Comparing the glycosylation patterns of recombinant glycoproteins.

The glycosylation profile of a recombinant glycoprotein can not only significantly affect its therapeutic profile, but is also extremely sensitive to cell-culture and purification conditions. To define glycosylation patterns and to ensure consistency of recombinant glycoproteins among different preparations requires highly sensitive and reproducible analytical methods that can be used routinely. New strategies and instrumentation are being developed which should allow such analysis to be largely automated.     

Development and validation of an antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity-reporter gene assay

Humanized monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are the fastest growing class of biological therapeutics that are being developed for various medical indications, and more than 30 mAbs are already approved and in the market place. Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) is an important biological function attributed to the mechanism of action of several therapeutic antibodies, particularly oncology targeting mAbs. The ADCC assay is a complicated and highly variable assay. Thus, the use of an ADCC assay as a lot release test or a stability test for clinical trial batches of mAbs has been a substantial challenge to install in quality control laboratories. We describe here the development and validation of an alternate approach, an ADCC-reporter gene assay that is based on the key attributes of the PBMC-based ADCC assay. We tested the biological relevance of this assay using an anti-CD20 based model and demonstrated that this ADCC-reporter assay correlated well with standard ADCC assays when induced with the drugable human isotypes [IgG1, IgG2, IgG4, IgG4S > P (S228P) and IgG4PAA (S228P, F234A, L235A)] and with IgG1 isotype variants with varying amounts of fucosylation. This data demonstrates that the ADCC-reporter gene assay has performance characteristics (accuracy, precision and robustness) to be used not only as a potency assay for lot release and stability testing for antibody therapeutics, but also as a key assay for the characterization and process development of therapeutic molecules.     

Development and validation of an antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity-reporter gene assay

Humanized monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are the fastest growing class of biological therapeutics that are being developed for various medical indications, and more than 30 mAbs are already approved and in the market place. Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) is an important biological function attributed to the mechanism of action of several therapeutic antibodies, particularly oncology targeting mAbs. The ADCC assay is a complicated and highly variable assay. Thus, the use of an ADCC assay as a lot release test or a stability test for clinical trial batches of mAbs has been a substantial challenge to install in quality control laboratories. We describe here the development and validation of an alternate approach, an ADCC-reporter gene assay that is based on the key attributes of the PBMC-based ADCC assay. We tested the biological relevance of this assay using an anti-CD20 based model and demonstrated that this ADCC-reporter assay correlated well with standard ADCC assays when induced with the drugable human isotypes [IgG1, IgG2, IgG4, IgG4S > P (S228P) and IgG4PAA (S228P, F234A, L235A)] and with IgG1 isotype variants with varying amounts of fucosylation. This data demonstrates that the ADCC-reporter gene assay has performance characteristics (accuracy, precision and robustness) to be used not only as a potency assay for lot release and stability testing for antibody therapeutics, but also as a key assay for the characterization and process development of therapeutic molecules.     

Protein glycosylation analysis with capillary-based electromigrative separation techniques

An impressive complexity is associated with glycoproteins due to the microheterogeneity of glycosylation as posttranslational modification giving rise to a vast number of isoforms. The full characterization of glycoproteins is difficult to achieve, and a number of analytical methods have to be combined for a detailed understanding of glycosylation. In this review, we focus on capillary electromigrative separation techniques in the formats capillary electrophoresis, micellar electrokinetic chromatography, and capillary sieving electrophoresis. These separation techniques can be applied to all levels of glycosylation analysis including intact glycoproteins, glycopeptides, and released glycans. We here discuss the separation characteristics for each method and the information that they can provide for each level. Detection issues, especially laser-induced fluorescence detection and mass spectrometry are taken into account. In addition, tables provide an overview on the achievements made from the very beginning of glycosylation research by electromigrative separation techniques. From the literature presented here it is clear, that glycosylation analysis by electromigrative separation techniques is on the edge of transition of basic research and method development towards applications. First proof-of-principle studies for in-depth glycoprotein characterization and clinical diagnosis are described. However, this overview also shows that many basic aspects of separation have not yet been fully understood and more research is necessary to be able to fully use the capabilities of electromigrative separation techniques.     

A high-performance,non-radioactive potency assay for measuring cytotoxicity: A full substitute of the chromium-release assay targeting the regulatory-compliance objective

Standardized and biologically relevant potency assays are required by the regulatory authorities for the characterization and quality control of therapeutic antibodies. As critical mechanisms of action (MoA) of antibodies, the antibody-dependent cell-meditated cytotoxicity (ADCC) and complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) must be characterized by appropriate potency assays. The current reference method for measuring cytotoxicity is the ⁵¹Cr-release method. However, radioactivity handling is difficult to implement in an industrial context because of environmental and operator protection constraints. Alternative non-radioactive methods suffer from poor validation performances and surrogate assays that measure FcγR-dependent functions do not comply with the regulatory requirement of biological relevance. Starting from these observations, we developed a non-radioactive luminescent method that is specific for target cell cytolysis. In adherent and non-adherent target cell models, the ADCC (using standardized effector cells) or CDC activities of rituximab, trastuzumab and adalimumab were compared in parallel using the ⁵¹Cr or luminescent methods. We demonstrated that the latter method is highly sensitive, with validation performances similar or better than the ⁵¹Cr method. This method also detected apoptosis following induction by a chemical agent or exposure to ultraviolet light. Moreover, it is more accurate, precise and specific than the concurrent non-radioactive calcein- and TR-FRET-based methods. The method is easy to use, versatile, standardized, biologically relevant and cost effective for measuring cytotoxicity. It is an ideal candidate for developing regulatory-compliant cytotoxicity assays for the characterization of the ADCC, CDC or apoptosis activities from the early stages of development to lot release.     

In vitro antigen ELISA for quality control of tetanus vaccines

Consistency of production is recognised as an important aspect of vaccine manufacture and suitably validated in vitro assays are required for quality control testing of these products. For the manufacture and batch release of tetanus vaccines, antigen content and integrity, and degree of adsorption of antigen to the adjuvant are critical parameters that should be monitored for consistency. Here we describe the development and use of an Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) to quantify tetanus antigen in combined vaccine products and to measure the degree of adsorption of antigen to adjuvant. Whilst the antigen assay cannot be assumed to predict potency for different products, it can be used as part of a panel of in vitro methods to provide a more informative product profile and to monitor trends in production. The antigen assay is particularly valuable for providing quantitative information on every final lot when modifications of in vivo potency tests, such as single dilution assays, are used.     

Advances in the production of human therapeutic proteins in yeasts and filamentous fungi

Yeast and fungal protein expression systems are used for the production of many industrially relevant enzymes, and are widely used by the research community to produce proteins that cannot be actively expressed in Escherichia coli or require glycosylation for proper folding and biological activity. However, for the production of therapeutic glycoproteins intended for use in humans, yeasts have been less useful because of their inability to modify proteins with human glycosylation structures. Yeast glycosylation is of the high-mannose type, which confers a short in vivo half-life to the protein and may render it less efficacious or even immunogenic. Several ways of humanizing yeast-derived glycoproteins have been tried, including enzymatically modifying proteins in vitro and modulating host glycosylation pathways in vivo. Recent advances in the glycoengineering of yeasts and the expression of therapeutic glycoproteins in humanized yeasts have shown significant promise, and are challenging the current dominance of therapeutic protein production based on mammalian cell culture.     

Surface glycoproteomic analysis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by affinity enrichment and mass spectrometric identification

Cell surface glycoproteins are one of the most frequently observed phenomena correlated with malignant growth. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most malignant tumors in the world. The majority of hepatocellular carcinoma cell surface proteins are modified by glycosylation in the process of tumor invasion and metastasis. Therefore, characterization of cell surface glycoproteins can provide important information for diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer, and also represent a promising source of potential diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for hepatocellular carcinoma. However, cell surface glycoproteins of HCC have been seldom identified by proteomics approaches because of their hydrophobic nature, poor solubility, and low abundance. The recently developed cell surface-capturing (CSC) technique was an approach specifically targeted at membrane glycoproteins involving the affinity capture of membrane glycoproteins using glycan biotinylation labeling on intact cell surfaces. To characterize the cell surface glycoproteome and probe the mechanism of tumor invasion and metastasis of HCC, we have modified and evaluated the cell surface-capturing strategy, and applied it for surface glycoproteomic analysis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. In total, 119 glycosylation sites on 116 unique glycopeptides were identified, corresponding to 79 different protein species. Of these, 65 (54.6?%) new predicted glycosylation sites were identified that had not previously been determined experimentally. Among the identified glycoproteins, 82?% were classified as membrane proteins by a database search, 68?% had transmembrane domains (TMDs), and 24?% were predicted to contain 2-13 TMDs. Moreover, a total of 26 CD antigens with 50 glycopeptides were detected in the membrane glycoproteins of hepatocellular carcinoma cells, comprising 43?% of the total glycopeptides identified. Many of these identified glycoproteins are associated with cancer such as CD44, CD147 and EGFR. This is a systematic characterization of cell surface glycoproteins of HCC. The membrane glycoproteins identified in this study provide very useful information for probing the mechanism of liver cancer invasion and metastasis.     

酵母表达人源化糖蛋白研究进展

与人体天然复杂型糖蛋白相比,使用酵母生产的药用蛋白带有高甘露糖型N-糖链。这一差异在临床应用中产生了许多不良影响。目前,可以通过消除酵母特有的内源糖基化反应,引入哺乳动物细胞中的一系列糖基转移酶及转运蛋白对酵母糖基化路径进行改造,从而使其表达出人源化的复杂型N-聚糖。本文介绍了酵母N-糖基化特点、糖基化不均一性,综述了近年来利用基因工程改造酵母N-糖基化路径获得特定的人源N-连接糖蛋白以及使用内切糖苷酶生产人源糖蛋白的研究进展,并且对存在的问题及今后的发展前景进行了讨论。     

Comparison of methods for the analysis of therapeutic immunoglobulin G Fc-glycosylation profiles—Part 2: Mass spectrometric methods

To monitor the Fc glycosylation of therapeutic immunoglobulin G in bioprocess development, product characterization and release analytics, reliable techniques for glycosylation analysis are needed. Several analytical methods are suitable for this application. We recently presented results comparing detection methods for glycan analysis that are separation-based, but did not include mass spectrometry (MS). In the study reported here, we comprehensively compared MS-based methods for Fc glycosylation profiling of an IgG biopharmaceutical. A therapeutic antibody reference material was analyzed 6-fold on 2 different days, and the methods investigated were compared with respect to precision, accuracy, throughput and analysis time. Emphasis was put on the detection and quantitation of sialic acid-containing glycans. Eleven MS methods were compared to hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography of 2-aminobenzamide labeled glycans with fluorescence detection, which served as a reference method and was also used in the first part of the study. The methods compared include electrospray MS of the heavy chain and Fc part after limited digestion, liquid chromatography MS of a tryptic digest, porous graphitized carbon chromatography MS of released glycans, electrospray MS of glycopeptides, as well as matrix assisted laser desorption ionization MS of glycans and glycopeptides. Most methods showed excellent precision and accuracy. Some differences were observed with regard to the detection and quantitation of low abundant glycan species like the sialylated glycans and the amount of artefacts due to in-source decay.     

Tetracycline-regulated overexpression of glycosyltransferases in Chinese hamster ovary cells.

The glycosylation patterns of recombinant therapeutic glycoproteins can be engineered by overexpression of glycosyltransferases in the host cells used for glycoprotein production. Most prior glycosylation engineering experiments have involved constitutive expression of cloned glycosyltransferases. Here we use tetracycline-regulated expression of two glycosyltransferases, N-acetylglucosaminlytransferases III and V (GnTIII and GnTV) to manipulate glycoform biosynthesis in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and to study the effect of glycosyltransferase overexpression on this host. The amount of GnTIII and GnTV in these cells, and the glycosylation patterns of several cellular glycoproteins, could be controlled simply by manipulating the concentration of tetracycline in the culture medium. Using this system, it was found that overexpression of either GnTIII or GnTV to high levels led to growth inhibition and was toxic to the cells, indicating that this may be a general feature of glycosyltransferase overexpression. This phenomenon has not been reported previously, probably due to the widespread use of constitutive promoters, and should be taken into account when designing vectors for glycosylation engineering. The growth inhibition effect sets an upper limit to the level of glycosyltransferase overexpression, and may thereby also limit the maximum extent of in vivo modification of poorly accessible glycosylation sites. Also, such inhibition implies a bound on constitutive glycosyltransferase expression which can be cloned.     

Charge variants characterization and release assay development for co-formulated antibodies as a combination therapy

Combination therapy is a fast-growing strategy to maximize therapeutic benefits to patients. Co-formulation of two or more therapeutic proteins has advantages over the administration of multiple medications, including reduced medication errors and convenience for patients. Characterization of co-formulated biologics can be challenging due to the high degree of similarity in the physicochemical properties of co-formulated proteins, especially at different concentrations of individual components. We present the results of a deamidation study of one monoclonal antibody component (mAb-B) in co-formulated combination antibodies (referred to as COMBO) that contain various ratios of mAb-A and mAb-B. A single deamidation site in the complementarity-determining region of mAb-B was identified as a critical quality attribute (CQA) due to its impact on biological activity. A conventional charge-based method of monitoring mAb-B deamidation presented specificity and robustness challenges, especially when mAb-B was a minor component in the COMBO, making it unsuitable for lot release and stability testing. We developed and qualified a new, quality-control-friendly, single quadrupole Dalton mass detector (QDa)–based method to monitor site-specific deamidation. Our approach can be also used as a multi-attribute method for monitoring other quality attributes in COMBO. This analytical paradigm is applicable to the identification of CQAs in combination therapeutic molecules, and to the subsequent development of a highly specific, highly sensitive, and sufficiently robust method for routine monitoring CQAs for lot release test and during stability studies.     

Characterization of gel-separated glycoproteins using two-step proteolytic digestion combined with sequential microcolumns and mass spectrometry

Protein glycosylation can be vital for changing the function or physiochemical properties of a protein. Abnormal glycosylation can lead to protein malfunction, resulting in severe diseases. Therefore, it is important to develop techniques for characterization of such modifications in proteins at a sensitivity level comparable with state-of-the-art proteomics. Whereas techniques exist for characterization of high abundance glycoproteins, no single method is presently capable of providing information on both site occupancy and glycan structure on a single band excised from an electrophoretic gel. We present a new technique that allows characterization of low amounts of glycoproteins separated by gel electrophoresis. The method takes advantage of sequential specific and nonspecific enzymatic treatment followed by selective purification and characterization of the glycopeptides using graphite powder microcolumns in combination with mass spectrometry. The method is faster and more sensitive than previous approaches and is compatible with proteomic studies.     

Glyco-engineering of biotherapeutic proteins in plants

Many therapeutic glycoproteins have been successfully generated in plants. Plants have advantages regarding practical and economic concerns, and safety of protein production over other existing systems. However, plants are not ideal expression systems for the production of biopharmaceutical proteins, due to the fact that they are incapable of the authentic human N-glycosylation process. The majority of therapeutic proteins are glycoproteins which harbor N-glycans, which are often essential for their stability, folding, and biological activity. Thus, several glyco-engineering strategies have emerged for the tailor-making of N-glycosylation in plants, including glycoprotein subcellular targeting, the inhibition of plant specific glycosyltranferases, or the addition of human specific glycosyltransferases. This article focuses on plant N-glycosylation structure, glycosylation variation in plant cell, plant expression system of glycoproteins, and impact of glycosylation on immunological function. Furthermore, plant glyco-engineering techniques currently being developed to overcome the limitations of plant expression systems in the production of therapeutic glycoproteins will be discussed in this review.     

Comparison of methods for the analysis of therapeutic immunoglobulin G Fc-glycosylation profiles—Part 1: Separation-based methods

Immunoglobulin G (IgG) crystallizable fragment (Fc) glycosylation is crucial for antibody effector functions, such as antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, and for their pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics behavior. To monitor the Fc-glycosylation in bioprocess development, as well as product characterization and release analytics, reliable techniques for glycosylation analysis are needed. A wide range of analytical methods has found its way into these applications. In this study, a comprehensive comparison was performed of separation-based methods for Fc-glycosylation profiling of an IgG biopharmaceutical. A therapeutic antibody reference material was analyzed 6-fold on 2 different days, and the methods were compared for precision, accuracy, throughput and other features; special emphasis was placed on the detection of sialic acid-containing glycans. Seven, non-mass spectrometric methods were compared; the methods utilized liquid chromatography-based separation of fluorescent-labeled glycans, capillary electrophoresis-based separation of fluorescent-labeled glycans, or high-performance anion exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection. Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-ultra high performance liquid chromatography of 2-aminobenzamide (2-AB)-labeled glycans was used as a reference method. All of the methods showed excellent precision and accuracy; some differences were observed, particularly with regard to the detection and quantitation of minor glycan species, such as sialylated glycans.     

Bacterial glycoproteins: functions,biosynthesis and applications

Although widely distributed in eukaryotic cells glycoproteins appear to be rare in prokaryotic organisms. The prevalence of the misconception that bacteria do not glycosylate their proteins has been a subject matter of discussion for a long time. Glycoconjugates that are linked to proteins or peptides, generated by the ribosomal translational mechanism have been reported only in the last two to three decades in a few prokaryotic organisms. Most studied prokaryotic glycoproteins are the S-layer glycoproteins of Archeabacteria. Apart from these, membrane-associated, surface-associated, secreted glycoproteins and exoenzymes glycoproteins are also well documented in both, Archea and Eubacteria. From the recent literature, it is now clear that prokaryotes are capable of glycosylating proteins. In general, prokaryotes are deprived of the cellular organelles required for glycosylation. In prokaryotes many different glycoprotein structures have been observed that display much more variation than that observed in eukaryotes. Besides following similar mechanisms in the process of glycosylation, prokaryotes have also been shown to use mechanisms that are different from those found in eukaryotes. The knowledge pertaining to the functional aspects of prokaryotic glycoproteins is rather scarce. This review summarizes developments and understanding relating to characteristics, synthesis, and functions of prokaryotic glycoproteins. An extensive summary of glycosylation that has been reported to occur in bacteria has also been tabulated. Various possible applications of these diverse biomolecules in biotechnology, vaccine development, pharmaceutics and diagnostics are also touched upon.     

Comparison of methods for the analysis of therapeutic immunoglobulin G Fc-glycosylation profiles—Part 1: Separation-based methods

Immunoglobulin G (IgG) crystallizable fragment (Fc) glycosylation is crucial for antibody effector functions, such as antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, and for their pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics behavior. To monitor the Fc-glycosylation in bioprocess development, as well as product characterization and release analytics, reliable techniques for glycosylation analysis are needed. A wide range of analytical methods has found its way into these applications. In this study, a comprehensive comparison was performed of separation-based methods for Fc-glycosylation profiling of an IgG biopharmaceutical. A therapeutic antibody reference material was analyzed 6-fold on 2 different days, and the methods were compared for precision, accuracy, throughput and other features; special emphasis was placed on the detection of sialic acid-containing glycans. Seven, non-mass spectrometric methods were compared; the methods utilized liquid chromatography-based separation of fluorescent-labeled glycans, capillary electrophoresis-based separation of fluorescent-labeled glycans, or high-performance anion exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection. Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-ultra high performance liquid chromatography of 2-aminobenzamide (2-AB)-labeled glycans was used as a reference method. All of the methods showed excellent precision and accuracy; some differences were observed, particularly with regard to the detection and quantitation of minor glycan species, such as sialylated glycans.     

