TY - JOUR A1 - Chapartegui-Arias, Ander A1 - Raysyan, A. A1 - Belenguer, A. M. A1 - Jaeger, Carsten A1 - Tchipilov, Teodor A1 - Prinz, Carsten A1 - Abad Andrade, Carlos Enrique A1 - Beyer, S. A1 - Schneider, Rudolf A1 - Emmerling, Franziska T1 - Tailored mobility in a zeolite imidazolate framework (ZIF) antibody conjugate N2 - Zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) hybrid fluorescent nanoparticles and ZIF antibody conjugates have been synthesized, characterized, and employed in lateral-flow immunoassay (LFIA). The bright fluorescence of the conjugates and the possibility to tailor their mobility gives a huge potential for diagnostic assays. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as label, proved the integrity, stability, and dispersibility of the antibody conjugates, LC-MS/MS provided evidence that a covalent link was established between these metal-organic frameworks and lysine residues in IgG antibodies. KW - ZIF KW - ELISA PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-532096 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202100803 SN - 0947-6539 SN - 1521-3765 VL - 27 IS - 36 SP - 9414 EP - 9421 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-53209 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Abbas, Ioana M. A1 - Vranic, M. A1 - Hoffmann, Holger A1 - El-Khatib, Ahmed H. A1 - Montes-Bayón, M. A1 - Möller, H. M. A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Investigations of the copper peptide hepcidin-25 by LC-MS/MS and NMR (+) N2 - Hepcidin-25 was identified as the main iron regulator in the human body, and it by binds to the sole iron-exporter ferroportin. Studies showed that the N-terminus of hepcidin is responsible for this interaction, the same N-terminus that encompasses a small copper(II)-binding site known as the ATCUN (amino-terminal Cu(II)- and Ni(II)-binding) motif. Interestingly, this copper-binding property is largely ignored in most papers dealing with hepcidin-25. In this context, detailed investigations of the complex formed between hepcidin-25 and copper could reveal insight into its biological role. The present work focuses on metal-bound hepcidin-25 that can be considered the biologically active form. The first part is devoted to the reversed-phase chromatographic separation of copper-bound and copper-free hepcidin-25 achieved by applying basic mobile phases containing 0.1% ammonia. Further, mass spectrometry (tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), high-resolution mass spectrometry HRMS)) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy were employed to characterize the copper-peptide. Lastly, a three-dimensional (3D)model of hepcidin-25with bound copper(II) is presented. The identification of metal complexes and potential isoforms and isomers, from which the latter usually are left undetected by mass spectrometry, led to the conclusion that complementary analytical methods are needed to characterize a peptide calibrant or reference material comprehensively. Quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR), inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), ion-mobility spectrometry (IMS) and chiral amino acid analysis (AAA) should be considered among others. KW - Metalloprotein KW - Peptide KW - Chromatography KW - High pH KW - Mobile phase KW - Metrology KW - Purity KW - Reference material KW - ATCUN KW - Copper KW - Nickel PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-457796 UR - http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/19/8/2271 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19082271 SN - 1422-0067 VL - 19 IS - 8 SP - 2271, 1 EP - 16 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-45779 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Paul, Martin A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Antibody Screening by Microarray Technology - Direct Identification of Selective High-Affinity Clones N2 - The primary screening of hybridoma cells is a time-critical and laborious step during the development of monoclonal antibodies. Often, critical errors occur in this phase, which supports the notion that the generation of monoclonal antibodies with hybridoma technology is difficult to control and hence, a risky venture. We think that it is crucial to improve the screening process to eliminate most of the critical deficits of the conventional approach. With this new microarray-based procedure, several advances could be achieved: Selectivity for excellent binders, high-throughput, reproducible signals, avoidance of misleading avidity (multivalency) effects, and performance of simultaneous competition experiments. The latter can also be used to select clones of desired cross-reactivity properties. In this paper, a model system with two excellent clones against carbamazepine, two weak clones, and blank supernatant containing fetal bovine serum was designed to examine the effectiveness of the new system. The excellent clones could be detected largely independent of the immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration, which is usually unknown during the clone screening since the determination and subsequent adjustment of the antibody concentration are not feasible in most cases. Furthermore, in this approach, the enrichment, isolation, and purification of IgG for characterization is not necessary. Raw cell culture supernatant can be used directly, even when fetal calf serum (FCS) or other complex media is used. In addition, an improved method for the oriented antibody-immobilization on epoxy-silanized slides is presented. Based on the results of this model system with simulated hybridoma supernatants, we conclude that this approach should be preferable to most other protocols leading to many false positives, causing expensive and lengthy elimination steps to weed out the poor clones. KW - ELISA KW - Immunoassay KW - Microarray KW - Lab-on-a-chip KW - Miniaturization KW - Aautomatisation KW - HTS KW - High-throughput KW - Screening KW - Fluorescence KW - Label KW - Hybridoma KW - Inhibition PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-503361 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/antib9010001 SN - 2073-4468 VL - 9 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 16 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-50336 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - The mystery of homochirality on earth N2 - Homochirality is an obvious feature of life on Earth. On the other hand, extraterrestrial samples contain largely racemic compounds. The same is true for any common organic synthesis. Therefore, it has been a perplexing puzzle for decades how these racemates could have formed enantiomerically enriched fractions as a basis for the origin of homochiral life forms. Numerous hypotheses have been put forward as to how preferentially homochiral molecules could have formed and accumulated on Earth. In this article, it is shown that homochirality of the abiotic organic pool at the time of formation of the first self-replicating molecules is not necessary and not even probable. It is proposed to abandon the notion of a molecular ensemble and to focus on the level of individual molecules. Although the formation of the first self-replicating, most likely homochiral molecule, is a seemingly improbable event, on a closer look, it is almost inevitable that some homochiral molecules have formed simply on a statistical basis. In this case, the non-selective leap to homochirality would be one of the first steps in chemical evolution directly out of a racemic “ocean”. Moreover, most studies focus on the chirality of the primordial monomers with respect to an asymmetric carbon atom. However, any polymer with a minimal size that allows folding to a secondary structure would spontaneously lead to asymmetric higher structures (conformations). Most of the functions of these polymers would be influenced by this inherently asymmetric folding. Furthermore, a concept of physical compartmentalization based on rock nanopores in analogy to nanocavities of digital immunoassays is introduced to suggest that complex cell walls or membranes were also not required for the first steps of chemical evolution. To summarize, simple and universal mechanisms may have led to homochiral self-replicating systems in the context of chemical evolution. A homochiral monomer pool is deemed unnecessary and probably never existed on primordial Earth. N2 - Homochiralität ist ein offensichtliches Merkmal des Lebens auf der Erde. Andererseits enthalten extraterrestrische Proben überwiegend racemische Verbindungen. Dasselbe gilt für jede gängige organische Synthese. Daher war es jahrzehntelang ein Rätsel, wie diese Racemate enantiomeren-angereicherte Fraktionen als Grundlage für den Ursprung homochiraler Lebensformen bilden konnten. Zahlreiche Hypothesen wurden aufgestellt, wie sich bevorzugt homochirale Moleküle auf der Erde gebildet und angereichert haben könnten. In diesem Artikel wird gezeigt, dass Homochiralität des abiotischen organischen Pools zum Zeitpunkt der Bildung der ersten selbstreplizierenden Moleküle nicht notwendig und nicht einmal wahrscheinlich ist. Es wird vorgeschlagen, die Vorstellung eines molekularen Ensembles aufzugeben und sich auf die Ebene der einzelnen Moleküle zu konzentrieren. Obwohl die Bildung des ersten selbstreplizierenden, höchstwahrscheinlich homochiralen Moleküls ein scheinbar unwahrscheinliches Ereignis ist, ist es bei näherer Betrachtung fast unvermeidlich, dass sich einige homochirale Moleküle einfach auf statistischer Basis gebildet haben. In diesem Fall wäre der nichtselektive Sprung zur Homochiralität einer der ersten Schritte der chemischen Evolution direkt aus einem racemischen "Ozean". Darüber hinaus konzentrieren sich die meisten Studien auf die Chiralität der ursprünglichen Monomere in Bezug auf ein asymmetrisches Kohlenstoffatom. Jedes Polymer mit einer Mindestgröße, die eine Faltung zu einer Sekundärstruktur erlaubt, würde jedoch spontan zu asymmetrischen höheren Strukturen (Konformationen) führen. Die meisten Funktionen dieser Polymere würden durch diese inhärent asymmetrische Faltung beeinflusst. Darüber hinaus wird ein Konzept der physikalischen Kompartimentierung auf der Basis von Gesteinsnanoporen in Analogie zu den Nanokavitäten digitaler Immunoassays vorgestellt, das darauf hindeutet, dass auch für die ersten Schritte der chemischen Evolution keine komplexen Zellwände oder Membranen notwendig waren. Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass einfache und universelle Mechanismen zu homochiralen selbstreplizierenden Systemen im Rahmen der chemischen Evolution geführt haben könnten. Ein homochiraler Monomerpool wird als unnötig angesehen, welcher auf der Urerde wahrscheinlich nie existiert hat. KW - Chemical evolution KW - Enantiomeric excess ee KW - Chirality KW - Racemate KW - Folding chirality KW - Self-assembly KW - self-replication KW - Single molecule KW - Prebiotic chemistry KW - Protein folding KW - Peptide folding KW - Proteinoid KW - Conformation KW - Segregation KW - Compartmentalization KW - Digital immunoassay KW - Porous rock KW - Miller and Urey KW - Primordial soup KW - Murchison meteorite KW - Micrometeorites KW - Tholins PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-598349 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/life14030341 SN - 2075-1729 VL - 14 IS - 3 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-59834 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schroeder, Barbara A1 - Le Xuan, Hoa A1 - Völzke, Jule L. A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Preactivation Crosslinking - An Efficient Method for the Oriented Immobilization of Antibodies N2 - Crosslinking of proteins for their irreversible immobilization on surfaces is a proven and popular method. However, many protocols lead to random orientation and the formation of undefined or even inactive by-products. Most concepts to obtain a more targeted conjugation or immobilization requires the recombinant modification of at least one binding partner, which is often impractical or prohibitively expensive. Here a novel method is presented, which is based on the chemical preactivation of Protein A or G with selected conventional crosslinkers. In a second step, the antibody is added, which is subsequently crosslinked in the Fc part. This leads to an oriented and covalent immobilization of the immunoglobulin with a very high yield. Protocols for Protein A and Protein G with murine and human IgG are presented. This method may be useful for the preparation of columns for affinity chromatography, immunoprecipitation, antibodies conjugated to magnetic particles, permanent and oriented immobilization of antibodies in biosensor systems, microarrays, microtitration plates or any other system, where the loss of antibodies needs to be avoided, and maximum binding capacity is desired. This method is directly applicable even to antibodies in crude cell culture supernatants, raw sera or protein-stabilized antibody preparations without any purification nor enrichment of the IgG. This new method delivered much higher signals as a traditional method and, hence, seems to be preferable in many applications. KW - Antibody coating KW - Proximity-enhanced reaction KW - Immunoglobulins KW - IgG KW - Protein A KW - Protein G KW - Immunoprecipitation KW - Immunocapture KW - Regeneration KW - Biosensor KW - Immunosensor KW - Affinity chromatography KW - Immunoaffinity extraction KW - Oriented immobilization KW - Immunoassay KW - Bioconjugation PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-479786 UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9279/2/2/35 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/mps2020035 SN - 2409-9279 VL - 2 IS - 2 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Switzerland AN - OPUS4-47978 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Schroeder, Barbara A1 - Le Xuan, Hoa A1 - Völzke, Jule L. A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Preactivation crosslinking – An efficient method for the oriented immobilization of antibodies N2 - Crosslinking of proteins for their irreversible immobilization on surfaces is a proven and popular method. However, many protocols lead to random orientation and the formation of undefined or even inactive by-products. Most concepts to obtain a more targeted conjugation or immobilization requires the recombinant modification of at least one binding partner, which is often impractical or prohibitively expensive. Here a novel method is presented, which is based on the chemical preactivation of Protein A or G with selected conventional crosslinkers. In a second step, the antibody is added, which is subsequently crosslinked in the Fc part. This leads to an oriented and covalent immobilization of the immunoglobulin with a very high yield. Protocols for Protein A and Protein G with murine and human IgG are presented. This method may be useful for the preparation of columns for affinity chromatography, immunoprecipitation, antibodies conjugated to magnetic particles, permanent and oriented immobilization of antibodies in biosensor systems, microarrays, microtitration plates or any other system, where the loss of antibodies needs to be avoided, and maximum binding capacity is desired. This method is directly applicable even to antibodies in crude cell culture supernatants, raw sera or protein-stabilized antibody preparations without any purification nor enrichment of the IgG. This new method delivered much higher signals as a traditional method and, hence, seems to be preferable in many applications. KW - Antibody coating KW - Proximity-enhanced reaction KW - Immunoglobulins KW - IgG KW - Protein G KW - Protein A KW - Immunoprecipitation KW - Immunocapture KW - Stabilization KW - Biosensor KW - Biochip KW - Microarray KW - ELISA KW - Immunoassay KW - Immunosensor KW - Crosslinker KW - Nanoparticles KW - Click chemistry KW - Herceptin KW - Trastuzumab PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-478797 DO - https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201904.0205.v1 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-47879 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reimann, C. A1 - Brangsch, J. A1 - Kaufmann, Jan Ole A1 - Adams, L. C. A1 - Onthank, D. C. A1 - Thöne-Reineke, C. A1 - Robinson, S. P. A1 - Hamm, B. A1 - Botnar, R. M. A1 - Makowski, M. R. T1 - Dual-probe molecular MRI for the in vivo characterization of atherosclerosis in a mouse model: Simultaneous assessment of plaque inflammation and extracellular matrix remodeling N2 - Molecular MRI is a promising in-vivo modality to detect and quantify morphological and molecular vessel-wall changes in atherosclerosis. The combination of different molecular biomarkers may improve the risk stratification of patients. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of simultaneous visualization and quantification of plaque-burden and inflammatory activity by dual-probe molecular MRI in a mouse-model of progressive atherosclerosis and in response-to-therapy. Homozygous apolipoprotein E knockout mice (ApoE−/−) were fed a high-fat-diet (HFD) for up to four-months prior to MRI of the brachiocephalic-artery. To assess response-to-therapy, a statin was administered for the same duration. MR imaging was performed before and after administration of an elastin-specific gadolinium-based and a macrophage-specific iron-oxide-based probe. Following in-vivo MRI, samples were analyzed using histology, immunohistochemistry, inductively-coupled-mass-spectrometry and laser-inductively-coupled-mass-spectrometry. In atherosclerotic-plaques, intraplaque expression of elastic-fibers and inflammatory activity were not directly linked. While the elastin-specific probe demonstrated the highest accumulation in advanced atherosclerotic-plaques after four-months of HFD, the iron-oxide-based probe showed highest accumulation in early atherosclerotic-plaques after two months of HFD. In-vivo measurements for the elastin and iron-oxide-probe were in good agreement with ex-vivo histopathology (Elastica-van-Giesson stain: y = 298.2 + 5.8, R2 = 0.83, p < 0.05; Perls‘ Prussian-blue-stain: y = 834.1 + 0.67, R2 = 0.88, p < 0.05). Contrast-to-noise-ratio (CNR) measurements of the elastin probe were in good agreement with ICP-MS (y = 0.11x-11.3, R² = 0.73, p < 0.05). Late stage atherosclerotic-plaques displayed the strongest increase in both CNR and gadolinium concentration (p < 0.05). The gadolinium probe did not affect the visualization of the iron-oxide-probe and vice versa. This study demonstrates the feasibility of simultaneous assessment of plaque-burden. KW - Gadolinium KW - Elastin KW - Probe KW - Iron oxide KW - Ferumoxytol PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-497066 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50100-8 VL - 9 SP - 13827 PB - Springer Nature AN - OPUS4-49706 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bernevic, Bogdan A1 - El-Khatib, Ahmed H. A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Online immunocapture ICP‑MS for the determination of the metalloprotein ceruloplasmin in human serum N2 - The human copper-protein ceruloplasmin (Cp) is the major copper-containing protein in the human body. The accurate determination of Cp is mandatory for the reliable diagnosis of several diseases. However, the analysis of Cp has proven to be difficult. The aim of our work was a proof of concept for the determination of a metalloprotein-based on online immunocapture ICP-MS. The immuno-affinity step is responsible for the enrichment and isolation of the analyte from serum, whereas the compound-independent quantitation with ICP-MS delivers the sensitivity, precision, and large dynamic range. Off-line ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) was used in parallel to confirm the elution profile of the analyte with a structure-selective method. The total protein elution was observed with the 32S mass trace. The ICP-MS signals were normalized on a 59Co signal. The human copper-protein Cp could be selectively determined. This was shown with pure Cp and with a sample of human serum. The good correlation with off-line ELISA shows that Cp could be captured and eluted selectively from the anti-Cp affinity column and subsequently determined by the copper signal of ICP-MS. KW - ELISA KW - Affinity chromatography KW - Affinity extraction KW - IgY KW - Chicken antibodies KW - Immunoaffinity extraction KW - Copper KW - Diagnostics PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-446157 UR - https://bmcresnotes.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13104-018-3324-7 UR - https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1186%2Fs13104-018-3324-7/MediaObjects/13104_2018_3324_MOESM1_ESM.pdf UR - https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1186%2Fs13104-018-3324-7/MediaObjects/13104_2018_3324_MOESM2_ESM.pdf DO - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-018-3324-7 SN - 1756-0500 VL - 11 IS - 1 SP - Article 213, 1 EP - 5 PB - Springer Nature CY - Heidelberg AN - OPUS4-44615 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 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-511245 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/bios10080089 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 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 -