Ramil F. Latypov

Elucidation of Acid-induced Unfolding and Aggregation of Human Immunoglobulin IgG1 and IgG2 Fc

Background: Monoclonal antibodies and Fc fusion proteins contain an IgG Fc moiety, which is associated with various degradation processes, including aggregation. Results: Fc unfolding is triggered by the protonation of acidic residues and depends on the IgG subclass and CH2 domain glycosylation. Conclusion: Fc aggregation in acidic conditions is determined by CH2 stability. Significance: Understanding Fc aggregation is important for improving the quality of Fc-based therapeutics. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of Fc aggregation is an important prerequisite for developing stable and efficacious antibody-based therapeutics. In our study, high resolution two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was employed to probe structural changes in the IgG1 Fc. A series of 1H-15N heteronuclear single-quantum correlation NMR spectra were collected between pH 2.5 and 4.7 to assess whether unfolding of CH2 domains precedes that of CH3 domains. The same pH range was subsequently screened in Fc aggregation experiments that utilized molecules of IgG1 and IgG2 subclasses with varying levels of CH2 glycosylation. In addition, differential scanning calorimetry data were collected over a pH range of 3–7 to assess changes in CH2 and CH3 thermostability. As a result, compelling evidence was gathered that emphasizes the importance of CH2 stability in determining the rate and extent of Fc aggregation. In particular, we found that Fc domains of the IgG1 subclass have a lower propensity to aggregate compared with those of the IgG2 subclass. Our data for glycosylated, partially deglycosylated, and fully deglycosylated molecules further revealed the criticality of CH2 glycans in modulating Fc aggregation. These findings provide important insights into the stability of Fc-based therapeutics and promote better understanding of their acid-induced aggregation process.

Acid-induced aggregation of human monoclonal IgG1 and IgG2: molecular mechanism and the effect of solution composition.

The prevention of aggregation in therapeutic antibodies is of great importance to the biopharmaceutical industry. In our investigation, acid-induced aggregation of monoclonal IgG1 and IgG2 antibodies was studied at pH 3.5 as a function of salt concentration and buffer type. The extent of aggregation was estimated using a native cation-exchange chromatography (CEX) method based on the loss of soluble monomer. This approach allowed quantitative analysis of antibody aggregation kinetics for individual and mixed protein solutions. Information regarding the aggregation mechanism was gained by assessing stabilities of intact antibodies relative to their Fc and Fab fragments. The role of protein thermodynamic stability in aggregation was deduced from differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The rate of aggregation under conditions mimicking the viral inactivation step during monoclonal antibody (mAb) processing was found to be strongly dependent on the antibody subclass (IgG1 vs IgG2). At 25 °C, IgG1s were resistant to low pH aggregation, but IgG2s aggregated readily in the presence of salt. The observed distinction between IgG1 and IgG2 aggregation resulted from differential stability of the corresponding C(H)2 domains. This was further confirmed by experimenting with an IgG1 molecule containing an aglycosylated C(H)2 domain. Interestingly, comparative analysis of two buffer systems (based on acetic acid vs citric acid) revealed differences in mAb aggregation under identical pH conditions. Evidence is provided for the importance of the total acid concentration for antibody aggregation at low pH. The effects of C(H)2 instability and solution composition on aggregation are significant and deserve careful consideration during the development of mAb- or Fc-based therapeutics.

Folding mechanism of reduced cytochrome c: Equilibrium and kinetic properties in the presence of carbon monoxide

Despite close structural similarity, the ferric and ferrous forms of cytochrome c differ greatly in terms of their ligand binding properties, stability, folding, and dynamics. The reduced heme iron binds diatomic ligands such as CO only under destabilizing conditions that promote weakening or disruption of native methionine-iron linkage. This makes CO a useful conformational probe for detecting partially structured states that cannot be observed in the absence of endogenous ligands. Heme absorbance, circular dichroism, and NMR were used to characterize the denaturant-induced unfolding equilibrium of ferrocytochrome c in the presence and in the absence of CO. In addition to the native state (N), which does not bind CO, and the unfolded CO complex (U-CO), a structurally distinct CO-bound form (M-CO) accumulates to high levels (approximately 75% of the population) at intermediate guanidine HCl concentrations. Comparison of the unfolding transitions for different conformational probes reveals that M-CO is a compact state containing a native-like helical core and regions of local disorder in the segment containing the native Met80 ligand and adjacent loops. Kinetic measurements of CO binding and dissociation under native, partially denaturing, and fully unfolded conditions indicate that a state M that is structurally analogous to M-CO is populated even in the absence of CO. The binding energy of the CO ligand lowers the free energy of this high-energy state to such an extent that it accumulates even under mildly denaturing equilibrium conditions. The thermodynamic and kinetic parameters obtained in this study provide a fully self-consistent description of the linked unfolding/CO binding equilibria of reduced cytochrome c.

Nondenaturing Size-Exclusion Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry to Measure Stress-Induced Aggregation in a Complex Mixture of Monoclonal Antibodies

During therapeutic candidate selection, diverse panels of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are routinely subjected to various stress conditions, and assayed for biophysical and biochemical stability. A novel high throughput method has been developed to differentiate candidate molecules in a mixture based on their propensity for forming aggregates when subjected to agitation (vortexing) stress. Protein monomers are separated from soluble and insoluble aggregates using size exclusion chromatography, under nondenaturing conditions, and the individual components in the mixture are identified by mass spectrometry and quantitated relative to an unstressed control. An internal standard was added to the mixture after stress, and used to correct for differences in ionization between samples. Treatment of the samples with the enzyme IdeS (FabRICATOR) significantly reduces sample complexity, and allows for a large number of candidate molecules to be assessed in a single analysis. Simple and robust, the method is well suited for measuring relative aggregation propensity (RAP) in conjunction with molecule selection and coformulation development.

Denaturant-Dependent Conformational Changes in a β-Trefoil Protein: Global and Residue-Specific Aspects of an Equilibrium Denaturation Process

Conformational properties of the folded and unfolded ensembles of human interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) are strongly denaturant-dependent as evidenced by high-resolution two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), limited proteolysis, and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The folded ensemble was characterized in detail in the presence of different urea concentrations by (1)H-(15)N HSQC NMR. The beta-trefoil fold characteristic of native IL-1ra was preserved until the unfolding transition region beginning at 4 M urea. At the same time, a subset of native resonances disappeared gradually starting at low denaturant concentrations, indicating noncooperative changes in the folded state. Additional evidence of structural perturbations came from the chemical shift analysis, nonuniform and bell-shaped peak intensity profiles, and limited proteolysis. In particular, the following nearby regions of the tertiary structure became progressively destabilized with increasing urea concentrations: the beta-hairpin interface of trefoils 1 and 2 and the H2a-H2 helical region. These regions underwent small-scale perturbations within the native baseline region in the absence of populated molten globule-like states. Similar regions were affected by elevated temperatures known to induce irreversible aggregation of IL-1ra. Further evidence of structural transitions invoking near-native conformations came from an optical spectroscopy analysis of its single-tryptophan variant W17A. The increase in the radius of gyration was associated with a single equilibrium unfolding transition in the case of two different denaturants, urea and guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl). However, the compactness of urea- and GuHCl-unfolded molecules was comparable only at high denaturant concentrations and deviated under less denaturing conditions. Our results identified the role of conformational flexibility in IL-1ra aggregation and shed light on the nature of structural transitions within the folded ensembles of other beta-trefoil proteins, such as IL-1beta and hFGF-1.