Non-native protein aggregation is a key degradation pathway of immunoglobulins. In this work, the aggregation kinetics of an immunoglobulin gamma-1 monoclonal antibody (IgG1 mAb) in different solution environments was monitored over a range of incubation temperatures for up to seven months using size exclusion chromatography. Histidine and citrate buffers with/without sodium chloride were employed to modulate the mAb's conformational stability, solubility (in the presence of polyethylene glycol, PEG), and protein-protein interactions as measured by differential scanning calorimetry, PEG precipitation, and static light scattering, respectively. The effect of these parameters on the mechanism(s) of mAb aggregation during storage at different temperatures was determined using kinetic models, which were used to fit aggregation data to determine rate constants for aggregate nucleation and growth processes. This approach was used to investigate the effects of colloidal protein-protein interactions and solubility values (in PEG solutions) on the mechanisms and rates of IgG1 mAb aggregation as a function of temperature-induced structural perturbations. Aggregate nucleation and growth pathways for this IgG1 mAb were sensitive to temperature and overall conformational stability. Aggregate growth, on the other hand, was also sensitive to conditions affecting the solubility of the mAb, particularly at elevated temperatures.

As part of a series of articles in this special issue describing 4 well-defined IgG1-Fc glycoforms as a model system for biosimilarity analysis (high mannose-Fc, Man5-Fc, GlcNAc-Fc and N297Q-Fc aglycosylated), the focus of this work is comparisons of their physical properties. A trend of decreasing apparent solubility (thermodynamic activity) by polyethylene glycol precipitation (pH 4.5, 6.0) and lower conformational stability by differential scanning calorimetry (pH 4.5) was observed with reducing size of the N297-linked oligosaccharide structures. Using multiple high-throughput biophysical techniques, the physical stability of the Fc glycoproteins was then measured in 2 formulations (NaCl and sucrose) across a wide range of temperatures (10°C-90°C) and pH (4.0-7.5) conditions. The data sets were used to construct 3-index empirical phase diagrams and radar charts to visualize the regions of protein structural stability. Each glycoform showed improved stability in the sucrose (vs. salt) formulation. The HM-Fc and Man5-Fc displayed the highest relative stability, followed by GlcNAc-Fc, with N297Q-Fc being the least stable. Thus, the overall physical stability profiles of the 4 IgG1-Fc glycoforms also show a correlation with oligosaccharide structure. These data sets are used to develop a mathematical model for biosimilarity analysis (as described in a companion article by Kim et al. in this issue).

No abstract

Cross-reacting material 197 (CRM), a single amino acid mutant of diphtheria toxoid, is a commonly used carrier protein in commercial polysaccharide protein conjugate vaccines. In this study, CRM proteins from 3 different expression systems and 5 different manufacturers were obtained for an analytical comparability assessment using a wide variety of physicochemical and in vitro antigenic binding assays. A comprehensive analysis of the 5 CRM molecules demonstrate that recombinant CRM's expressed in heterologous systems (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas fluorescens) are overall highly similar (if not better in some cases) to those expressed in the traditional system (Corynebacterium diphtheriae) in terms of primary sequence/post-translational modifications, higher order structural integrity, apparent solubility, physical stability profile (vs. pH and temperature), and in vitro antigenicity. These results are an encouraging step to demonstrate that recombinant CRM expressed in alternative sources have the potential to replace CRM expressed in C diphtheriae as a source of immunogenic carrier protein for lower cost polysaccharide conjugate vaccines. The physicochemical assays established in this work to monitor the key structural attributes of CRM should also prove useful as complementary characterization methods (to routine quality control assays) to support future process and formulation development of lower cost CRM carrier proteins for use in various conjugate vaccines.

This work describes the formulation design and development of a novel protein based adjuvant, a double mutant of heat labile toxin (dmLT), based on knowledge of the protein’s structural integrity and physicochemical degradation pathways. Various classes of pharmaceutical excipients were screened for their stabilizing effect on dmLT during exposure to thermal and agitation stresses as monitored by high throughput analytical assays for dmLT degradation. Sucrose, phosphate, sodium chloride, methionine and polysorbate-80 were identified as potential stabilizers that protected dmLT against either conformational destabilization, aggregation/particle formation or chemical degradation (e.g., Met oxidation and Lys glycation). Different combinations and concentrations of the selected stabilizers were then evaluated to further optimize dmLT stability while maintaining pharmaceutically acceptable ranges of solution pH and osmolality. The effect of multiple freeze-thaw (FT) cycles on the physical stability of candidate bulk formulations was also examined. Increasing the polysorbate-80 concentration to 0.1% in the lead candidate bulk formulation mitigated the loss of protein mass during FT. This formulation development study enabled the design of a new bulk formulation of the dmLT adjuvant and provides flexibility for future use in combination with a variety of different vaccine dosage forms with different antigens.