Interfacial Adsorption of a Monoclonal Antibody and Its Fab and Fc Fragments at the Oil/Water Interface

Langmuir. 2019 Oct 22;35(42):13543-13552. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.9b02317. Epub 2019 Oct 9.

Abstract

The physical stability of a monoclonal antibody (mAb) solution for injection in a prefilled syringe may in part depend on its behavior at the silicone oil/water interface. Here, the adsorption of a mAb (termed COE-3) and its fragment antigen-binding (Fab) and crystallizable (Fc) at the oil/water interface was measured using neutron reflection. A 1.4 ± 0.1 μm hexadecane oil film was formed on a sapphire block by a spin-freeze-thaw process, retaining its integrity upon contact with the protein solutions. Measurements revealed that adsorbed COE-3 and its Fab and Fc fragments retained their globular structure, forming layers that did not penetrate substantially into the oil phase. COE-3 and Fc were found to adsorb flat-on to the interface, with denser 45 and 42 Å inner layers, respectively, in contact with the oil and a more diffuse 17-21 Å outer layer caused by fragments adsorbing in a tilted manner. In contrast, Fab fragments formed a uniform 60 Å monolayer. Monolayers were formed under all conditions studied (10-200 ppm, using three isotopic contrasts), although changes in packing density across the COE-3 and Fc layers were observed. COE-3 had a higher affinity to the interface than either of its constituent fragments, while Fab had a lower interfacial affinity consistent with its higher net surface charge. This study extends the application of high-resolution neutron reflection measurements to the study of protein adsorption at the oil/water interface using an experimental setup mimicking the protein drug product in a siliconized prefilled syringe.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adsorption
  • Alkanes / chemistry*
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / chemistry*
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments / chemistry*
  • Immunoglobulin Fc Fragments / chemistry*
  • Oils / chemistry*
  • Water / chemistry*

Substances

  • Alkanes
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments
  • Immunoglobulin Fc Fragments
  • Oils
  • Water
  • n-hexadecane