Impact of Bioconjugation on Structure and Function of Antibodies for Use in Immunoassay by Hydrogen-Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are widely used as analytical components in immunoassays to detect target molecules in applications such as clinical diagnostics, food analysis and drug discovery. Functional groups are often conjugated to lysine or cysteine residues to aid immobilization of mAbs or to e...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Luise Luckau, Kate Groves, Chris Blencowe, Sam Scrimshaw, Alastair Dent, Milena Quaglia
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-07-01
Series:Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2022.866843/full
_version_ 1818466161827774464
author Luise Luckau
Kate Groves
Chris Blencowe
Sam Scrimshaw
Alastair Dent
Milena Quaglia
author_facet Luise Luckau
Kate Groves
Chris Blencowe
Sam Scrimshaw
Alastair Dent
Milena Quaglia
author_sort Luise Luckau
collection DOAJ
description Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are widely used as analytical components in immunoassays to detect target molecules in applications such as clinical diagnostics, food analysis and drug discovery. Functional groups are often conjugated to lysine or cysteine residues to aid immobilization of mAbs or to enable their detection in an antibody antigen complex. Good assay performance depends on the affinity and specificity of the mAbs for the antigen. The conjugation reaction however can cause higher order structural (HOS) changes and ultimately affect the assay performance. In this study, four differently conjugated mAbs were selected as model systems and characterized by mass spectrometry. Particularly, intact protein analysis by liquid-chromatography mass-spectrometry (LC-MS) was performed to determine the amount and distribution of conjugation. Hydrogen deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) experiments were carried out for the structural characterization of the conjugated mAbs. Immunoassay experiments were performed to monitor the effects of conjugation on the binding properties of the antibodies selected. Good agreement between the mass spectrometry and binding experiment results was found. Particularly, it was noted that the overall structural flexibility of the antibodies increases upon cysteine conjugation and decreases for lysine conjugation. The conjugation of mAbs with bulky functional groups tends to decrease the deuterium uptake kinetics due to induced steric effects. Overall, this study shows correlations between conjugation, structure and function of immunoassay antibodies and the benefits of mass spectrometry to improve understanding of the conjugation reaction and provide insights that can predict immunoassay performance.
first_indexed 2024-04-13T20:55:37Z
format Article
id doaj.art-9c297777701a4fb9a23249b1867022e6
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2296-889X
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-13T20:55:37Z
publishDate 2022-07-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences
spelling doaj.art-9c297777701a4fb9a23249b1867022e62022-12-22T02:30:21ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences2296-889X2022-07-01910.3389/fmolb.2022.866843866843Impact of Bioconjugation on Structure and Function of Antibodies for Use in Immunoassay by Hydrogen-Deuterium Exchange Mass SpectrometryLuise Luckau0Kate Groves1Chris Blencowe2Sam Scrimshaw3Alastair Dent4Milena Quaglia5National Measurement Laboratory at LGC, Teddington, United KingdomNational Measurement Laboratory at LGC, Teddington, United KingdomFleet Bioprocessing Ltd., Hartley Wintney, United KingdomFleet Bioprocessing Ltd., Hartley Wintney, United KingdomFleet Bioprocessing Ltd., Hartley Wintney, United KingdomNational Measurement Laboratory at LGC, Teddington, United KingdomMonoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are widely used as analytical components in immunoassays to detect target molecules in applications such as clinical diagnostics, food analysis and drug discovery. Functional groups are often conjugated to lysine or cysteine residues to aid immobilization of mAbs or to enable their detection in an antibody antigen complex. Good assay performance depends on the affinity and specificity of the mAbs for the antigen. The conjugation reaction however can cause higher order structural (HOS) changes and ultimately affect the assay performance. In this study, four differently conjugated mAbs were selected as model systems and characterized by mass spectrometry. Particularly, intact protein analysis by liquid-chromatography mass-spectrometry (LC-MS) was performed to determine the amount and distribution of conjugation. Hydrogen deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) experiments were carried out for the structural characterization of the conjugated mAbs. Immunoassay experiments were performed to monitor the effects of conjugation on the binding properties of the antibodies selected. Good agreement between the mass spectrometry and binding experiment results was found. Particularly, it was noted that the overall structural flexibility of the antibodies increases upon cysteine conjugation and decreases for lysine conjugation. The conjugation of mAbs with bulky functional groups tends to decrease the deuterium uptake kinetics due to induced steric effects. Overall, this study shows correlations between conjugation, structure and function of immunoassay antibodies and the benefits of mass spectrometry to improve understanding of the conjugation reaction and provide insights that can predict immunoassay performance.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2022.866843/fullhydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometryantibody conjugateimmunoassaylysine conjugationcysteine conjugationstructure-function analysis
spellingShingle Luise Luckau
Kate Groves
Chris Blencowe
Sam Scrimshaw
Alastair Dent
Milena Quaglia
Impact of Bioconjugation on Structure and Function of Antibodies for Use in Immunoassay by Hydrogen-Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry
Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences
hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry
antibody conjugate
immunoassay
lysine conjugation
cysteine conjugation
structure-function analysis
title Impact of Bioconjugation on Structure and Function of Antibodies for Use in Immunoassay by Hydrogen-Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry
title_full Impact of Bioconjugation on Structure and Function of Antibodies for Use in Immunoassay by Hydrogen-Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry
title_fullStr Impact of Bioconjugation on Structure and Function of Antibodies for Use in Immunoassay by Hydrogen-Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry
title_full_unstemmed Impact of Bioconjugation on Structure and Function of Antibodies for Use in Immunoassay by Hydrogen-Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry
title_short Impact of Bioconjugation on Structure and Function of Antibodies for Use in Immunoassay by Hydrogen-Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry
title_sort impact of bioconjugation on structure and function of antibodies for use in immunoassay by hydrogen deuterium exchange mass spectrometry
topic hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry
antibody conjugate
immunoassay
lysine conjugation
cysteine conjugation
structure-function analysis
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2022.866843/full
work_keys_str_mv AT luiseluckau impactofbioconjugationonstructureandfunctionofantibodiesforuseinimmunoassaybyhydrogendeuteriumexchangemassspectrometry
AT kategroves impactofbioconjugationonstructureandfunctionofantibodiesforuseinimmunoassaybyhydrogendeuteriumexchangemassspectrometry
AT chrisblencowe impactofbioconjugationonstructureandfunctionofantibodiesforuseinimmunoassaybyhydrogendeuteriumexchangemassspectrometry
AT samscrimshaw impactofbioconjugationonstructureandfunctionofantibodiesforuseinimmunoassaybyhydrogendeuteriumexchangemassspectrometry
AT alastairdent impactofbioconjugationonstructureandfunctionofantibodiesforuseinimmunoassaybyhydrogendeuteriumexchangemassspectrometry
AT milenaquaglia impactofbioconjugationonstructureandfunctionofantibodiesforuseinimmunoassaybyhydrogendeuteriumexchangemassspectrometry