Stability indicating ion-pair reversed-phase liquid chromatography method for modified mRNA.

Modified messenger RNA (mRNA) represents a rapidly emerging class of therapeutic drug product. Development of robust stability indicating methods for control of product quality are therefore critical to support successful pharmaceutical development. This paper presents an ion-pair reversed-phase liquid chromatography (IP-RPLC) method to characterise modified mRNA exposed to a wide set of stress-inducing conditions, relevant for pharmaceutical development of an mRNA drug product. The optimised method could be used for separation and analysis of large RNA, sized up to 1000 nucleotides. Column temperature, mobile phase flow rate and ion-pair selection were each studied and optimised. Baseline separations of the model RNA ladder sample were achieved using all examined ion-pairing agents. We established that the optimised method, using 100 mM Triethylamine, enabled the highest resolution separation for the largest fragments in the RNA ladder (750/1000 nucleotides), in addition to the highest overall resolution for the selected modified mRNA compound (eGFP mRNA, 996 nucleotides). The stability indicating power of the method was demonstrated by analysing the modified eGFP mRNA, upon direct exposure to heat, hydrolytic conditions and treatment with ribonucleases. Our results showed that the formed degradation products, which appeared as shorter RNA fragments in front of the main peak, could be well monitored, using the optimised method, and the relative stability of the mRNA under the various stressed conditions could be assessed.

Investigation of factors influencing the separation of diastereomers of phosphorothioated oligonucleotides.

This study presents a systematic investigation of factors influencing the chromatographic separation of diastereomers of phosphorothioated pentameric oligonucleotides as model solutes. Separation was carried out under ion-pairing conditions using an XBridge C18 column. For oligonucleotides with a single sulfur substitution, the diastereomer selectivity was found to increase with decreasing carbon chain length of the tertiary alkylamine used as an ion-pair reagent. Using an ion-pair reagent with high selectivity for diastereomers, triethylammonium, it was found the selectivity increased with decreased ion-pair concentration and shallower gradient slope. Selectivity was also demonstrated to be dependent on the position of the modified linkage. Substitutions at the center of the pentamer resulted in higher diastereomer selectivity compared to substitutions at either end. For mono-substituted oligonucleotides, the retention order and stereo configuration were consistently found to be correlated, with Rp followed by Sp, regardless of which linkage was modified. The type of nucleobase greatly affects the observed selectivity. A pentamer of cytosine has about twice the diastereomer selectivity of that of thymine. When investigating the retention of various oligonucleotides eluted using tributylammonium as the ion-pairing reagent, no diastereomer selectivity could be observed. However, retention was found to be dependent on both the degree and position of sulfur substitution as well as on the nucleobase. When analyzing fractions collected in the front and tail of overloaded injections, a significant difference was found in the ratio between Rp and Sp diastereomers, indicating that the peak broadening observed when using tributylammonium could be explained by partial diastereomer separation.

HPLC-UV-MS Analysis: A Source for Severe Oxidation Artifacts.

HPLC coupled to both UV and MS is an established setup for purity assessments in many areas. With evolving technology, instrument sensitivity increases, calling for lower sample concentration, while light flux in a commercial UV detector cell is considerably higher than earlier. This evolution has now reached the point where radicals formed by UV light are abundant enough, compared to the analyte levels, to generate unwanted artifact signals in the MS spectrum. In this work we show several examples from pharmaceutical development where UV degradation in the UV detector leads to severely misleading mass spectra in typical day to day samples.

Neprilysin Inhibits Coagulation through Proteolytic Inactivation of Fibrinogen.

Neprilysin (NEP) is an endogenous protease that degrades a wide range of peptides including amyloid beta (Aß), the main pathological component of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We have engineered NEP as a potential therapeutic for AD but found in pre-clinical safety testing that this variant increased prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT). The objective of the current study was to investigate the effect of wild type NEP and the engineered variant on coagulation and define the mechanism by which this effect is mediated. PT and APTT were measured in cynomolgus monkeys and rats dosed with a human serum albumin fusion with an engineered variant of NEP (HSA-NEPv) as well as in control plasma spiked with wild type or variant enzyme. The coagulation factor targeted by NEP was determined using in vitro prothrombinase, calibrated automated thrombogram (CAT) and fibrin formation assays as well as N-terminal sequencing of fibrinogen treated with the enzyme. We demonstrate that HSA-NEP wild type and HSA-NEPv unexpectedly impaired coagulation, increasing PT and APTT in plasma samples and abolishing fibrin formation from fibrinogen. This effect was mediated through cleavage of the N-termini of the Aα- and Bß-chains of fibrinogen thereby significantly impairing initiation of fibrin formation by thrombin. Fibrinogen has therefore been identified for the first time as a substrate for NEP wild type suggesting that the enzyme may have a role in regulating fibrin formation. Reductions in NEP levels observed in AD and cerebral amyloid angiopathy may contribute to neurovascular degeneration observed in these conditions.

Matrix effect explained by unexpected formation of peptide in acidified plasma.

AIM: Peak distortion and strong signal enhancement was observed when applying a bioanalytical method based on mixed-mode SPE, hydrophilic interaction chromatography and ESI-MS to acidified rabbit plasma samples. RESULTS: High-resolution ESI-MS and N-terminal peptide sequencing revealed a peptide NFQNAL, which was confirmed by H/D exchange ESI-MS. CONCLUSION: The peptide causing the observed matrix effect was formed by enzymatic degradation of serum albumin at pH 3. Degradation required both acidification and presence of other plasma constituents in addition to albumin to take place. The degree of signal enhancement correlated to the level of NFQNAL in the ion source as measured by MS, with a maximal enhancement factor of 3 at intermediate levels of NFQNAL. The interference was eliminated by changing to another type of hydrophilic interaction chromatography column.

X-ray structural analysis of tau-tubulin kinase†1 and its interactions with small molecular inhibitors.

Tau-tubulin kinase 1 (TTBK1) is a serine/threonine/tyrosine kinase that putatively phosphorylates residues including S422 in tau protein. Hyperphosphorylation of tau protein is the primary cause of tau pathology and neuronal death associated with Alzheimer's disease. A library of 12 truncation variants comprising the TTBK1 kinase domain was screened for expression in Escherichia coli and insect cells. One variant (residues 14-313) could be purified, but mass spectrometric analysis revealed extensive phosphorylation of the protein. Co-expression with lambda phosphatase in E. coli resulted in production of homogeneous, nonphosphorylated TTBK1. Binding of ATP and several compounds to TTBK1 was characterized by surface plasmon resonance. Crystal structures of TTBK1 in the unliganded form and in complex with ATP, and two high-affinity ATP-competitive inhibitors, 3-[(6,7-dimethoxyquinazolin-4-yl)amino]phenol (1) and methyl 2-bromo-5-(7H-pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidin-4-ylamino)benzoate (2), were elucidated. The structure revealed two clear basic patches near the ATP pocket providing an explanation of TTBK1 for phosphorylation-primed substrates. Interestingly, compound 2 displayed slow binding kinetics to TTBK1, the structure of TTBK1 in complex with this compound revealed a reorganization of the L199-D200 peptide backbone conformation together with altered hydrogen bonding with compound 2. These conformational changes necessary for the binding of compound 2 are likely the basis of the slow kinetics. This first TTBK1 structure can assist the discovery of novel inhibitors for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

FAM3B PANDER and FAM3C ILEI represent a distinct class of signaling molecules with a non-cytokine-like fold.

The FAM3 superfamily is predicted to contain classical four-helix bundle cytokines, featuring a typical up-up-down-down fold. Two members of FAM3 have been extensively studied. FAM3B PANDER has been shown to regulate glucose homeostasis and ß cell function, whereas the homologous FAM3C ILEI has been shown to be involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition and cancer. Here, we present a three-dimensional structure of a FAM3 protein, murine PANDER. Contrary to previous suggestions, PANDER exhibits a globular ß-ß-α fold. The structure is composed of two antiparallel ß sheets lined by three short helices packing to form a highly conserved water-filled cavity. The fold shares no relation to the predicted four-helix cytokines but is conserved throughout the FAM3 superfamily. The available biological data and the unexpected new fold indicate that FAM3 PANDER and ILEI could represent a new structural class of signaling molecules, with a different mode of action compared to the traditional four-helix bundle cytokines.

Current methods for phosphoprotein isolation and enrichment.

The phosphorylation of proteins is a central paradigm of signal transduction. The substitution of neutral hydroxyl groups of serine, threonine and tyrosine with a negatively charged phosphate group alters the physicochemical and immunogenic properties of the protein, which then can be used to isolate these isoforms. In the last decades several different techniques were applied, attempting to selectively enrich protein populations with this post-translational modification. This review aims to give an overview on the arsenal of available methods to extract phosphoproteins focusing on chromatographic approaches.