Fluorescence single particle tracking for the characterization of submicron protein aggregates in biological fluids and complex formulations.

Purpose: To evaluate the potential of fluorescence single particle tracking (fSPT) for the characterization of submicron protein aggregates in human serum, plasma and formulations containing human serum albumin (HSA).

Methods: A monoclonal IgG was covalently labeled with a fluorescent dye and cross-linked with glutaraldehyde. IgG aggregates and fluorescent beads of 0.1 μm (control) were diluted in buffer, serum and plasma, and their size distributions were analyzed by fSPT and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). In a separate experiment, IgG and HSA, fluorescently labeled with different dyes, were mixed and subjected to heat stress. The stressed sample was analyzed by fSPT using a dual color mode and by NTA.

Results: The accuracy and precision of fSPT proved to be comparable to NTA. fSPT was able to successfully measure all the samples in buffer, serum and plasma. The average size of the cross-linked protein aggregates showed a slight increase in biological fluids. Moreover, fSPT analysis showed that a significant proportion of the aggregates formed by subjecting an IgG/HSA mixture to heat stress were composed of both proteins.

Conclusion: fSPT is a powerful technique for the characterization of submicron protein aggregates in biological fluids and complex formulations.