Resolving the geometric structure of trastuzumab by mobility capillary electrophoresis and native mass spectrometry

Available online Immunoglobulins G(IgGs)are Y-shaped globular proteins,however,their high flexibility and heterogeneity pose great challenges to their structure and conformation determinations.Geometric structure of IgG closely correlates to its biofunctions,such as the antibody escape of human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)could attribute to the distance mismatch between the ends of two Fab arms(antigen-binding sites)and envelope glycoprotein spikes on virion surface.Herein,we report the first use of mobility capillary electrophoresis(MCE)and native mass spectrometry(nMS)to resolve the internal geometric structure and conformation of an IgG(trastuzumab)in solution phase.After proteolysis,the ellipsoid dimensions of IgG and its subunits were measured by MCE-nMS experiments.IgG was then reconstructed,in which the sizes and relative positions of these three subunits in three-dimensional space were characterized.It was found that the two Fab arms have an angle of~102.1°and a distance of~11.0 nm between the two antigen-binding sites under native condition,and the Fc arm was tilted~16.0°towards one of the Fab arms.Fc was not on the plane of Fab-Fab,but has an angle of no larger than 103.1°.Under acidic environment(pH 3.0),each subunit of the IgG would unfold into larger dimensions,and the angles between these subunits also change.With great potential for tumor imaging and therapy,the structure of F(ab')_(2)fragments was also measured and validated by molecular dynamic simulation.It was found that the electrostatic force among these three subunits and steric hindrance stemming from Fc help maintaining the angle between two Fab arms.

Comparing different domains of analysis for the characterisation of N-glycans on monoclonal antibodies

With the size of the biopharmaceutical market exponentially increasing,there is an aligned growth in the importance of data-rich analyses,not only to assess drug product safety but also to assist drug development driven by the deeper understanding of structure/function relationships.In monoclonal antibodies,many functions are regulated by N-glycans present in the constant region of the heavy chains and their mechanisms of action are not completely known.The importance of their function focuses analytical research efforts on the development of robust,accurate and fast methods to support drug development and quality control.Released N-glycan analysis is considered as the gold standard for glycosylation characterisation;however,it is not the only method for quantitative analysis of glycoform heterogeneity.In this study,ten different analytical workflows for N-glycan analysis were compared using four monoclonal antibodies.While observing good comparability between the quantitative results generated,it was possible to appreciate the advantages and disadvantages of each technique and to summarise all the observations to guide the choice of the most appropriate analytical workflow according to application and the desired depth of data generated.

非变性质谱相关技术的研究进展

蛋白质与其他分子的相互作用几乎在所有的生命活动中起着核心调控作用,这些相互作用力和形成的蛋白质复合物是现代生命科学的研究重点。由于传统的生物物理技术对蛋白质复合物和相互作用的研究存在样品纯度要求高的限制,因此迫切需要新技术的出现,为结构生物学和相互作用组学的研究提供补充。质谱技术可以从原理上对混合样品进行检测,降低对样品纯度的要求,其中非变性质谱展现出强大的连接与互补作用。本文从样品制备、离子源、质量分析器、质谱联用技术等4方面介绍非变性质谱相关技术及近年来的研究进展,并总结分析未来面临的挑战以及发展方向。