly than G". However, in the presence of SDS and 0.4 M NaCl, the dynamic moduli increase to a maximum at a critical concentration and decrease thereafter. The relaxation spectra suggest that the structure of the polymer network is complex and it contains two to six relaxation times, depending on the NaCl or SDS/0.4 M NaCl concentrations. With increasing NaCl concentrations, the fastest peak shifts to longer times while the slowest peak decreases. This corresponds to the destruction of the network as the polymer backbone collapses to form clusters with a larger aggregation number. For HASE in SDS/0.4 M NaCl solutions, the lifetime of both the hydrophobic junction (fastest peak) and network relaxation (slowest peak) shift to longer times, which suggests the strengthening of active junctions by bound SDS molecules. However, beyond a critical SDS concentration, the relaxation time of the polymer and hydrophobic junction decreases to an asymptotic value. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

Development,validation, and implementation of capillary gel electrophoresis as a replacement for SDS‐PAGE for purity analysis of IgG2 mAbs

Capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE) methods with UV detection were developed for reduced and non‐reduced mAb analysis. These methods can be used to evaluate mAb purity, offering more reproducible quantitation compared with that of traditional SDS‐PAGE methods. These CGE methods have been utilized as platform technology for bioprocess development, formulation development, mAb characterization, drug substance/drug product release testing as well as a required methodology for stability testing. We have found these CGE methods to be applicable across a platform of mAbs in preclinical and clinical development, with the majority of mAbs requiring no modification to the method conditions. This methodology has been ICH validated and transferred to several supporting organizations. The data presented herein describes the development of CGE methodology, platform application to mAb purity analysis, ICH validation, reliability metrics, and considerations on technology enhancement for improved performance and throughput.     

Separation of proteins by consecutive sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography

A procedure for the preparative separation of proteins was developed by using consecutively sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE and afterwards extracted from the gel. The extracted proteins were separated from SDS and other small molecular weight contaminants on a Fractogel TSK HW-40 (F) column in acidic aqueous acetonitrile. The proteins eluted from the Fractogel column were fractionated by HPLC. The identity and purity of the recovered proteins was confirmed by SDS-PAGE analysis.     

微乳液毛细管电动色谱快速分析解热镇痛药中的有效成分

建立了微乳液毛细管电动色谱快速测定解热镇痛药中非那西丁、氨基比林和咖啡因的新方法。采用由乙酸乙酯-十二烷基硫酸钠(SDS)-正丁醇-硼砂缓冲液组成的微乳液体系,以氯霉素为内标,3种有效成分在2.5 min内完成分离,峰面积相对标准偏差(RSD)在1.2%～1.6%之间,回收率在95.6%～104.0%之间。实验考察了缓冲溶液的浓度、pH值、SDS浓度以及助表面活性剂的种类、含量对分离测定的影响。该法可用于实际样品分析。     

Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Doped Polyaniline for Enhancing the Electrochemical Sensitivity of Mercury Ions

Polyaniline (PANi) was electro‐synthesized on the surface of screen‐printed carbon electrodes in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as a dopant. The complex of aniline and SDS created a conductive (PANi‐SDS) film at lower aniline concentration. The PANi‐SDS film contained negative charge due to the anionic head of SDS. The PANi‐SDS modified electrode was integrated into a poly(dimethylsiloxane) microfluidic chip as an electrochemical sensor for mercury detection. The presence of SDS in the polyaniline film enhanced the possibility of mercury ions uptake, and therefore, increased the peak current of square wave anodic stripping in the mercury detection. The mercury sensor exhibited a dynamic range from 6 to 35 nM with detection limit of 2.4 nM.