Publications by authors named "Ying Qing Yu"

Traditional vision screenings in schools are limited to simple visual tasks, yet students in their daily learning face more complex visual environments. Binocular rivalry tasks can partially simulate the visual challenges of real visual environments and activate advanced visual processing mechanisms that simple visual tasks cannot. Therefore, by superimposing binocular rivalry-state tasks onto simple visual tasks, we have developed an innovative vision screening program to rapidly and extensively assess students' visual performance in complex environments.

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The multi-attribute method (MAM) was conceived as a single assay to potentially replace multiple single-attribute assays that have long been used in process development and quality control (QC) for protein therapeutics. MAM is rooted in traditional peptide mapping methods; it leverages mass spectrometry (MS) detection for confident identification and quantitation of many types of protein attributes that may be targeted for monitoring. While MAM has been widely explored across the industry, it has yet to gain a strong foothold within QC laboratories as a replacement method for established orthogonal platforms.

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In this study we evaluate column hardware exhibiting a novel hybrid silica surface in its ability to mitigate metal-induced adsorption artifacts such as chromatographic peak tailing for acidic amino acid residue containing peptides. Using a conventional reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC)-based method, chromatographic performance of a peptide map was compared using a traditional stainless-steel column and an equivalent column bearing a novel hybrid silica surface. Tailing factors for six peptides containing acidic amino acid residues (T ≥ 1.

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Recombinant adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) have emerged as the leading gene delivery platform owing to their nonpathogenic nature and long-term gene expression capability. The AAV capsid, in addition to protecting the viral genome, plays an important role in viral infectivity and gene transduction, indicating the value of the constituent viral proteins (VPs) being well-characterized as part of gene therapy development. However, the limited sample availability and sequence homology shared by the VPs pose challenges to adapt existing analytical methods developed for conventional biologics.

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The Multi-Attribute Method (MAM) Consortium was initially formed as a venue to harmonize best practices, share experiences, and generate innovative methodologies to facilitate widespread integration of the MAM platform, which is an emerging ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry application. Successful implementation of MAM as a purity-indicating assay requires new peak detection (NPD) of potential process- and/or product-related impurities. The NPD interlaboratory study described herein was carried out by the MAM Consortium to report on the industry-wide performance of NPD using predigested samples of the NISTmAb Reference Material 8671.

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Recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) is a glycoprotein that acts as the main hormone involved in regulating red blood cell production to treat anemia caused by chronic kidney disease or chemotherapy. Since the expiration of the patent of the innovator epoetin alfa, numerous rhEPO products have emerged in global markets. As described here, multiple complementary analytical approaches are utilized for the extensive characterization of rhEPO molecules, and more importantly for the structural comparison of the rhEPO analogues on the Chinese market.

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Protein glycosylation can impact the efficacy and safety of biotherapeutics and therefore needs to be well characterized and monitored throughout the drug product life cycle. Glycosylation is commonly assessed by fluorescent labeling of released glycans, which provides comprehensive information of the glycoprofile but can be resource-intensive regarding sample preparation, data acquisition, and data analysis. In this work, we evaluate a comprehensive solution from sample preparation to data reporting using a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based analytical platform for increased productivity in released glycan analysis.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Seventy-six laboratories from various sectors around the world participated, submitting 103 reports using different analytical methods to examine glycan distributions.
  • * The study revealed significant diversity in results, with up to 48 glycan compositions identified by individual labs, highlighting the need for standardization in glycosylation analysis methods.
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Metal-ion mediated adsorption in liquid chromatography has been identified as a contributing factor in poor peak shape, tailing, and diminished recovery of compounds prone to cation exchange-like interaction with metal-based activity sites. Peptides that exhibit negative charge-bearing amino acids such as aspartic acid and glutamic acid are particularly sensitive to metal-ion mediated adsorption in RPLC/MS-based separations when using weak acids (e.g.

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The analysis of low-level (1-100 ppm) protein impurities (e.g., host-cell proteins (HCPs)) in protein biotherapeutics is a challenging assay requiring high sensitivity and a wide dynamic range.

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Glycosylation is an important attribute of biopharmaceutical products to monitor from development through production. However, glycosylation analysis has traditionally been a time-consuming process with long sample preparation protocols and manual interpretation of the data. To address the challenges associated with glycan analysis, we developed a streamlined analytical solution that covers the entire process from sample preparation to data analysis.

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ASBTRACT The biopharmaceutical industry has become increasingly focused on developing biosimilars as less expensive therapeutic products. As a consequence, the regulatory approval of 2 antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), Kadcyla® and Adcetris® has led to the development of biosimilar versions by companies located worldwide. Because of the increased complexity of ADC samples that results from the heterogeneity of conjugation, it is imperative that close attention be paid to the critical quality attributes (CQAs) that stem from the conjugation process during ADC biosimilar development process.

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In this study, we demonstrate the utility of ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (MS) and ion-mobility spectrometry (IMS) to characterize and compare reference and biosimilar monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) at an advanced level. Specifically, we focus on infliximab and compared the glycan profiles, higher order structures, and their host cell proteins (HCPs) of the reference and biosimilar products, which have the brand names Remicade® and Inflectra®, respectively. Overall, the biosimilar attributes mirrored those of the reference product to a very high degree.

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Rationale: Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS)-based techniques commonly used in oligonucleotide analyses are known to be sensitive to alkali metal adduct formation. Adducts directly impact the sensitivity of MS-based analyses as the available charge is distributed across the parent peak and adduct(s). The current study systematically evaluated common liquid chromatography (LC) components in LC/ESI-MS configurations used in oligonucleotide analysis to identify metal adduct contributions from LC instrumentation.

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N-glycosylation of proteins is now routinely characterized and monitored because of its significance to the detection of disease states and the manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals. At the same time, hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) has emerged as a powerful technology for N-glycan profiling. Sample preparation techniques for N-glycan HILIC analyses have however tended to be laborious or require compromises in sensitivity.

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Etanercept is a highly glycosylated therapeutic Fc-fusion protein that contains multiple N- and O-glycosylation sites. An in-depth characterization of the glycosylation of etanercept was carried out using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) methods in a systematic approach in which we analyzed the N- and O-linked glycans and located the occupied O-glycosylation sites. Etanercept was first treated with peptide N-glycosidase F to release the N-glycans.

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Rationale: Electron transfer dissociation (ETD) within ion trapping mass spectrometers has proven to be a useful tool for the characterisation of post-translational modifications. In this study, we describe the implementation of ETD upon a modified quadrupole time-of-flight (Q-ToF) system and methods for the analysis of glycoproteins.

Methods: Liquid chromatography electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS) was performed using a hybrid quadrupole/ion mobility/oa-ToF mass spectrometer equipped with ETD functionality.

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The aspartic protease pepsin is less specific than other endoproteinases. Because aspartic proteases like pepsin are active at low pH, they are utilized in hydrogen deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX MS) experiments for digestion under hydrogen exchange quench conditions. We investigated the reproducibility, both qualitatively and quantitatively, of online and offline pepsin digestion to understand the compliment of reproducible pepsin fragments that can be expected during a typical pepsin digestion.

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Pepsin was immobilized on ethyl-bridged hybrid (BEH) particles, and digestion performance was evaluated in a completely online format, with the specific intent of using the particles for hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX MS) experiments. Because the BEH particles are mechanically strong, they could withstand prolonged, continuous high-pressure at 10,000 psi. Online digestion was performed under isobaric conditions with continuous solvent flow, in contrast to other approaches where the pressure or flow is cycled.

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PEGylation is the covalent attachment of polyethylene glycol to proteins, and it can be used to alter immunogenicity, circulating half life and other properties of therapeutic proteins. To determine the impact of PEGylation on protein conformation, we applied hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX MS) to analyze granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) upon PEGylation as a model system. The combined use of HDX automation technology and data analysis software allowed reproducible and robust measurements of the deuterium incorporation levels for peptic peptides of both PEGylated and non-PEGylated G-CSF.

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A new hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) column packed with amide 1.7 μm sorbent was applied to the characterization of glycoprotein digests. Due to the impact of the hydrophilic carbohydrate moiety, glycopeptides were more strongly retained on the column and separated from the remaining nonglycosylated peptides present in the digest.

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Fast and efficient ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC/MS/MS) analysis of short interfering RNA oligonucleotides was used for identity confirmation of the target sequence-related impurities. Multiple truncated oligonucleotides and metabolites were identified based on the accurate mass, and their presumed sequence was confirmed by MS/MS and MS(E) (alternating low and elevated collision energy scanning modes) methods. Based on the resulting fragmentation of native and chemically modified oligonucleotides, it was found that the MS(E) technique is as efficient as the traditional MS/MS method, yet MS(E) is more general, faster, and capable of producing higher signal intensities of fragment ions.

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This study shows that state-of-the-art liquid chromatography (LC) and mass spectrometry (MS) can be used for rapid verification of identity and characterization of sequence variants and posttranslational modifications (PTMs) for antibody products. A candidate biosimilar IgG1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) was compared in detail to a commercially available innovator product. Intact protein mass, primary sequence, PTMs, and the micro-differences between the two mAbs were identified and quantified simultaneously.

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Separation by hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) with fluorescence detection utilizing a sub-2 microm glycan column for the separation of 2-aminobenzamide (2-AB) labeled N-linked glycans is described. The HILIC column packed with a 1.7 microm amide sorbent improves the peak capacity compared to a 3.

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Identification of phosphopeptides by MS is challenging due to their relatively low abundance in proteomic samples and their limited ionization efficiency. Various affinity enrichment methods have been used in the literature. Titanium dioxide SPE devices have been recently proposed as an alternative to immobilized metal affinity chromatography for phosphopeptide enrichment.

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