TY - GEN 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 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. 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 offenkundiges Merkmal des Lebens auf der Erde. Andererseits enthalten extraterrestrische Proben überwiegend racemische Verbindungen. Das Gleiche gilt für jede gängige organische Synthese. Daher war es seit Jahrzehnten ein Rätsel, wie diese Racemate enantiomerenangereicherte Fraktionen als Grundlage für den Ursprung homochiraler Lebensformen bilden konnten. Es wurden zahlreiche Hypothesen darüber formuliert, wie sich bevorzugt homochirale Moleküle auf der Erde gebildet und angereichert haben könnten. In diesem Artikel wird gezeigt, dass die 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, vermutlich homochiralen Moleküls ein scheinbar unwahrscheinliches Ereignis ist, ist es bei näherer Betrachtung fast unvermeidlich, dass sich homochirale Moleküle einfach auf statistischer Basis gebildet haben. In diesem Fall wäre der nicht-selektive Sprung zur Homochiralität einer der ersten Schritte der chemischen Evolution direkt aus einem racemischen "Ozean" heraus. Außerdem 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 ermöglicht, würde jedoch spontan zu asymmetrischen höheren Strukturen (Konformationen) führen. Die meisten Funktionen dieser Polymere würden durch diese inhärent asymmetrische Faltung beeinflusst. 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 erachtet und hat daher wahrscheinlich auf der Urerde auch nie existiert. KW - Chemical evolution KW - Abiogenesis KW - Chirality KW - Amino acids KW - Peptides KW - Folding chirality PY - 2024 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-598462 SN - 2310-287X VL - 14 IS - 3 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-59846 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Völzke, Jule L. A1 - Hodjat Shamami, P. A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia A1 - Feldmann, Ines A1 - Zimathies, Annett A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - High-purity corundum as support for affinity extractions from complex samples N2 - Nonporous corundum powder, known as an abrasive material in the industry, was functionalized covalently with protein binders to isolate and enrich specific proteins from complex matrices. The materials based on corundum were characterized by TEM, ESEM, BET, DLS, and zeta potential measurements. The strong Al-O-P bonds between the corundum surface and amino phosphonic acids are used to introduce functional groups for further conjugations. The common cross-linker glutaraldehyde was compared with a hyperbranched polyglycerol (PG) of around 10 kDa. The latter is oxidized with periodate to generate aldehyde groups that can covalently react with the amines of the surface and the amino groups from the protein via a reductive amination process. The amount of bound protein was quantified via aromatic amino acid analysis (AAAA). This work shows that oxidized polyglycerol can be used as an alternative to glutaraldehyde. With polyglycerol, more of the model protein bovine serum albumin (BSA) could be attached to the surface under the same conditions, and lower nonspecific binding (NSB) was observed. As a proof of concept, IgG was extracted with protein A from crude human plasma. The purity of the product was examined by SDS-PAGE. A binding capacity of 1.8 mg IgG per g of corundum powder was achieved. The advantages of corundum are the very low price, extremely high physical and chemical stability, pressure resistance, favorable binding kinetics, and flexible application. KW - Protein KW - Bioseparation KW - Purification KW - Immunoprecipitation KW - Affinity chromatography KW - Polyglycerol KW - Glutaraldehyde KW - Linker KW - Bioconjugation KW - Self-assembled monolayer (SAM) KW - Periodate oxidation KW - Reductive amination KW - Antibodies KW - Igg KW - Immunoglobulins KW - Carrier KW - Solid phase KW - Hyperbranched polymer KW - Aromatic amino acid analysis aaaa PY - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-555142 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-55514 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 - GEN A1 - Tchipilov, Teodor A1 - Raysyan, Anna A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Methods for the quantification of particle-bound protein – Application to reagents for lateral-flow immunoassays (LFIA) N2 - Protein immobilization for the functionalization of particles is used in various applications, including biosensors, lateral-flow immunoassays (LFIA), bead-based assays, and others. Common methods for the quantification of bound protein are measuring protein in the supernatant before and after coating and calculating the difference. This popular approach has the potential for a significant overestimation of the amount of immobilized protein since layers not directly bound to the surface (soft protein corona) are usually lost during washing and handling. Only the layer directly bound to the surface (hard corona) can be used in subsequent assays. A simplified amino acid analysis method based on acidic hydrolysis and RP-HPLC-FLD of tyrosine and phenylalanine (aromatic amino acid analysis, AAAA) is proposed to directly quantify protein bound to the surface of gold nano- and latex microparticles. The results are compared with indirect methods such as colorimetric protein assays, such as Bradford, bicinchoninic acid (BCA), as well as AAAA of the supernatant. For both particle types, these indirect quantification techniques show a protein overestimation of up to 1700% compared to the direct AAAA measurements. In addition, protein coating on latex particles was performed both passively through adsorption and covalently through EDC/sulfo-NHS chemistry. Our results showed no difference between the immobilization methodologies. This finding suggests that usual protein determination methods are no unambiguous proof of a covalent conjugation on particles or beads. KW - Soft protein corona KW - Hard protein corona KW - Gold particles KW - Nanoparticles KW - Mikroparticles KW - Antibody KW - Bioconjugation KW - Protein quantification KW - Supernatant KW - Sodium chloride method KW - Covalent conjugation KW - Latex particles KW - Lateral flow immunoassays PY - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-545365 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-54536 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Tchipilov, Teodor A1 - Meyer, Klas A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Quantitative 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (qNMR) of Aromatic Amino Acids for Protein Quantification N2 - qNMR is a valuable technique for metrological studies due to the uniformity of its signal response for all chemical species of an isotope of interest, which enables compound-independent calibration. However, protein quantification remained challenging as large molecules produce wide, low-intensity signals that reduce the already low sensitivity. Combining qNMR with the hydrolysis of protein samples into amino acids circumvents many of these issues and facilitates the use of NMR spectroscopy for absolute protein and peptide quantification.In this work, different conditions have been tested for quantifying aromatic amino acids and proteins. First, we examined the pH-based signal shifts in the aromatic region. The preferable pH depends on the selection of the amino acids for quantification and which internal standard substance should be used to avoid peak overlap. Several aromatic compounds, such as terephthalic acid, sulfoisophthalic acid, and benzene tricarboxylic acid, have been applied as internal standards. The quantification of amino acids from an amino acid standard, as well as from a certified reference material (bovine serum albumin), was performed. Using the first two suggested internal standards, recovery was ~ 97 % for histidine, phenylalanine, and tyrosine at a concentration of approximately 1 mM in solution. Acidic hydrolysis of a certified reference material (CRM) of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and subsequent quantification of Phe and Tyr yielded recoveries of 98 ± 2 and 88 ± 4 %, respectively, at a protein concentration of 16 g/L or 250 µM. KW - Amino acid analysis KW - AAA KW - Protein hydrolysis KW - Metrology KW - Traceability KW - Reference materials KW - Internal standards KW - Calibration PY - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-564520 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-56452 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -