TY - JOUR A1 - Wilke, Marco A1 - Röder, Bettina A1 - Paul, Martin A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Sintered glass monoliths as supports for affinity columns N2 - A novel stationary phase for affinity separations is presented. This material is based on sintered borosilicate glass readily available as semi-finished filter plates with defined porosity and surface area. The material shows fast binding kinetics and excellent long-term stability under real application conditions due to lacking macropores and high mechanical rigidity. The glass surface can be easily modified with standard organosilane chemistry to immobilize selective binders or other molecules used for biointeraction. In this paper, the manufacturing of the columns and their respective column holders by 3D printing is shown in detail. The model system protein A/IgG was chosen as an example to examine the properties of such monolithic columns under realistic application conditions. Several specifications, such as (dynamic) IgG capacity, pressure stability, long-term performance, productivity, non-specific binding, and peak shape, are presented. It could be shown that due to the very high separation speed, 250 mg antibody per hour and column can be collected, which surpasses the productivity of most standard columns of the same size. The total IgG capacity of the shown columns is around 4 mg (5.5 mg/mL), which is sufficient for most tasks in research laboratories. The cycle time of an IgG separation can be less than 1 min. Due to the glass material’s excellent pressure resistance, these columns are compatible with standard HPLC systems. This is usually not the case with standard affinity columns, limited to manual use or application in low-pressure systems. The use of a standard HPLC system also improves the ability for automation, which enables the purification of hundreds of cell supernatants in one day. The sharp peak shape of the elution leads to an enrichment effect, which might increase the concentration of IgG by a factor of 3. The final concentration of IgG can be around 7.5 mg/mL without the need for an additional nano-filtration step. The purity of the IgG was > 95% in one step and nearly 99% with a second polishing run. KW - Affinity Chromatography KW - Affinity Extraction KW - Affinity Separation KW - Protein Purification KW - Down Stream Processing KW - Antibody Purification KW - Diagnostic Antibodies KW - Therapeutic Antibodies KW - Automated Purification KW - HPLC KW - FPLC KW - IgG determination KW - Concentration step KW - Monoclonal Antibodies KW - Polyclonal Antibodies KW - Human Plasma KW - Glass Support KW - Borosilicate Glass KW - Monolith KW - Sintered Material KW - Additive Manufacturing KW - Column holder KW - Construction KW - Open Science KW - Citizen Science KW - Protein A KW - Regeneration KW - High-Speed Separations KW - Robustness PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-527581 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/separations8050056 SN - 2297-8739 VL - 8 IS - 5 SP - 1 EP - 16 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-52758 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fischer, Janina A1 - Kaufmann, Jan Ole A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Simple Determination of Affinity Constants of Antibodies by Competitive Immunoassays N2 - The affinity constant, also known as the equilibrium constant, binding constant, equilibrium association constant, or the reciprocal value, the equilibrium dissociation constant (Kd), can be considered as one of the most important characteristics for any antibody–antigen pair. Many methods based on different technologies have been proposed and used to determine this value. However, since a very large number of publications and commercial datasheets do not include this information, significant obstacles in performing such measurements seem to exist. In other cases where such data are reported, the results have often proved to be unreliable. This situation may indicate that most of the technologies available today require a high level of expertise and effort that does not seem to be available in many laboratories. In this paper, we present a simple approach based on standard immunoassay technology that is easy and quick to perform. It relies on the effect that the molar IC50 approaches the Kd value in the case of infinitely small concentrations of the reagents. A two-dimensional dilution of the reagents leads to an asymptotic convergence to Kd. The approach has some similarity to the well-known checkerboard titration used for the optimization of immunoassays. A well-known antibody against the FLAG peptide, clone M2, was used as a model system and the results were compared with other methods. This approach could be used in any case where a competitive assay is available or can be developed. The determination of an affinity constant should belong to the crucial parameters in any quality control of antibody-related products and assays and should be mandatory in papers using immunochemical protocols. N2 - Die Affinitätskonstante, auch bekannt als Gleichgewichtskonstante, Bindungskonstante, Gleichgewichtsassoziationskonstante oder der reziproke Wert, die Gleichgewichtsdissoziationskonstante (Kd), kann als eine der wichtigsten Eigenschaften für jedes Antikörper-Antigen-Paar angesehen werden. Zur Bestimmung dieses Wertes wurden zahlreiche Methoden auf der Grundlage verschiedener Technologien vorgeschlagen und verwendet. Da jedoch eine sehr große Anzahl von Veröffentlichungen und kommerziellen Datenblätter diese Information nicht enthalten, scheint es erhebliche Hindernisse bei der Durchführung solcher Messungen zu geben. In anderen Fällen, in denen solche Daten angegeben werden, haben sich die Ergebnisse häufig als unzuverlässig erwiesen. Diese Situation könnte darauf hindeuten, dass die meisten der heute verfügbaren Technologien ein hohes Maß an Fachwissen und Aufwand erfordern, das in vielen Labors nicht vorhanden zu sein scheint. In diesem Beitrag stellen wir einen einfachen Ansatz vor, der auf der Standard-Immunoassay-Technologie basiert und einfach und schnell durchführbar ist. Er beruht auf dem Effekt, dass sich der molare IC50 bei unendlich kleinen Reagenz-Konzentrationen dem Kd-Wert annähert. Eine zweidimensionale Verdünnung der Reagenzien führt zu einer asymptotischen Konvergenz zu Kd. Der Ansatz hat eine gewisse Ähnlichkeit mit der bekannten Checkerboard-Titration, die zur Optimierung von Immunoassays verwendet wird. Ein bekannter Antikörper gegen das FLAG-Peptid, Klon M2, wurde als Modellsystem verwendet, und die Ergebnisse wurden mit anderen Methoden verglichen. Dieser Ansatz kann überall dort angewendet werden, wo ein kompetitiver Assay verfügbar ist oder entwickelt werden kann. Die Bestimmung einer Affinitätskonstante sollte zu den entscheidenden Parametern bei der Qualitätskontrolle von Antikörperprodukten und -assays gehören und in Arbeiten, die immunchemische Protokolle verwenden, obligatorisch sein. KW - ELISA KW - Competitive immunoassay KW - IC50 KW - Test midpoint KW - Point of inflection KW - Equilibrium constant KW - Dissociation constant KW - Binding strength KW - Antibody antigen complex KW - Bio-interaction KW - SPR KW - Surface-plasmon resonance KW - FLAG peptide KW - Clone M2 KW - Antibody quality PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-605607 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/mps7030049 SN - 2409-9279 VL - 7 IS - 3 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-60560 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 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-506611 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/antib9020008 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 - TY - JOUR A1 - Mi, W. A1 - Josephs, R. D. A1 - Melanson, J. E. A1 - Dai, X. A1 - Wang, Y. A1 - Zhai, R. A1 - Chu, Z. A1 - Fang, X. A1 - Thibeault, M.-P. A1 - Stocks, B. B. A1 - Meija, J. A1 - Bedu, M. A1 - Martos, G. A1 - Westwood, S. A1 - Wielgosz, R. I. A1 - Liu, Q. A1 - Teo, T. L. A1 - Liu, H. A1 - Tan, Y. J. A1 - Öztuğ, M. A1 - Saban, E. A1 - Kinumi, T. A1 - Saikusa, K. A1 - Schneider, Rudolf A1 - Weller, Michael G. A1 - Konthur, Zoltán A1 - Jaeger, Carsten A1 - Quaglia, M. A1 - Mussell, C. A1 - Drinkwater, G. A1 - Giangrande, C. A1 - Vaneeckhoutte, H. A1 - Boeuf, A. A1 - Delatour, V. A1 - Lee, J. E. A1 - O'Connor, G. A1 - Ohlendorf, R. A1 - Henrion, A. A1 - Beltrão, P. J. A1 - Naressi Scapin, S. M. A1 - Sade, Y. B. T1 - PAWG Pilot Study on Quantification of SARS-CoV-2 Monoclonal Antibody - Part 1 N2 - Under the auspices of the Protein Analysis Working Group (PAWG) of the Comité Consultatif pour la Quantité de Matière (CCQM) a pilot study, CCQM-P216, was coordinated by the Chinese National Institute of Metrology (NIM), National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM). Eleven Metrology Institutes or Designated Institutes and the BIPM participated in the first phase of the pilot study (Part 1). The purpose of this pilot study was to develop measurement capabilities for larger proteins using a recombinant humanized IgG monoclonal antibody against Spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 (Anti-S IgG mAb) in solution. The first phase of the study was designed to employ established methods that had been previously studies by the CCQM Protein Analysis Working Group, involving the digestion of protein down to the peptide or amino acid level. The global coronavirus pandemic has also led to increased focus on antibody quantitation methods. IgG are among the immunoglobulins produced by the immune system to provide protection against SARS-CoV-2. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG can therefore be detected in samples from affected patients. Antibody tests can show whether a person has been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2, and whether or not they potentially show lasting immunity to the disease. With the constant spread of the virus and the high pressure of re-opening economies, antibody testing plays a critical role in the fight against COVID-19 by helping healthcare professionals to identify individuals who have developed an immune response, either via vaccination or exposure to the virus. Many countries have launched large-scale antibody testing for COVID-19. The development of measurement standards for the antibody detection of SARS-CoV-2 is critically important to deal with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, the SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody is being used as a model system to build capacity in methods that can be used in antibody quantification. Amino acid reference values with corresponding expanded uncertainty of 36.10 ± 1.55 mg/kg, 38.75 ± 1.45 mg/kg, 18.46 ± 0.78 mg/kg, 16.20 ± 0.67 mg/kg and 30.61 ± 1.30 mg/kg have been established for leucine, valine, phenylalanine, isoleucine and proline, respectively. Agreement between nearly all laboratories was achieved for the amino acid analysis within 2 to 2.5 %, with one participant achieving markedly higher results due to a technical issue found in their procedure; this result was thus excluded from the reference value calculations. The relatively good agreement within a laboratory between different amino acids was not dissimilar to previous results for peptides or small proteins, indicating that factors such as hydrolysis conditions and calibration procedures could be the largest sources of variability. Peptide reference values with corresponding expanded uncertainty of 4.99 ± 0.28 mg/kg and 6.83 ± 0.65 mg/kg have been established for ALPAPIEK and GPSVFPLAPSSK, respectively. Not surprisingly due to prior knowledge from previous studies on peptide quantitation, agreement between laboratories for the peptide-based analysis was slightly poorer at 3 to 5 %, with one laboratory's result excluded for the peptide GPSVFPLAPSSK. Again, this level of agreement was not significantly poorer than that achieved in previous studies with smaller or less complex proteins. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. KW - Antibody quantification KW - Amino acid analysis KW - Peptide analysis KW - Round robin test PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1088/0026-1394/59/1a/08001 VL - 59 IS - 1A SP - 08001 AN - OPUS4-54972 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Costa, Elena A1 - Climent Terol, Estela A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia A1 - Wan, Wei A1 - Weller, Michael G. A1 - Rurack, Knut T1 - Optimization of analytical assay performance of antibody-gated indicator-releasing mesoporous silica particles N2 - Antibody-gated indicator delivery (gAID) systems based on mesoporous silica nano- and microparticle scaffolds are a promising class of materials for the sensitive chemical detection of small-molecule analytes in simple test formats such as lateral flow assays (LFAs) or microfluidic chips. Their architecture is reminiscent of drug delivery systems, only that reporter molecules instead of drugs are stored in the voids of a porous host particle. In addition, the pores are closed with macromolecular “caps” through a tailored “gatekeeping” recognition chemistry so that the caps are opened when an analyte has reacted with a “gatekeeper”. The subsequent uncapping leads to a release of a large number of indicator molecules, endowing the system with signal amplification features. Particular benefits of such systems are their modularity and adaptability. With the example of the immunochemical detection of type-I pyrethroids by fluorescent dye-releasing gAID systems, the influence of several tuning modes on the optimisation of such hybrid sensory materials is introduced here. In particular, different mesoporous silica supports (from nano- and microparticles to platelets and short fibres), different functionalisation routes and different loading sequences were assessed. The materials’ performances were evaluated by studying their temporal response behaviour and detection sensitivity, including the tightness of pore closure (through the amount of blank release in the absence of analyte) and the release kinetics. Our results indicate that the better the paratope-accommodating Fab region of the antibody “cap” fits into the host material's pore opening, the better the closing/opening mechanism can be controlled. Because such materials are well-suited for LFAs, performance assessment included a test-strip format besides conventional assays in suspension. In combination with dyes as indicators and smartphones for read-out, simple analytical tests for use by untrained personnel directly at a point-of-need such as an aeroplane cabin can be devised, allowing for sensitivities down to the μg kg−1 range in <5 min with case-required selectivities. KW - Antibody-gated indicator delivery KW - Lateral flow assay KW - SBA-15 KW - SBA-16 KW - Type-I pyrethroids KW - Phenothrin KW - Permethrin KW - Etofenprox KW - Amplification KW - Biosensors KW - Immunoassays KW - Mesoporous particles KW - Optical detection PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-517053 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d0tb00371a VL - 8 IS - 22 SP - 4950 EP - 4961 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-51705 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -