High resolution separations of charge variants and disulfide isomers of monoclonal antibodies and antibody drug conjugates using ultra-high voltage capillary electrophoresis with high electric field strength.

Ultra-high voltage capillary electrophoresis with high electric field strength has been applied to the separation of the charge variants, drug conjugates, and disulfide isomers of monoclonal antibodies. Samples composed of many closely related species are difficult to resolve and quantify using traditional analytical instrumentation. High performance instrumentation can often save considerable time and effort otherwise spent on extensive method development. Ideally, the resolution obtained for a given CE buffer system scales with the square root of the applied voltage. Currently available commercial CE instrumentation is limited to an applied voltage of approximately 30kV and a maximum electric field strength of 1kV/cm due to design limitations. The instrumentation described here is capable of safely applying potentials of at least 120kV with electric field strengths over 2000V/cm, potentially doubling the resolution of the best conventional CE buffer/capillary systems while decreasing analysis time in some applications. Separations of these complex mixtures using this new instrumentation demonstrate the potential of ultra-high voltage CE to identify the presence of previously unresolved components and to reduce analysis time for complex mixtures of antibody variants and drug conjugates.

Integrated microfluidic capillary electrophoresis-electrospray ionization devices with online MS detection for the separation and characterization of intact monoclonal antibody variants.

Here, we demonstrate an integrated microfluidic capillary electrophoresis-electrospray ionization (CE-ESI) device for the separation of intact monoclonal antibody charge variants with online mass spectrometric (MS) identification. The need for dynamic coating and zwitterionic background electrolyte (BGE) additives has been eliminated by utilizing surface chemistry within the device channels to control analyte adsorption and electroosmotic flow (EOF) while maintaining separation efficiency. The effectiveness of this strategy was illustrated with the separation of charge variants of Infliximab. Three major species corresponding to C-terminal lysine variants were separated with an average resolution of 0.80 and identified by mass difference. In addition to the lysine variants, masses were determined for minor acidic and basic species. The separation of these variants prior to MS analysis facilitated the identification of glycosylation patterns for each of the variants. The general applicability of this method was demonstrated by analyzing two additional monoclonal antibody species: an IgG2 antibody and an IgG1 antibody conjugate. The IgG2 proved to have similar modifications to Infliximab with lower relative abundances of the lysine variants. Analysis of the IgG1 drug conjugate further exemplified the advantages of MS detection; differences in the extent of antibody conjugation were detectable despite limited CE resolution. The CE-ESI-MS methodology described here is a rapid and generic strategy for the separation of intact mAb charge variants and facilitates the identification of variants through MS detection.

Chemical vapor deposition of aminopropyl silanes in microfluidic channels for highly efficient microchip capillary electrophoresis-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry.

We describe a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method for the surface modification of glass microfluidic devices designed to perform electrophoretic separations of cationic species. The microfluidic channel surfaces were modified using aminopropyl silane reagents. Coating homogeneity was inferred by precise measurement of the separation efficiency and electroosmotic mobility for multiple microfluidic devices. Devices coated with (3-aminopropyl)di-isopropylethoxysilane (APDIPES) yielded near diffusion-limited separations and exhibited little change in electroosmotic mobility between pH 2.8 and pH 7.5. We further evaluated the temporal stability of both APDIPES and (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) coatings when stored for a total of 1 week under vacuum at 4 °C or filled with pH 2.8 background electrolyte at room temperature. Measurements of electroosmotic flow (EOF) and separation efficiency during this time confirmed that both coatings were stable under both conditions. Microfluidic devices with a 23 cm long, serpentine electrophoretic separation channel and integrated nanoelectrospray ionization emitter were CVD coated with APDIPES and used for capillary electrophoresis (CE)-electrospray ionization (ESI)-mass spectrometry (MS) of peptides and proteins. Peptide separations were fast and highly efficient, yielding theoretical plate counts over 600,000 and a peak capacity of 64 in less than 90 s. Intact protein separations using these devices yielded Gaussian peak profiles with separation efficiencies between 100,000 and 400,000 theoretical plates.

Selective detection of endogenous thiols using microchip-based flow analysis and mercury/gold amalgam microelectrodes.

This paper describes the fabrication and characterization of thin-layer mercury/gold amalgam microelectrodes and their integration with microchip-based flow injection analysis. This microchip platform allows on-chip injection and lysis of erythrocytes followed by selective detection of intracellular glutathione (GSH) at low potentials. The thin-layer gold microelectrodes were amalgamated by electrodeposition of mercury. The electrodes produced a linear response for both GSH and cysteine in flow injection analysis studies utilizing both off-chip and on-chip injection. Comparative experiments using diamide and on-chip injection were performed to demonstrate the ability of the microchip device to detect changes in GSH concentration. Finally, rabbit erythrocyte samples (2% hematocrit) were injected and lysed on-chip and the amount of GSH detected corresponded to 312 amol/cell, which is in agreement with previously reported values. The selectivity, short time between injection and detection (approximately 5 s), and the continuous introduction of sample to the on-chip injector should enable the study of dynamically changing systems such as the glutathione redox system found in erythrocytes.