1. Identification and Characterization of Polysorbate-Degrading Enzymes in a Monoclonal Antibody Formulation
- Author
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Tobias Graf, Wenqiang Liu, Stefanie Wohlrab, Michael Leiss, Regina Kufer, Roberto Falkenstein, Bernhard Spensberger, Dana Duan, Franziska Edelmann, Inn H. Yuk, Anthony Tomlinson, Hong Li, and Amy Shen
- Subjects
chemistry.chemical_classification ,Polysorbate ,education.field_of_study ,Lipoprotein lipase ,Chemistry ,Hydrolysis ,education ,Population ,Pharmaceutical Science ,Antibodies, Monoclonal ,Polysorbates ,Biological product ,Tandem mass spectrometry ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Enzyme ,Thioesterase ,Biochemistry ,Affinity chromatography ,Tandem Mass Spectrometry ,Chromatography, Liquid - Abstract
Degradation of polysorbate (PS) by hydrolytically active host cell proteins (HCPs) in drug products may impair the protein-stabilizing properties of PS and lead to the formation of particles due to the accumulation of poorly soluble free fatty acids upon long-term storage. The identification of the causative enzymes is challenging due to their low-abundance even when using state-of-the-art instrumentation and workflows. To overcome these challenges, we developed a rigorous enrichment strategy for HCPs, utilizing both Protein A and anti-HCP affinity chromatography, which facilitated the in-depth characterization of the HCP population in a monoclonal antibody formulation prone to PS hydrolysis. Based on the HCPs identified by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry, a number of enzymes annotated as hydrolases were recombinantly expressed and characterized in terms of polysorbate degradation. Among the selected candidates, Lipoprotein Lipase, Lysosomal Acid Lipase (LIPA) and Palmitoyl-Protein Thioesterase 1 (PPT1) exhibited notable activity towards PS. To our knowledge, this is the first report to identify LIPA and PPT1 as residual HCPs that can contribute to PS degradation in a biological product.
- Published
- 2021