Abstract
Sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation (SV-AUC) coupled with direct computational fitting of the observed concentration profiles (sedimentating boundary) have been developed and widely used for the characterization of macromolecules and nanoparticles in solution. In particular, size distribution analysis by SV-AUC has become a reliable and essential approach for the characterization of biopharmaceuticals including therapeutic antibodies. In this review, we describe the importance and advantages of SV-AUC for studying biopharmaceuticals, with an emphasis on strategies for sample preparation, data acquisition, and data analysis. Recent discoveries enabled by AUC with a fluorescence detection system and potential future applications are also discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbas A, Lichtman AH, Pillai S (2017) Hypersensitivity disorders. In: Cellular and molecular immunology, 9th edn. Elsevier, pp 417–437
Arakawa T, Philo JS, Ejima D, Tsumoto K, Arisaka F (2007) Aggregation analysis of therapeutic proteins, part 2. Analytical ultracentrifugation and dynamic light scattering. Bioproc Int 5:36–47
Arakawa T, Ejima D, Li T, Philo JS (2010) The critical role of mobile phase composition in size exclusion chromatography of protein pharmaceuticals. J Pharm Sci 99:1674–1692. https://doi.org/10.1002/jps.21974
Arthur KK, Gabrielson JP, Kendrick BS, Stoner MR (2009) Detection of protein aggregates by sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation (SV-AUC): sources of variability and their relative importance. J Pharm Sci 98:3522–3539. https://doi.org/10.1002/jps.21654
Attri AK, Minton AP (2005) Composition gradient static light scattering: a new technique for rapid detection and quantitative characterization of reversible macromolecular hetero-associations in solution. Anal Biochem 346:132–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ab.2005.08.013
Berkowitz SA (2006) Role of analytical ultracentrifugation in assessing the aggregation of protein biopharmaceuticals. AAPS J 8:E590–E605. https://doi.org/10.1208/aapsj080368
Berkowitz SA, Philo JS (2015) Characterizing biopharmaceuticals using analytical ultracentrifugation. In: Houde DJ, Berkowitz SA (eds). Biophysical characterization of proteins in developing biopharmaceuticals. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 211-260. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-444-59573-7.00009-9
Carpenter JF, Randolph TW, Jiskoot W, Crommelin DJ, Middaugh CR, Winter G (2010) Potential inaccurate quantitation and sizing of protein aggregates by size exclusion chromatography: essential need to use orthogonal methods to assure the quality of therapeutic protein products. J Pharm Sci 99:2200–2208. https://doi.org/10.1002/jps.21989
Carpenter JF, Bain DL, Johnson GR (2016) Use of analytical ultracentrifugation as an orthogonal method for size exclusion chromatography: assuring quality for therapeutic protein products and meeting regulatory expectations. In: Uchiyama S, Arisaka F, Stafford W, Laue T (eds) Analytical ultracentrifugation. Springer, Tokyo, pp 389–395
Chaturvedi SK, Ma J, Zhao H, Schuck P (2017a) Use of fluorescence-detected sedimentation velocity to study high-affinity protein interactions. Nat Protoc 12:1777–1791. https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2017.064
Chaturvedi SK, Zhao H, Schuck P (2017b) Sedimentation of reversibly interacting macromolecules with changes in fluorescence quantum yield. Biophys J 112:1374–1382. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2017.02.020
Cordes AA, Arthur KK, Gabrielson JP (2016) Biopharmaceuticals: application of AUC-SV for quantitative analysis of protein size distributions. In: Uchiyama S, Arisaka F, Stafford W, Laue T (eds) Analytical ultracentrifugation. Springer, Tokyo, pp 397–418
Correia JJ, Lyons DF, Sherwood P, Stafford W (2016) Techniques for dissecting the Johnston-Ogston effect. In: Uchiyama S, Arisaka F, Stafford W, Laue T (eds) Analytical ultracentrifugation. Springer, Tokyo, pp 483–498
Demeule B, Shire SJ, Liu J (2009) A therapeutic antibody and its antigen form different complexes in serum than in phosphate-buffered saline: a study by analytical ultracentrifugation. Anal Biochem 388:279–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ab.2009.03.012
den Engelsman J, Garidel P, Smulders R, Koll H, Smith B, Bassarab S, Seidl A, Hainzl O, Jiskoot W (2011) Strategies for the assessment of protein aggregates in pharmaceutical biotech product development. Pharm Res 28:920–933. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11095-010-0297-1
Desai A, Krynitsky J, Pohida TJ, Zhao H, Schuck P (2016) 3D-printing for analytical ultracentrifugation. PLoS ONE 11:e0155201. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0155201
Doyle BL, Budyak IL, Rauk AP, Weiss WF (2017) An optical alignment system improves precision of soluble aggregate quantitation by sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation. Anal Biochem 531:16–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ab.2017.05.018
Gabrielson JP, Arthur KK (2011) Measuring low levels of protein aggregation by sedimentation velocity. Methods 54:83–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymeth.2010.12.030
Gabrielson JP, Randolph TW, Kendrick BS, Stoner MR (2007) Sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation and SEDFIT/c(s): limits of quantitation for a monoclonal antibody system. Anal Biochem 361:24–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ab.2006.11.012
Gabrielson JP, Arthur KK, Kendrick BS, Randolph TW, Stoner MR (2009) Common excipients impair detection of protein aggregates during sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation. J Pharm Sci 98:50–62. https://doi.org/10.1002/jps.21403
Gabrielson JP, Arthur KK, Stoner MR, Winn BC, Kendrick BS, Razinkov V, Svitel J, Jiang Y, Voelker PJ, Fernandes CA, Ridgeway R (2010) Precision of protein aggregation measurements by sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation in biopharmaceutical applications. Anal Biochem 396:231–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ab.2009.09.036
Gonzalez JM, Rivas G, Minton AP (2003) Effect of large refractive index gradients on the performance of absorption optics in the Beckman XL-A/I analytical ultracentrifuge: an experimental study. Anal Biochem 313:133–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-2697(02)00434-7
Hill JJ, Laue TM (2015) Protein assembly in serum and the differences from assembly in buffer. Methods Enzymol 562:501–527. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.mie.2015.06.012
Ishii-Watabe A, Shibata H, Harazono A, Hyuga M, Kiyoshi , Saitoh S, Iwura T, Torisu T, Goda Y, Uchiyama S (2017) Recent topics of research in the characterization and quality control of biopharmaceuticals in Japan. J Pharmaceut Sci 106:3431–3437
Jimenez M, Rivas G, Minton AP (2007) Quantitative characterization of weak self-association in concentrated solutions of immunoglobulin G via the measurement of sedimentation equilibrium and osmotic pressure. Biochemistry 46:8373–8378. https://doi.org/10.1021/bi7005515
Kingsbury JS, Laue TM (2011) Fluorescence-detected sedimentation in dilute and highly concentrated solutions. Methods Enzymol 492:283–304. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-381268-1.00021-5
Kingsbury JS, Laue TM, Chase SF, Connors LH (2012) Detection of high-molecular-weight amyloid serum protein complexes using biological on-line tracer sedimentation. Anal Biochem 425:151–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ab.2012.03.016
Krayukhina E, Uchiyama S (2016) Analytical ultracentrifugation. In: Senda T, Maenaka K (eds) Advanced methods in structural biology. Springer, Tokyo, pp 165–183
Krayukhina E, Uchiyama S, Nojima K, Okada Y, Hamaguchi I, Fukui K (2013) Aggregation analysis of pharmaceutical human immunoglobulin preparations using size-exclusion chromatography and analytical ultracentrifugation sedimentation velocity. J Biosci Bioeng 115:104–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiosc.2012.07.021
Krayukhina E, Tsumoto K, Uchiyama S, Fukui K (2015) Effects of syringe material and silicone oil lubrication on the stability of pharmaceutical proteins. J Pharm Sci 104:527–535. https://doi.org/10.1002/jps.24184
Krayukhina E, Noda M, Ishii K, Maruno T, Wakabayashi H, Tada M, Suzuki T, Ishii-Watabe A, Kato M, Uchiyama S (2017) Analytical ultracentrifugation with fluorescence detection system reveals differences in complex formation between recombinant human TNF and different biological TNF antagonists in various environments. MAbs 9:664–679. https://doi.org/10.1080/19420862.2017.1297909
Kress C, Sadowski G, Brandenbusch C (2016) Novel displacement agents for aqueous 2-phase extraction can be estimated based on hybrid shortcut calculations. J Pharm Sci 105:3030–3038. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xphs.2016.06.006
Kroe RR, Laue TM (2009) NUTS and BOLTS: applications of fluorescence-detected sedimentation. Anal Biochem 390:1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ab.2008.11.033
Lebowitz J, Lewis MS, Schuck P (2002) Modern analytical ultracentrifugation in protein science: a tutorial review. Protein Sci 11:2067–2079. https://doi.org/10.1110/ps.0207702
Liu J, Nguyen MD, Andya JD, Shire SJ (2005) Reversible self-association increases the viscosity of a concentrated monoclonal antibody in aqueous solution. J Pharm Sci 94:1928–1940. https://doi.org/10.1002/jps.20347
Liu J, Andya JD, Shire SJ (2006) A critical review of analytical ultracentrifugation and field flow fractionation methods for measuring protein aggregation. AAPS J 8:E580–E589. https://doi.org/10.1208/aapsj080367
MacGregor IK, Anderson AL, Laue TM (2004) Fluorescence detection for the XLI analytical ultracentrifuge. Biophys Chem 108:165–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpc.2003.10.018
Narhi LO, Schmit J, Bechtold-Peters K, Sharma D (2012) Classification of protein aggregates. J Pharm Sci 101:493–498. https://doi.org/10.1002/jps.22790
Nishi H, Miyajima M, Nakagami H, Noda M, Uchiyama S, Fukui K (2010) Phase separation of an IgG1 antibody solution under a low ionic strength condition. Pharm Res 27:1348–1360. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11095-010-0125-7
Pekar A, Sukumar M (2007) Quantitation of aggregates in therapeutic proteins using sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation: practical considerations that affect precision and accuracy. Anal Biochem 367:225–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ab.2007.04.035
Philo JS (2006) Is any measurement method optimal for all aggregate sizes and types? AAPS J 8:E564–E571. https://doi.org/10.1208/aapsj080365
Philo JS (2009) A critical review of methods for size characterization of non-particulate protein aggregates. Curr Pharm Biotechnol 10:359–372
Rosenberg AS (2006) Effects of protein aggregates: an immunologic perspective. AAPS J 8:E501–E507. https://doi.org/10.1208/aapsj080359
Saito S, Uchiyama S (2016) Biopharmaceutical evaluation of intermolecular interactions by AUC-SE. In: Uchiyama S, Arisaka F, Stafford W, Laue T (eds) Analytical Ultracentrifugation. Springer, Tokyo, pp 419–440
Schuck P (2000) Size-distribution analysis of macromolecules by sedimentation velocity ultracentrifugation and Lamm equation modeling. Biophys J 78:1606–1619. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3495(00)76713-0
Stafford W (2016) Analysis of nonideal, interacting, and noninteracting systems by sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation. In: Uchiyama S, Arisaka F, Stafford W, Laue T (eds) Analytical ultracentrifugation. Springer, Tokyo, pp 463–482
Uchiyama S (2014) Liquid formulation for antibody drugs. Biochim Biophys Acta 1844:2041–2052. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbapap.2014.07.016
Wafer L, Kloczewiak M, Luo Y (2016) Quantifying trace amounts of aggregates in biopharmaceuticals using analytical ultracentrifugation sedimentation velocity: Bayesian analyses and F statistics. AAPS J 18:849–860. https://doi.org/10.1208/s12248-016-9925-y
Zhao H, Berger AJ, Brown PH, Kumar J, Balbo A, May CA, Casillas E Jr, Laue TM, Patterson GH, Mayer ML, Schuck P (2012) Analysis of high-affinity assembly for AMPA receptor amino-terminal domains. J Gen Physiol 139:371–388. https://doi.org/10.1085/jgp.201210770
Zhao H, Casillas E Jr, Shroff H, Patterson GH, Schuck P (2013a) Tools for the quantitative analysis of sedimentation boundaries detected by fluorescence optical analytical ultracentrifugation. PLoS ONE 8:e77245. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0077245
Zhao H, Lomash S, Glasser C, Mayer ML, Schuck P (2013b) Analysis of high affinity self-association by fluorescence optical sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation of labeled proteins: opportunities and limitations. PLoS ONE 8:e83439. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0083439
Zhao H, Ma J, Ingaramo M, Andrade E, MacDonald J, Ramsay G, Piszczek G, Patterson GH, Schuck P (2014a) Accounting for photophysical processes and specific signal intensity changes in fluorescence-detected sedimentation velocity. Anal Chem 86:9286–9292. https://doi.org/10.1021/ac502478a
Zhao H, Mayer ML, Schuck P (2014b) Analysis of protein interactions with picomolar binding affinity by fluorescence-detected sedimentation velocity. Anal Chem 86:3181–3187. https://doi.org/10.1021/ac500093m
Zhao H, Fu Y, Glasser C, Andrade Alba EJ, Mayer ML, Patterson G, Schuck P (2016) Monochromatic multicomponent fluorescence sedimentation velocity for the study of high-affinity protein interactions. Elife 5. doi:https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.17812
Acknowledgements
This work was partly supported by the MEXT/JSPS Grants in Aid for Scientific Research (15 K14457, 17H03975) and by grant-in-aid from the Research on Development of New Drugs of AMED.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
Susumu Uchiyama declares that he has no conflicts of interest. Masanori Noda declares that he has no conflicts of interest. Elena Krayukhina declares that she has no conflicts of interest.
Ethical approval
This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.
Additional information
This article is part of a Special Issue on ‘Biomolecules to Bio-nanomachines - Fumio Arisaka 70th Birthday’ edited by Damien Hall, Junichi Takagi and Haruki Nakamura.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Uchiyama, S., Noda, M. & Krayukhina, E. Sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation for characterization of therapeutic antibodies. Biophys Rev 10, 259–269 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12551-017-0374-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12551-017-0374-3