TY - JOUR A1 - Tscheuschner, Georg A1 - Kaiser, Melanie N. A1 - Lisec, Jan A1 - Beslic, D. A1 - Muth, Thilo A1 - Krüger, M. A1 - Mages, H. W. A1 - Dorner, B. G. A1 - Knospe, J. A1 - Schenk, J. A. A1 - Sellrie, F. A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - MALDI-TOF-MS-Based Identification of Monoclonal Murine Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies within One Hour N2 - During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, many virus-binding monoclonal antibodies have been developed for clinical and diagnostic purposes. This underlines the importance of antibodies as universal bioanalytical reagents. However, little attention is given to the reproducibility crisis that scientific studies are still facing to date. In a recent study, not even half of all research antibodies mentioned in publications could be identified at all. This should spark more efforts in the search for practical solutions for the traceability of antibodies. For this purpose, we used 35 monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 to demonstrate how sequence-independent antibody identification can be achieved by simple means applied to the protein. First, we examined the intact and light chain masses of the antibodies relative to the reference material NIST-mAb 8671. Already half of the antibodies could be identified based solely on these two parameters. In addition, we developed two complementary peptide mass fingerprinting methods with MALDI-TOF-MS that can be performed in 60 min and had a combined sequence coverage of over 80%. One method is based on the partial acidic hydrolysis of the protein by 5 mM of sulfuric acid at 99 degrees C. Furthermore, we established a fast way for a tryptic digest without an alkylation step. We were able to show that the distinction of clones is possible simply by a brief visual comparison of the mass spectra. In this work, two clones originating from the same immunization gave the same fingerprints. Later, a hybridoma sequencing confirmed the sequence identity of these sister clones. In order to automate the spectral comparison for larger libraries of antibodies, we developed the online software ABID 2.0. This open-source software determines the number of matching peptides in the fingerprint spectra. We propose that publications and other documents critically relying on monoclonal antibodies with unknown amino acid sequences should include at least one antibody fingerprint. By fingerprinting an antibody in question, its identity can be confirmed by comparison with a library spectrum at any time and context. KW - Reproducibility KW - Quality control KW - Traceability KW - Peptides KW - Peptide mass fingerprinting KW - Monoclonal antibody KW - Recombinant antibody KW - Identity KW - Antibody identification KW - Sequencing KW - Light chain KW - Mass spectrometry KW - Software KW - Open science KW - Library KW - COVID-19 KW - Corona virus KW - Sequence coverage KW - NIST-mAb 8671 KW - Reference material KW - RBD KW - Spike protein KW - Nucleocapsid KW - Cleavage KW - Tryptic digest KW - MALDI KW - DHAP KW - 2,5-dihydroxyacetophenone KW - Github KW - Zenodo KW - ABID PY - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-547347 VL - 11 IS - 2 SP - 1 EP - 22 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-54734 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Tscheuschner, Georg A1 - Kaiser, Melanie N. A1 - Lisec, Jan A1 - Beslic, D. A1 - Muth, Thilo A1 - Krüger, M. A1 - Mages, H.-W. A1 - Dorner, B. G. A1 - Knospe, J. A1 - Schenk, J. A. A1 - Sellrie, F. A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - MALDI-TOF-MS-based identification of monoclonal murine anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies within one hour N2 - During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, many virus-binding monoclonal antibodies have been developed for clinical and diagnostic purposes. This underlines the importance of antibodies as universal bioanalytical reagents. However, little attention is given to the reproducibility crisis that scientific studies are still facing to date. In a recent study, not even half of all research antibodies mentioned in publications could be identified at all. This should spark more efforts in the search for practical solutions for the traceability of antibodies. For this purpose, we used thirty-five monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 to demonstrate how sequence-independent antibody identification can be achieved by simple means applied onto the protein. First, we examined the intact and light chain masses of the antibodies relative to the reference material NIST-mAb 8671. Already half of the antibodies could be identified based solely on these two parameters. In addition, we developed two complementary peptide mass fingerprinting methods with MALDI-TOF-MS that can be performed in 45 minutes and had a combined sequence coverage of over 80%. One method is based on the partial acidic hydrolysis of the protein by 5 mM of sulfuric acid at 99 °C. Furthermore, we established a fast way for a tryptic digest without an alkylation step. We were able to show that the distinction of clones is possible simply by a brief visual comparison of the mass spectra. In this work, two clones originating from the same immunization gave the same fingerprints. Later, a hybridoma sequencing confirmed the sequence identity of these sister clones. In order to automate the spectral comparison for larger libraries of antibodies, we developed the online software ABID 2.0 (https://gets.shinyapps.io/ABID/). This open-source software determines the number of matching peptides in the fingerprint spectra. We propose that publications and other documents critically relying on monoclonal antibodies with unknown amino acid sequences should include at least one antibody fingerprint. By fingerprinting an antibody in question, its identity can be confirmed by comparison with a library spectrum at any time and context. KW - SARS-CoV-2 antibody KW - Reproducibility crisis KW - Peptide mass fingerprinting KW - Monoclonal antibody KW - Traceability KW - Antibody identification KW - Identity KW - Antibody light chain KW - MALDI-TOF-MS KW - Trypsin KW - Acidic cleavage KW - Antibody subclass KW - Database KW - Peak overlap KW - ABID KW - Sulfuric acid KW - Online software KW - Sequencing KW - Peptide coverage PY - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-545182 SN - 2310-287X SP - 1 EP - 24 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-54518 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reinmuth-Selzle, K. A1 - Tchipilov, Teodor A1 - Backes, A. T. A1 - Tscheuschner, Georg A1 - Tang, K. A1 - Ziegler, K. A1 - Lucas, K. A1 - Pöschl, U. A1 - Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J. A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Determination of the protein content of complex samples by aromatic amino acid analysis, liquid chromatography-UV absorbance, and colorimetry N2 - Fast and accurate determination of the protein content of a sample is an important and non-trivial task of many biochemical, biomedical, food chemical, pharmaceutical, and environmental research activities. Different methods of total protein determination are used for a wide range of proteins with highly variable properties in complex matrices. These methods usually work reasonably well for proteins under controlled conditions, but the results for non-standard and complex samples are often questionable. Here, we compare new and well-established methods, including traditional amino acid analysis (AAA), aromatic amino acid analysis (AAAA) based on the amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine, reversed-phase liquid chromatography of intact proteins with UV absorbance measurements at 220 and 280 nm (LC-220, LC-280), and colorimetric assays like Coomassie Blue G-250 dye-binding assay (Bradford) and bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay. We investigated different samples, including proteins with challenging properties, chemical modifications, mixtures, and complex matrices like air particulate matter and pollen extracts. All methods yielded accurate and precise results for the protein and matrix used for calibration. AAA, AAAA with fluorescence detection, and the LC-220 method yielded robust results even under more challenging conditions (variable analytes and matrices). These methods turned out to be well-suited for reliable determination of the protein content in a wide range of samples, such as air particulate matter and pollen. KW - Air particulate matter KW - Aromatic amino acid analysis KW - Atmospheric aerosol KW - Chemical protein modification KW - Derivatization KW - Nitration KW - Nitrotyrosine KW - LC-UV absorbance KW - Pollen extract KW - Protein quantification KW - Protein test KW - Kjeldahl KW - Tyrosine KW - Phenylalanine KW - Hydrolysis KW - Bradford KW - BCA test KW - 280 nm KW - Air filter samples KW - Fluorescence KW - HPLC KW - Chromatography KW - Protein content KW - 150th anniversary of BAM KW - Topical collection: Analytical Methods and Applications in the Materials and Life Sciences PY - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-545924 UR - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35320366/ SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Springer Nature Limited CY - New York, Heidelberg AN - OPUS4-54592 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Tscheuschner, Georg T1 - Entwicklung einer Methode zur schnellen Identifikation von Antikörpern mittels MALDI-TOF-MS N2 - Im Vergleich zu anderen Proteinen ist die Identifizierung von Antikörpern anhand ihrer Sequenz zum Beispiel mittels "peptide mass fingerprinting" schwierig. Da die Sequenzinformation eines Antikörpers aufgrund der hypersomatischen Mutation während der Affinitätsreifung nicht im Genom eines Organismus gespeichert ist, kann die Aminosäuresequenz nicht auf einfachem Weg der DNA-Sequenzierung gewonnen werden. Das ist nur in seltenen Fällen möglich, wenn dem Endanwender der Zellklon der Antikörper-produzierenden Zelle zugänglich ist. Eine Sequenzierung auf Protein-Ebene ist sehr aufwändig und teuer und wird daher fast nie für die Charakterisierung von analytischen Antikörpern verwendet. Der Mangel an Validierung dieser analytischen Antikörper, die bei Experimenten verwendeten werden, löst aber eine Reihe Probleme aus, die die Wiederholbarkeit dieser Experimente schwierig und in einigen Fällen unmöglich macht. Das sorgt jährlich für verschwendete Forschungsgelder in Milliardenhöhe und hindert den wissenschaftlichen Fortschritt. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war die Entwicklung einer einfachen und schnellen Methode, die es trotzdem ermöglicht, die Identifikation von Antikörpern sicherzustellen. Dazu wurde eine Methode basierend auf dem "peptide mass fingerprinting" gewählt. Das Problem der unbekannten Aminosäuresequenz der Antikörper wurde gelöst, indem lediglich die Peptidmuster der entstehenden Fingerprint-Spektren zur Identifikation herangezogen wurden. MALDI wurde dabei als Ionisationsmethode für die Massenspektrometrie gewählt, da die resultierenden Spektren im Gegensatz zu ESI-MS einfach auszuwerten sind. Auch kann auf eine vorige Trennung der Peptide mittels LC verzichtet werden, was zusätzlich Analysenzeit spart. Für die Proteinspaltung wurde eine simple saure Hydrolyse mittels Ameisensäure gewählt. Im Vergleich zum herkömmlichen Trypsin-Verdau konnten auf zeitraubende Arbeitsschritte wie Denaturierung, Reduktion und Alkylierung der Antikörper verzichtet werden. Die Hydrolyse mittels Ameisensäure wurde bisher nur auf kleine und mittelgroße Proteine angewendet, sodass im ersten Teil dieser Arbeit mehrere Schritte optimiert wurden bevor zufriedenstellende Fingerprint-Spektren von Antikörpern erhalten wurden. KW - Peptide KW - Fingerprint KW - Peptide mass fingerprinting KW - Massenspektrometrie KW - Saure Hydrolyse KW - Festphasenextraktion KW - Protein G KW - Ameisensäure KW - ABID KW - Korrelationsmatrix PY - 2019 SP - 1 EP - 116 PB - Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-54626 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Backes, A. T. A1 - Reinmuth-Selzle, K. A1 - Leifke, A. L. A1 - Ziegler, K. A1 - Krevert, C. S. A1 - Tscheuschner, Georg A1 - Lucas, K. A1 - Weller, Michael G. A1 - Berkemeier, T. A1 - Pöschl, U. A1 - Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J. T1 - Oligomerization and Nitration of the Grass Pollen Allergen Phl p 5 by Ozone, Nitrogen Dioxide, and Peroxynitrite: Reaction Products, Kinetics, and Health Effects N2 - The allergenic and inflammatory potential of proteins can be enhanced by chemical modification upon exposure to atmospheric or physiological oxidants. The molecular mechanisms and kinetics of such modifications, however, have not yet been fully resolved. We investigated the oligomerization and nitration of the grass pollen allergen Phl p 5 by ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and peroxynitrite (ONOO–). Within several hours of exposure to atmospherically relevant concentration levels of O3 and NO2, up to 50% of Phl p 5 were converted into protein oligomers, likely by formation of dityrosine cross-links. Assuming that tyrosine residues are the preferential site of nitration, up to 10% of the 12 tyrosine residues per protein monomer were nitrated. For the reaction with peroxynitrite, the largest oligomer mass fractions (up to 50%) were found for equimolar concentrations of peroxynitrite over tyrosine residues. With excess peroxynitrite, the nitration degrees increased up to 40% whereas the oligomer mass fractions decreased to 20%. Our results suggest that protein oligomerization and nitration are competing processes, which is consistent with a two-step mechanism involving a reactive oxygen intermediate (ROI), as observed for other proteins. The modified proteins can promote pro-inflammatory cellular signaling that may contribute to chronic inflammation and allergies in response to air pollution. KW - Protein KW - Nitrotyrosine KW - Dityrosine KW - Allergy KW - Hay fever KW - Diesel exhaust KW - Combustion KW - Exhaust PY - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-529729 VL - 22 IS - 14 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-52972 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Paul, Martin A1 - Tannenberg, Robert A1 - Tscheuschner, Georg A1 - Wilke, Marco A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Cocaine Detection by a Laser-induced Immunofluorometric Biosensor N2 - The trafficking of illegal drugs by criminal networks at borders, harbors, or airports is an increasing issue in public health as these routes ensure the main supply of illegal drugs. The prevention of drug smuggling, including the installation of scanners and other analytical devices to detect ultra-small traces of drugs within a reasonable time frame, remains a challenge. The presented immunosensor is based on a monolithic affinity column with a large excess of immobilized hapten, which traps fluorescently labeled antibodies as long as the analyte cocaine is absent. In the presence of the drug, some binding sites of the antibody will be blocked, which leads to an immediate breakthrough of the labeled protein, detectable by highly sensitive laser-induced fluorescence with the help of a Peltier-cooled complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) camera. Liquid handling is performed with high-precision syringe pumps and microfluidic chip-based mixing devices and flow cells. The biosensor achieved limits of detection of 23 pM (7 ppt) of cocaine with a response time of 90 seconds and a total assay time below 3 minutes. With surface wipe sampling, the biosensor was able to detect 300 pg of cocaine. This immunosensor belongs to the most sensitive and fastest detectors for cocaine and offers near-continuous analyte measurement. KW - Drug search KW - Customs KW - Confiscation KW - Border surveillance KW - Narcotics KW - International drug trade KW - Drug trafficking KW - Illicit drug KW - Immunosensor KW - Antibodies KW - Detection PY - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-529951 SP - 1 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-52995 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Paul, Martin A1 - Tannenberg, Robert A1 - Tscheuschner, Georg A1 - Ponader, Marco A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Cocaine Detection by a Laser-Induced Immunofluorometric Biosensor N2 - The trafficking of illegal drugs by criminal networks at borders, harbors, or airports is an increasing issue for public health as these routes ensure the main supply of illegal drugs. The prevention of drug smuggling, including the installation of scanners and other analytical devices to detect small traces of drugs within a reasonable time frame, remains a challenge. The presented immunosensor is based on a monolithic affinity column with a large excess of immobilized hapten, which traps fluorescently labeled antibodies as long as the analyte cocaine is absent. In the presence of the drug, some binding sites of the antibody will be blocked, which leads to an immediate breakthrough of the labeled protein, detectable by highly sensitive laser-induced fluorescence with the help of a Peltier-cooled complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) camera. Liquid handling is performed with high-precision syringe pumps and microfluidic chip-based mixing devices and flow cells. The biosensor achieved limits of detection of 7 ppt (23 pM) of cocaine with a response time of 90 s and a total assay time below 3 min. With surface wipe sampling, the biosensor was able to detect 300 pg of cocaine. This immunosensor belongs to the most sensitive and fastest detectors for cocaine and offers near-continuous analyte measurement. KW - Online detection KW - Security KW - Monoclonal antibody KW - Microfluidic mixing KW - Microfluidics KW - Lab-on-a-chip KW - Monolithic column KW - Affinity chromatography KW - Laser-induced fluorescence KW - LIF KW - ELISA KW - Wipe test KW - Low-cost PY - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-534487 VL - 11 IS - 9 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-53448 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Tscheuschner, Georg A1 - Kaufmann, Jan Ole A1 - Kaiser, Melanie A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - MALDI-TOF MS Fingerprinting of Antibodies in Less Than One Hour N2 - Antibodies are the most used biomolecules in analytical research. Nevertheless, the sequence and structure information of antibodies is often limited, since manufacturers keep them secret or suppliers sell them under different names. This can make it difficult to reproduce even basic experiments performed in publications as the antibodies used might not be identifiable. To overcome these problems, we developed a simple and cheap method for antibody identification by MALDI-TOF-MS fingerprinting. This technique was used to generate a library of antibody fingerprints, which enables the identification and comparison of antibodies in short time. T2 - SALSA Make and Measure 2021 CY - Online meeting DA - 16.09.2021 KW - Hydrolysis KW - Acid KW - Trypsin KW - Digestion KW - Fragment KW - Peptides KW - Mass spectrometry KW - Database KW - Clones KW - Monoclonal antibodies PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-53294 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Paul, Martin A1 - Tscheuschner, Georg A1 - Herrmann, Stefan A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Fast Detection of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) at ppt Level by a Laser-Induced Immunofluorometric Biosensor N2 - The illegal use of explosives by terrorists and other criminals is an increasing issue in public spaces, such as airports, railway stations, highways, sports venues, theaters, and other large buildings. Security in these environments can be achieved by different means, including the installation of scanners and other analytical devices to detect ultra-small traces of explosives in a very short time-frame to be able to take action as early as possible to prevent the detonation of such devices. Unfortunately, an ideal explosive detection system still does not exist, which means that a compromise is needed in practice. Most detection devices lack the extreme analytical sensitivity, which is nevertheless necessary due to the low vapor pressure of nearly all explosives. In addition, the rate of false positives needs to be virtually zero, which is also very difficult to achieve. Here we present an immunosensor system based on kinetic competition, which is known to be very fast and may even overcome affinity limitation, which impairs the performance of many traditional competitive assays. This immunosensor consists of a monolithic glass column with a vast excess of immobilized hapten, which traps the fluorescently labeled antibody as long as no explosive is present. In the case of the explosive 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), some binding sites of the antibody will be blocked, which leads to an immediate breakthrough of the labeled protein, detectable by highly sensitive laser-induced fluorescence with the help of a Peltier-cooled complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) camera. Liquid handling is performed with high-precision syringe pumps and chip-based mixing-devices and flow-cells. The system achieved limits of detection of 1 pM (1 ppt) of the fluorescent label and around 100 pM (20 ppt) of TNT. The total assay time is less than 8 min. A cross-reactivity test with 5000 pM solutions showed no signal by pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), 1,3,5-trinitroperhydro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX), and octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX). This immunosensor belongs to the most sensitive and fastest detectors for TNT with no significant cross-reactivity by non-related compounds. The consumption of the labeled antibody is surprisingly low: 1 mg of the reagent would be sufficient for more than one year of continuous biosensor operation. KW - Airport KW - Aviation KW - Bombs KW - Terrorism KW - Biosensing KW - Continuous Sensor KW - High-Speed KW - Ultrasensitive PY - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-511245 VL - 10 IS - 8 SP - 89 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-51124 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tscheuschner, Georg A1 - Schwaar, Timm A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Fast Confirmation of Antibody Identity by MALDI-TOF MS Fingerprints N2 - Thousands of antibodies for diagnostic and other analytical purposes are on the market. However, it is often difficult to identify duplicates, reagent changes, and to assign the correct original publications to an antibody. This slows down scientific progress and might even be a cause of irreproducible research and a waste of resources. Recently, activities were started to suggest the sole use of recombinant antibodies in combination with the open communication of their sequence. In this case, such uncertainties should be eliminated. Unfortunately, this approach seems to be rather a long-term vision since the development and manufacturing of recombinant antibodies remain quite expensive in the foreseeable future. Nearly all commercial antibody suppliers also may be reluctant to publish the sequence of their antibodies, since they fear counterfeiting. De novo sequencing of antibodies is also not feasible today for a reagent user without access to the hybridoma clone. Nevertheless, it seems to be crucial for any scientist to have the opportunity to identify an antibody undoubtedly to guarantee the traceability of any research activity using antibodies from a third party as a tool. For this purpose, we developed a method for the identification of antibodies based on a MALDI-TOF MS fingerprint. To circumvent lengthy denaturation, reduction, alkylation, and enzymatic digestion steps, the fragmentation was performed with a simple formic acid hydrolysis step. Eighty-nine unknown monoclonal antibodies were used for this study to examine the feasibility of this approach. Although the molecular assignment of peaks was rarely possible, antibodies could be easily recognized in a blinded test, simply from their mass-spectral fingerprint. A general protocol is given, which could be used without any optimization to generate fingerprints for a database. We want to propose that, in most scientific projects relying critically on antibody reagents, such a fingerprint should be established to prove and document the identity of the used antibodies, as well as to assign a specific reagent to a datasheet of a commercial supplier, public database record, or antibody ID. KW - Reproducibility KW - Quality Control KW - Traceability KW - Diagnostics KW - Hybridoma KW - Monoclonal Antibody KW - Recombinant Antibody PY - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-506611 SN - 2310-287X VL - 9 IS - 2 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-50661 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -