dissection of the separation mechanisms and enhancement of ... · 1990s, primarily as alternatives...

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Dissection of the Separation Mechanisms andEnhancement of Aggregate Removal by Charged-

Hydrophobic Mixed-Mode Chromatography

Pete GagnonValidated Biosystems

6th International Symposium on HIC and RPC, Napa, CA, March 16-19, 2009

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Charged-hydrophobic mixed-modes

Charged-hydrophobic mixed-modes were introduced in the early1990s, primarily as alternatives to bioaffinity chromatography forcapture-purification of IgG monoclonal antibodies.

Sulfur or oxygen moieties in the spacer arms relate to thiophilic chromatography theory, whichsuggests that IgG binding is enhanced by their presence.

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Charged-hydrophobic mixed modes

More recent introductions have focused on polishing applications,particularly for aggregate removal from monoclonal IgG.

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Protein:mixed-mode interactions

Hydrophobic binding. Descending salt gradient elution.Positively charged hydrophobic mixed-mode.

Capto adhere™, 1 mL HiTrap1 mL/minA: 50 mM MES, 1 M NaCl, pH 5.5B: 50 mM MES, pH 5.5C: 6 M guanidine, pH 5Equilibrate: AInj: 50 µL protein A purified hIgG1 MabWash: AElute: 20 CV linear gradient to BClean: C

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Protein:mixed-mode interactions

Electrostatic binding. Ascending salt gradient elution.Positively charged hydrophobic mixed-mode.

Capto adhere, 1 mL HiTrap1 mL/minA: 50 mM Tris, 2 M urea, pH 8.5B: 50 mM Tris, 2 M urea, 1 M NaCl pH 8.5C: 6 M guanidine, pH 5Equilibrate: AInj: 50 µL protein A purified hIgG1 MabWash: AElute: 20 CV linear gradient to BClean: C

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Protein:mixed-mode interactions

Cooperativity of hydrophobic and electrostatic binding. Ascendingsalt gradient elution. Positively charged hydrophobic mixed-mode.

Capto adhere, 1 mL HiTrap1 mL/minA1: 50 mM Tris, pH 8.5A2: 50 mM Tris, 2 M urea, pH 8.5B1: 50 mM Tris, 1 M NaCl, pH 8.5B2: 50 mM Tris, 2 M urea, 1 M NaCl pH 8.5C: 6 M guanidine, pH 5Equilibrate: AInj: 50 µL protein A purified hIgG1 MabWash: AElute: 20 CV linear gradient to BClean: CThese results illustrate the salt tolerance ofmixed-mode binding.

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Protein:mixed-mode interactions

Cooperativity of hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions. Descendingsalt gradient elution. Positively charged hydrophobic mixed-mode.

Capto adhere, 1 mL HiTrap1 mL/minA1: 50 mM MES, 1 M NaCl, pH 5.5A2: 50 mM Hepes, 1 M NaCl, pH 7.5B1: 50 mM MES, pH 5.5B2: 50 mM Hepes, pH 7.5C: 6 M guanidine, pH 5Equilibrate: AInj: 50 µL protein A purified hIgG1 MabWash: AElute: 20 CV linear gradient to BClean: CAntibody pI is about 8.3. Elution at pH5.5 but failure to elute at 7.5demonstrates the contribution ofelectrostatic repulsion.

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Protein:mixed-mode interactions

Cooperativity of hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions. IncreasingpH gradient elution. Negatively charged hydrophobic mixed-mode.

Capto MMC, 1 mL HiTrap1 mL/minA1: 10 mM Na citrate, 10 mM Naphosphate, pH 5.0A2: 10 mM Na citrate, 10 mM Naphosphate, 2 M urea, pH 5.0B1: 10 mM Na citrate, 10 mM Naphosphate, pH 7.5B2: 10 mM Na citrate, 10 mM Naphosphate, 2 M urea, pH 7.5C: 6 M guanidine, pH 5Equilibrate: AInj: 50 µL protein A purified hIgG1 MabWash: AElute: 20 CV linear gradient to BClean: C

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Protein:mixed-mode interactions

Cooperativity of hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions.Elution in a pH gradient as a function of NaCl concentration.Positively charged hydrophobic mixed-mode.

Capto Adhere, 1 mL HiTrap1 mL/minA: 20 mM MES, 20 mM Hepes, 20 mMTris, pH 8.0B: 20 mM MES, 20 mM Hepes, 20 mMTris, pH 5.0A,B subsequent runs: plus NaCl atindicated concentrationsC: 6 M guanidine, pH 5Equilibrate: AInj: 50 µL protein A purified hIgG1 MabWash: AElute: 20 CV linear gradient to BClean: CThese results emphasize the futility ofusing pI as a predictor of retention.

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Protein:mixed-mode interactions

Cooperativity of hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions.IgG recovery as function of salt concentration in pH gradients.Positively charged hydrophobic mixed-mode.

Capto Adhere, 1 mL HiTrap1 mL/minA: 20 mM MES, 20 mM Hepes, 20 mMTris, pH 8.0B: 20 mM MES, 20 mM Hepes, 20 mMTris, pH 5.0A,B subsequent runs: plus NaCl atindicated concentrationsC: 6 M guanidine, pH 5Equilibrate: AInj: 50 µL protein A purified hIgG1 MabWash: AElute: 20 CV linear gradient to BClean: CThese results emphasize the value ofa guanidine (or similarly effective)cleaning step at the end of each run.

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Protein:solvent interactions

Protein solubility: salting-in and salting-out.Relative solubility of purified mouseIgG2a as a function of saltconcentration at pH 7.0.Salting-in indicated by open arrows.Salting-out indicated by closed arrows.Redrawn from Gagnon, P., Mayes, T.,Danielsson, A.,1997, An adaptation ofhydrophobic interactionchromatography for estimation ofprotein solubility optima, J. Pharm.,Biomed. Anal., 16 587-592.

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Protein:solvent interactions

Deficiency of solution counter-ions intensifies electrostaticinteractions within protein structural domains. This causesconformational changes that expose hydrophobic residues whichare buried under physiological conditions. Proteins simultaneouslybecome macro-ions and associate electrostatically, with secondarystabilization by hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions.Solubility diminishes.

Salting-in refers to the ability of increasing salt concentration tobring proteins back into solution by restoration of physiologicalcharge equilibrium. Chaotropic and kosmotropic salts both promotesalting-in, essentially in proportion with conductivity.

Cohn, E., Edsall, J. (1943) Proteins, peptides and amino acids as ions and dipolar ions,Rheinhold, New York

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Protein:solvent interactions

Salting-out refers to the ability of kosmotropic salts to depressprotein solubility, eventually leading to precipitation.

Kosmotropic salts typically embody high molar surface tensionincrements and are preferentially excluded from protein surfaces.

Increasing kosmotropic effect

SCN- ClO4- NO3

- Br- Cl- COO- SO42- PO4

2-

Ba2+ Ca2+ Mg2+ Li+ Cs+ Na+ K+ Rb+ NH4+

Increasing chaotropic effect

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Protein:solvent:ligand interactions

Parallel response of IgG solubility and recovery from a positivelycharged hydrophobic mixed-mode

This slide overlaps the recovery plotfrom slide 10 (Capto adhere) with thesolubility plots from slide 11, at thesame scales.The key to reconciling conformance ofthe NaCl recovery curve with theNa2SO4 solubility curve is to factor inthe hydrophobic contribution of theligand, which acts as a surrogate forprecipitating salts for enhancement ofhydrophobic interactions. Poorrecovery is seen at very lowconductivity values due to exposure ofmore hydrophobic residues.This phenomenon also occurs withtraditional HIC.

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Pluripotency of eluents

Pluripotency, in the context of eluents for mixed-modechromatography, refers to the ability of a single mobile phasecomponent to simultaneously affect two or more kinds ofinteractions between a solute and a solid phase.

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Pluripotency of eluents

pH: Determines protein charge, which affects electrostaticattraction, electrostatic repulsion, protein surface hydrophobicity, and protein solubility. It may also affect thecharge and/or hydrophobicity of mixed modes with weak ionexchange groups.

NaCl: Suppresses electrostatic attraction

Suppresses electrostatic repulsionIncreases protein solubility, concurrently reducing theeffects of protein surface hydrophobicityPromotes hydrophobic interactions between protein hydrophobic residues and a hydrophobic solid phase

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Pluripotency of eluents

Representative effects of NaCl

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Pluripotency of eluents

Representative effects of pH

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Pluripotency of eluents

Other salts:Strong kosmotropes should enhance hydrophobic interactions atlower concentrations but also suppress electrostatic interactionsslightly more (due to the higher molar conductivity of multivalentions). Chaotropes will simultaneously depress both electrostaticand hydrophobic interactions.

Polyethylene glycol (PEG):PEG enhances protein retention by electrostatic attraction andmetal affinity but its mild hydrophobicity weakens hydrophobicinteractions. It also depresses protein solubility and increasesmobile phase viscosity.

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Pluripotency of eluents

Ethylene glycol, propylene glycolThese nonionic compounds are protein stabilizing and suppresshydrophobic interactions by reducing the mobile phase dielectricconstant.

Urea

Also nonionic, it weakens hydrophobic interactions and alsobreaks hydrogen bonds. Negligible risk of denaturation at 1-2 M.

Arginine

The guanido side group suppresses hydrogen bonds andhydrophobic interactions, but arginine augments conductivity andthereby suppresses electrostatic interactions as well.

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Pluripotency of eluents

Zwitterionic amino acidsSome zwitterions, such as glycine, have high molar dielectric increments.They increase the polarity of aqueous solvents, which increases theinteractivity of water with charged residues on proteins. This increasesprotein solubility. It also mildly weakens electrostatic interactions amongsolutes, or between solutes and a charged solid phase.Glycine also has a positive surface tension increment, and is preferentiallyexcluded from protein surfaces, which means that it simultaneouslyenhances retention by electrostatic, hydrophobic, or other protein:solidphase interactions.In its zwitterionic form, from about pH 4 to 8, glycine makes nocontribution to conductivity and –except as noted above– does notinterfere with electrostatic interactions.

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Pluripotency of eluents

The Mixed-Mode Toolbox (absent pH)

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Enhancement of aggregate removal

Preferential enhancement of IgG aggregate retention by glycineCapto adhere, 1 mL HiTrap1 mL/minA1: 20 mM Tris, 20 mM Hepes, 20 mMMES, pH 9.0A2: 20 mM Tris, 20 mM Hepes, 20 mMMES, 1 M glycine, pH 9.0B1: 20 mM Tris, 20 mM Hepes, 20 mMMES, pH 5.0B2: 20 mM Tris, 20 mM Hepes, 20 mMMES, 1 M glycine, pH 5.0C: 6 M guanidine, pH 5Equilibrate: AInj: 2 mL protein A purified hIgG1 Mab(~5 mg)Wash: AElute: 20 CV linear gradient to BClean: C

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Enhancement of aggregate removal

Analytical size exclusion chromatographySuperdex™ 200 HR 10/300.5 mL/min20 mM Hepes, 100 mM arginine, 200mM NaCl, pH 7.0Inj: 50 µL protein A purified hIgG1 Mab

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Which mix of modes?

Positively charged, hydrophobicPositively charged, hydrophobic

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Which mix of modes?

Negatively charged, hydrophobic

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Conclusions

Mixed-modes represent more than just a simple combination ofselectivities.

Cooperative interactions between solutes and mixed-modes arecompounded by the influence of protein solubility, creating novelselectivities.

Although the individual influences of the parent selectivities(electrostatic interactions, hydrophobic interactions) can bedetected in the retention behavior of a given solute, neither HICnor ion exchange behavior provide useful predictions of netselectivity.

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Conclusions

Method development is further challenged by the ability of anyprocess variable to affect multiple kinds of interactions.

The more mobile phase components the more complex thesystem, especially since the effects of a given component maynot be linear.

Gradual accumulation of experimental results (industry-wide) mayreveal general trends for what to expect from a given class ofsolutes under a relatively defined range of conditions, but untilthen –and probably even after– mixed modes will requirescreening over a broader range of conditions than is customaryfor traditional methods.

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Conclusions

Each mixed-mode represents a distinct window of selectivity.

Preliminary results show the real practical utility of these media,but also demonstrate that no single mixed-mode canaccommodate all antibodies.

Commercial introduction of mixed-modes with different balancesof charge and hydrophobicity can be expected. This will add yetanother layer to initial screening, but will also have the effect ofmaking mixed-modes more broadly applicable and morecompetitive with traditional methods.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to GE Healthcare for providing Capto Adhere and Capto MMC.

Copies of this presentation can be downloaded at www.validated.com