Characterization of stress-exposed granulocyte colony stimulating factor using ELISA and hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry

J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2014 Oct;25(10):1747-54. doi: 10.1007/s13361-014-0959-z. Epub 2014 Jul 29.

Abstract

Information on the higher-order structure is important in the development of biopharmaceutical drugs. Recently, hydrogen/deuterium exchange coupled with mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) has been widely used as a tool to evaluate protein conformation, and unique automated systems for HDX-MS are now commercially available. To investigate the potential of this technique for the prediction of the activity of biopharmaceuticals, granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), which had been subjected to three different stress types, was analyzed using HDX-MS and through comparison with receptor-binding activity. It was found that HDX-MS, in combination with ion mobility separation, was able to identify conformational changes in G-CSF induced by stress, and a good correlation with the receptor-binding activity was demonstrated, which cannot be completely determined by conventional peptide mapping alone. The direct evaluation of biological activity using bioassay is absolutely imperative in biopharmaceutical development, but HDX-MS can provide the alternative information in a short time on the extent and location of the structural damage caused by stresses. Furthermore, the present study suggests the possibility of this system being a versatile evaluation method for the preservation stability of biopharmaceuticals.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Deuterium Exchange Measurement / methods*
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / methods*
  • Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / chemistry*
  • Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Mass Spectrometry / methods*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Conformation
  • Recombinant Proteins / chemistry*
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor