Technical decision making with higher order structure data: utilization of differential scanning calorimetry to elucidate critical protein structural changes resulting from oxidation.

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is a useful tool for monitoring thermal stability of the molecular conformation of proteins. Here, we present an example of the sensitivity of DSC to changes in stability arising from a common chemical degradation pathway, oxidation. This Note is part of a series of industry case studies demonstrating the application of higher order structure data for technical decision making. For this study, six protein products from three structural classes were evaluated at multiple levels of oxidation. For each protein, the melting temperature (Tm ) decreased linearly as a function of oxidation; however, differences in the rate of change in Tm , as well as differences in domain Tm stability were observed across and within structural classes. For one protein, analysis of the impact of oxidation on protein function was also performed. For this protein, DSC was shown to be a leading indicator of decreased antigen binding suggesting a subtle conformation change may be underway that can be detected using DSC prior to any observable impact on product potency. Detectable changes in oxidized methionine by mass spectrometry (MS) occurred at oxidation levels below those with a detectable conformational or functional impact. Therefore, by using MS, DSC, and relative potency methods in concert, the intricate relationship between a primary structural modification, changes in conformational stability, and functional impact can be elucidated.

Quantitative spectral comparison by weighted spectral difference for protein higher order structure confirmation.

Previously, different approaches of spectral comparison were evaluated, and the spectral difference (SD) method was shown to be valuable for its linearity with spectral changes and its independence on data spacing (Anal. Biochem. 434 (2013) 153-165). In this note, we present an enhancement of the SD calculation, referred to as the "weighted spectral difference" (WSD), by implementing a weighting function based on relative signal magnitude. While maintaining the advantages of the SD method, WSD improves the method sensitivity to spectral changes and tolerance for baseline inclusion. Furthermore, a generalized formula is presented to unify further development of approaches to quantify spectral difference.

Two cellular proteins that interact with a stem loop in the simian hemorrhagic fever virus 3'(+)NCR RNA.

Both full-length and subgenomic negative-strand RNAs are initiated at the 3' terminus of the positive-strand genomic RNA of the arterivirus, simian hemorrhagic fever virus (SHFV). The SHFV 3'(+) non-coding region (NCR) is 76 nts in length and forms a stem loop (SL) structure that was confirmed by ribonuclease structure probing. Two cell proteins, p56 and p42, bound specifically to a probe consisting of the SHFV 3'(+)NCR RNA. The 3'(+)NCR RNAs of two additional members of the arterivirus genus specifically interacted with two cell proteins of the same size. p56 was identified as polypyrimidine tract-binding protein (PTB) and p42 was identified as fructose bisphosphate aldolase A. PTB binding sites were mapped to a terminal loop and to a bulged region of the SHFV 3'SL structure. Deletion of either of the PTB binding sites in the viral RNA significantly reduced PTB binding activity, suggesting that both sites are required for efficient binding of this protein. Changes in the top portion of the SHFV 3'SL structure eliminated aldolase binding, suggesting that the binding site for this protein is located near the top of the SL. These cell proteins may play roles in regulating the functions of the genomic 3' NCR.