Measuring change in glycoprotein structure

Biosynthetic enzymes in the secretory pathway create distributions of glycans at each glycosite that elaborate the biophysical properties and biological functions of glycoproteins. Because the biosynthetic glycosylation reactions do not go to completion, each protein glycosite is heterogeneous with respect to glycosylation. This heterogeneity means that it is not sufficient to measure protein abundance in omics experiments. Rather, it is necessary to sample the distribution of glycosylation at each glycosite to quantify the changes that occur during biological processes. On the one hand, the use of data-dependent acquisition methods to sample glycopeptides is limited by the instrument duty cycle and the missing value problem. On the other, stepped window data-independent acquisition samples all precursors, but ion abundances are limited by duty cycle. Therefore, the ability to quantify accurately the flux in glycoprotein glycosylation that occurs during biological processes requires the exploitation of emerging mass spectrometry technologies capable of deep, comprehensive sampling and selective high confidence assignment of the complex glycopeptide mixtures. This review summarizes recent technical advances and mass spectral glycoproteomics analysis strategies and how these developments impact our ability to quantify the changes in glycosylation that occur during biological processes. We highlight specific improvements to glycopeptide characterization through activated electron dissociation, ion mobility trends and instrumentation, and efficient algorithmic approaches for glycopeptide assignment. We also discuss the emerging need for unified standards to enable interlaboratory collaborations and effective monitoring of structural changes in glycoproteins.     

Comparative serum glycoproteomics using lectin selected sialic acid glycoproteins with mass spectrometric analysis: application to pancreatic cancer serum

A strategy is developed in this study for identifying sialylated glycoprotein markers in human cancer serum. This method consists of three steps: lectin affinity selection, a liquid separation and characterization of the glycoprotein markers using mass spectrometry. In this work, we use three different lectins (Wheat Germ Agglutinin, (WGA) Elderberry lectin,(SNA), Maackia amurensis lectin, (MAL)) to extract sialylated glycoproteins from normal and cancer serum. Twelve highly abundant proteins are depleted from the serum using an IgY-12 antibody column. The use of the different lectin columns allows one to monitor the distribution of alpha(2,3) and alpha(2,6) linkage type sialylation in cancer serum vs that in normal samples. Extracted glycoproteins are fractionated using NPS-RP-HPLC followed by SDS-PAGE. Target glycoproteins are characterized further using mass spectrometry to elucidate the carbohydrate structure and glycosylation site. We applied this approach to the analysis of sialylated glycoproteins in pancreatic cancer serum. Approximately 130 sialylated glycoproteins are identified using microLC-MS/MS. Sialylated plasma protease C1 inhibitor is identified to be down-regulated in cancer serum. Changes in glycosylation sites in cancer serum are also observed by glycopeptide mapping using microLC-ESI-TOF-MS where the N83 glycosylation of alpha1-antitrypsin is down regulated. In addition, the glycan structures of the altered proteins are assigned using MALDI-QIT-MS. This strategy offers the ability to quantitatively analyze changes in glycoprotein abundance and detect the extent of glycosylation alteration as well as the carbohydrate structure that correlate with cancer.     

Effects of tunicamycin on protein glycosylation and development inVolvox carteri

Summary The involvement of protein glycosylation in regulation of the development of the multicellular green alga,Volvox carteri, was studied using the antibiotic, tunicamycin. Three specific developmental processes were found to be affected by the antibiotic: reproductive cell maturation; establishment of polar cellular organization during embryogenesis and release of progeny spheroids from the parental spheroids. Tunicamycin inhibited the transfer of GlcNAc-1-phosphate to dolichyl phosphate which is catalyzed byVolvox membrane preparations. Changes in the glycosylation of several secreted and cellular glycoproteins were observed when proteins were labelled with radioactive amino acids and sugars in the absence and presence of tunicamycin and then electrophoresed on sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide slab gels. The levels of a few secreted proteins were reduced in tunicamycin treated cultures and one protein band appeared exclusively in the treated cells. Tunicamycin treatment also altered the electrophoretic mobility of radio-iodinated surface macromolecules. Binding of concanavalin A by tunicamycin treatedVolvox spheroids was drastically reduced. It is there-fore likely that the aberrant development results from inhibition of protein glycosylation and the consequent changes in the structure of the cellular, secreted and surface glycoproteins.