Downstream processing of monoclonal antibodies--application of platform approaches.

Protein aggregation is a common issue encountered during manufacture of biotherapeutics. It is possible to influence the amount of aggregate produced during the cell culture and purification process by carefully controlling the environment (eg, media components) and implementing appro-priate strategies to minimize the extent of aggregation. Steps to remove aggregates have been successfully used at a manufacturing scale. Care should be taken when developing a process to monitor the compatibility of the equipment and process with the protein to ensure that potential aggregation is minimized.

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Protein aggregation and bioprocessing.

Hundreds of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are currently in development, and many companies have multiple antibodies in their pipelines. Current methodology used in recovery processes for these molecules are reviewed here. Basic unit operations such as harvest, Protein A affinity chromatography, and additional polishing steps are surveyed. Alternative processes such as flocculation, precipitation, and membrane chromatography are discussed. We also cover platform approaches to purification methods development, use of high throughput screening methods, and offer a view on future developments in purification methodology as applied to mAbs.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.4161/mabs.2.5.12645

Recovery and purification process development for monoclonal antibody production

Heterogeneity of Monoclonal Antibodies

Suppression of protein interactions by arginine: a proposed mechanism of the arginine effects.

Elution of antibodies from a Protein-A column by aqueous arginine solutions.

Exposure of antibodies to low pH is often unavoidable for purification and viral clearance. The conformation and stability of two humanized monoclonal antibodies (hIgG4-A and -B) directed against different antigens and a mouse monoclonal antibody (mIgG1) in 0.1M citrate at acidic pH were studied using circular dichroism (CD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and sedimentation velocity. Near- and far-UV CD spectra showed that exposure of these antibodies to pH 2.7-3.9 induced only limited conformational changes, although the changes were greater at the lower pH. However, the acid conformation is far from unfolded or so-called molten globule structure. Incubation of hIgG4-A at pH 2.7 and 3.5 at 4 degrees C over the course of 24 h caused little change in the near-UV CD spectra, indicating that the acid conformation is stable. Sedimentation velocity showed that the hIgG4-A is largely monomeric at pH 2.7 and 3.5 as well as at pH 6.0. No time-dependent changes in sedimentation profile occurred upon incubation at these low pHs, consistent with the conformational stability observed by CD. The sedimentation coefficient of the monomer at pH 2.7 or 3.5 again suggested that no gross conformational changes occur at these pHs. DSC analysis of the antibodies showed thermal unfolding at pH 2.7-3.9 as well as at pH 6.0, but with decreased melting temperatures at the lower pH. These results are consistent with the view that the antibodies undergo limited conformational change, and that incubation at 4 degrees C at low pH results in no time-dependent conformational changes. Titration of hIgG4-A from pH 3.5 to 6.0 resulted in recovery of native monomeric proteins whose CD and DSC profiles resembled those of the original sample. However, titration from pH 2.7 resulted in lower recovery of monomeric antibody, indicating that the greater conformational changes observed at this pH cannot be fully reversed to the native structure by a simple pH titration.

Ryosuke Yumioka

Papers

Elution of antibodies from a Protein-A column by aqueous arginine solutions.

Effects of acid exposure on the conformation, stability, and aggregation of monoclonal antibodies.

Arginine as an effective additive in gel permeation chromatography.

Effective elution of antibodies by arginine and arginine derivatives in affinity column chromatography.

Refolding single-chain antibody (scFv) using lauroyl-L-glutamate as a solubilization detergent and arginine as a refolding additive.