Exploring an orbitrap analyzer for the characterization of intact antibodies by native mass spectrometry

Abstract

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) represent a major class of therapeutic biomolecules being developed by the biopharmaceutical industry, their popularity largely being a result of their high specificity towards targets. Therapeutic mAbs are being developed for various diseases, with a strong focus on cancer and immunological disorders.[1] All antibody drugs currently approved for clinical use are based on the immunoglobulin G (IgG) class; these molecules are composed of two heavy chains and two light chains, connected by disulfide bonds, and with a molecular weight of approximately 150 kDa. Antibody-based biopharmaceuticals can be complex and heterogeneous molecules, and a range of analytical tools are necessary to characterize them fully. © 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.