Native peptide mapping - A simple method to routinely monitor higher order structure changes and relation to functional activity.

In the biopharmaceutical environment, controlling the Critical Quality Attributes (CQA) of a product is essential to prevent changes that affect its safety or efficacy. Physico-chemical techniques and bioassays are used to screen and monitor these CQAs. The higher order structure (HOS) is a CQA that is typically studied using techniques that are not commonly considered amenable to quality control laboratories.

Limited proteolysis and peptide mapping for comparability of biopharmaceuticals: An evaluation of repeatability, intra-assay precision and capability to detect structural change.

The use of limited proteolysis followed by peptide mapping for the comparability of the higher-order structure of biopharmaceuticals was investigated. In this approach the proteolysis is performed under non-reducing and non-denaturing conditions, and the resulting peptide map is determined by the samples primary and higher order structures. This allows comparability of biopharmaceuticals to be made in terms of their higher order structure, using a method that is relatively simple to implement.

Heterogeneity of commercial recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) preparations containing a thioether variant.

The objective of the present study was to assess (I) the potential presence of a recently discovered thioether variant in commercially available recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) preparations, and (II) the impact of the thioether modification on the in-vivo bioactivity and the receptor binding kinetics. Samples were tested employing European (EP) and US Pharmacopeia (USP) Somatropin monograph and mass spectrometry methods. None of the international standards contained this variant.

Characterisation of a novel growth hormone variant comprising a thioether link between Cys182 and Cys189.

A novel variant of recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH), isolated from biopharmaceutical preparations produced in E. coli, was identified and characterised. This variant contains a nonreducible thioether bridge near the C terminus between Cys182 and Cys189 and was characterised using various analytical techniques.

Characterization of a topologically aberrant plasmid population from pilot-scale production of clinical-grade DNA.

As part of a program to develop DNA vaccines for pharmaceutical applications, we recently established a manufacturing process for the production of clinical grade plasmid DNA. In an evaluation of two cell separation methods, the cell culture experienced a temperature spike in a new tangential flow filtration rig, resulting in an aberrant plasmid HPLC peak. Analysis by agarose gel electrophoresis and HPLC demonstrated that the aberrant plasmid material's overall primary structure, methylation pattern and topological integrity was indistinguishable from that of reference material.