Application of nano-surface and molecular-orientation limited proteolysis to LC-MS bioanalysis of cetuximab.

BACKGROUND: We recently reported the principle of nano-surface and molecular-orientation limited (nSMOL) proteolysis, which is useful for LC-MS bioanalysis of antibody drugs. METHODOLOGY: The nSMOL is a Fab-selective limited proteolysis which utilizes the difference of protease-immobilized nanoparticle diameter (200 nm) and antibody collection resin pore (100 nm). We have demonstrated the full validation for chimeric antibody cetuximab bioanalysis in human plasma using nSMOL. Signature peptides (SQVFFK, ASQSIGTNIHWYQQR and YASESISGIPSR) in cetuximab complementarity-determining region were simultaneously quantitated by LC-MS multiple reaction monitoring. CONCLUSION: This nSMOL quantification showed sensitivity of 0.586 µg/ml and linearity of 0.586 to 300 µg/ml. Full validation study archived the guideline criteria of low Mw drug compounds. These results indicate that nSMOL is also significant method for cetuximab bioanalysis.

Fully validated LCMS bioanalysis of Bevacizumab in human plasma using nano-surface and molecular-orientation limited (nSMOL) proteolysis.

The chemistry of nano-surface and molecular-orientation limited (nSMOL) proteolysis is the Fab-selective limited proteolysis by making use the difference of protease nanoparticle diameter (200 nm) and antibody resin pore diameter (100 nm). In this report, we have demonstrated that the full validation for Bevacizumab bioanalysis in human plasma using nSMOL. The immunoglobulin fraction was collected by Protein A resin from plasma, then nSMOL reaction was performed using the FG nanoparticle-immobilized trypsin under the nondenaturing physiological condition at 50 °C for 6 h. After removal of resin and nanoparticles, the signature peptide of Bevacizumab complementarity-determining region (CDR) and internal standard P14R were simultaneously quantified by LCMS multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). This nSMOL method quantification of Bevacizumab showed sensitivity of 0.146 µg/ml and linearity of 0.146-300 µg/ml. The intra- and inter-assay precision of lower limit of quantification (LLOQ), low quality control (LQC), middle quality control (MQC), and high quality control (HQC) was 7.94-15.2% and 14.6%, 7.15-13.5% and 11.7%, 2.63-6.47% and 5.83%, and 3.09-4.35% and 4.45%, respectively. These results indicate that nSMOL is also significant method for Bevacizumab bioanalysis in human plasma.

Selective detection of complementarity-determining regions of monoclonal antibody by limiting protease access to the substrate: nano-surface and molecular-orientation limited proteolysis.

We report a novel method for the selective proteolysis by limiting protease access to the substrate, which we have named nano-surface and molecular-orientation limited (nSMOL) proteolysis. We focus on the identification of the Fab and quantitation of antibodies. This method successfully performed limited proteolysis on the Fab.

Proteomic characterization of ovarian cancers identifying annexin-A4, phosphoserine aminotransferase, cellular retinoic acid-binding protein 2, and serpin B5 as histology-specific biomarkers.

Numerous studies have suggested that the different histological subtypes of ovarian carcinoma (i.e. clear cell, endometrioid, mucinous, and serous) have distinct clinical histories and characteristics; however, most studies that have aimed to determine biomarker have not performed comprehensive analyses based on subtype specificity. In the present study, we performed two-dimensional gel electrophoresis-based differential proteomic analysis of the different histological subtypes of ovarian carcinoma using tissue specimens from 39 patients. Seventy-seven protein spots (55 unique proteins) were found to be up- or downregulated in a subtype-specific manner. The most significant difference was observed for: (i) annexin-A4 (ANXA4) and phosphoserine aminotransferase (PSAT1), which are expressed strongly in clear cell carcinoma; (ii) cellular retinoic acid-binding protein 2 (CRABP2), which is expressed specifically in serous carcinoma; and (iii) serpin B5 (SPB5), which is upregulated in mucinous carcinoma. Validation of these candidates by western blotting using a 34 additional test sample set resulted in an expression pattern that was consistent with the screening and revealed that differential expression was independent of cancer stage or tumor grade within each subtype. Thus, the present study reinforces the notion that ovarian cancer subtypes can be clearly delineated on a molecular basis into four histopathological groups, and we propose that ANXA4, PSAT1, CRABP2, and SPB5 are candidate subtype-specific biomarkers that can help define the basis of tumor histology at a molecular level.

Direct antigen detection from immunoprecipitated beads using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry; a new method for immunobeads-mass spectrometry (iMS).

One-step detection of biological molecules is one of the principal techniques for clinical diagnosis, and the potential of mass spectrometry for biomarker detection has been a promising new approach in the field of medical sciences. We demonstrate here a new and high-sensitivity method that we termed immunobeads-mass spectrometry (iMS), which combines conventional immunoprecipitation and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). The key feature of iMS is the MS-compatible condition of immunoprecipitation using detergents with a monosaccaride-C8 alkyl chain or a disaccharide-C10 alkyl chain, and the minimized number of steps required for high-sensitivity detection of target peptides in serum or biological fluid. This was achieved by optimizing the wash buffer and subjecting the immunobeads directly to MALDI-TOF MS analysis. Using this method, we showed that 1 fmol of amyloid beta peptide spiked in serum was readily detectable, demonstrating the powerful tool of iMS as a biomarker detection method.

A novel method for analyzing formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue sections by mass spectrometry imaging.

Significant advances have been made in the past decade in the field of mass spectrometry imaging (MS imaging). It is a relatively unestablished technique aimed at direct, high-sensitive and spatially exclusive detection of biological molecules from the surface of tissue sections, so that semi-quantitative distribution map of the analyte can be reconstituted from the mass spectra obtained. There is tremendous potential in its application especially in clinical field, such as biomarker discovery or pharmacokinetic study. However, vast majority of the work has been performed on frozen tissue sections, while it remains generally unpractical to produce frozen sections with clinically resected tumor samples. Here we report our novel sample preparation technique that enabled MS imaging from formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue section, including retrospective archive as old as 11 years. FFPE sections were first dewaxed with pre-warmed xylene, and exposed tissue surface was enzymatically digested in nanoliter scale droplets to retain analyte localization. As a result, we succeeded in obtaining MS images of peptide peaks derived from several proteins, identified by MS/MS analysis, using ovarian cancer FFPE sections. The qualities of mass spectra obtained by this method were not significantly different from those obtained from frozen sections. By this, we opened the door to retrospective study of past clinical cases in aim to discover molecular biomarker.