Strategies To Streamline Antibody–Drug Conjugate Analysis
App Note / Case Study
Published: May 2, 2025

Credit: iStock
Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) present significant analytical challenges due to their heterogeneity and complex product quality attributes.
The ADC development pipeline often relies on multiple platforms and disconnected workflows to fully characterize charge variants, drug-to-antibody ratios and post-translational modifications.
The latest workflows now use multiple techniques, such as imaged capillary isoelectric focusing (icIEF)-UV/MS with electron activated dissociation (EAD)-based peptide mapping, to provide streamlined solutions on a single platform.
This application note demonstrates how these integrated approaches provide multi-level characterization of ADCs.
Download this application note to learn more about:
- How to achieve high-resolution separation and confident identification of ADC charge variants
- The advantages of a single-platform approach for comprehensive ADC characterization
- Strategies for implementing streamlined workflows for routine analysis throughout the development pipeline
Scott Mack, Rashmi Madda, Haichuan Liu and Zoe Zhang
SCIEX, USA
This technical note demonstrates the unique capabilities of
imaged capillary isoelectric focusing (icIEF)-UV/MS and electron
activated dissociation (EAD)-based peptide mapping workflows
for rapid charge heterogeneity analysis and comprehensive
characterization of a GlyCLICK®-generated antibody-drug
conjugate (ADC). These orthogonal, streamlined workflows
provide multi-level information about product quality attributes
(PQAs) of ADCs, facilitating important decision-making early in
the development pipeline.
Charge heterogeneity, drug-to-antibody ratio (DAR) and posttranslational modifications (PTMs) are important PQAs of ADCs
that need to be fully characterized and closely monitored to
ensure the safety and efficacy of the drug molecules.
1,2
Comprehensive PQA characterization typically involves multiple
analytical assays using different instrument platforms and
software packages. Streamlining resources with integrated and
orthogonal technologies has the potential to reduce strain on
resources and can facilitate method development and transfer
throughout the development pipeline. These goals can be
addressed by combining the power of orthogonal icIEF-UV/MS
and EAD-based peptide mapping workflows for high-resolution
separation and sensitive detection of charge variants, rapid DAR
determination and accurate PTM or payload localization using a
single MS platform and data processing software (Figure 1).
These analytical techniques provide a level of characterization
beyond traditional LC separation and CID based workflows to
provide critical information to guide analytical strategies
throughout development.
Key features of integrated workflows
• Rapid charge heterogeneity assessment: icIEF-UV/MS
enables high-resolution separation and sensitive detection
of charge variants.
• Confident proteoform identification: icIEF-UV/MS and LCMS workflows provide confident identification and
confirmation of proteoforms for each charge variant.
• PTM and Payload localization: EAD-based peptide mapping
workflow offers high sequence coverage and accurate PTM
or payload localization in a single injection.
In-depth charge heterogeneity analysis of antibody-drug conjugates with a
streamlined icIEF-UV/MS and EAD-based peptide mapping workflow
Figure 1. Orthogonal icIEF-UV/MS and EAD-based peptide mapping workflows provide rapid charge heterogeneity assessment and comprehensive
characterization of ADCs using a single MS platform and software package. The icIEF-UV/MS capability of the Intabio ZT system coupled with the ZenoTOF 7600
system offers icIEF separation, UV quantitation and mass measurement of the charge variants of a GlyCLICK-generated ADC in a single assay. The single-injection
peptide mapping workflow using an EAD data-dependent acquisition (DDA) method provides high sequence coverage, confident variant identification and
accurate PTM or payload localization for comprehensive ADC characterization. The icIEF-UV/MS and EAD DDA data are processed using intact and peptide
mapping workflow templates within Biologics Explorer software.
icIEF-UV/MS workflow provides high-resolution separation and sensitive detection of charge variants for
rapid screening and monitoring of intact ADCs
Intabio ZT system
ZenoTOF 7600 system
MicroLC M5 system
Single-injection EAD based peptide mapping workflow offers high sequence coverage of ADCs for confident
variant identification and accurate PTM or payload localization
EAD DDA
0.0E+00
5.0E+06
1.0E+07
1.5E+07
2.0E+07
2.5E+07
2.6 2.8 3 3.2 3.4 3.6 Mobilization Time (Min)
B3 MS Intensity
B1
M1
M2A1
A2 A3
B2 (+Lys) B1 (+PyroQ)
Ma (Ref) Mb (+Hex) A1 (+NeuAc) A2 (+DeAm) A3 (+DeAm+Hex) A4 (+2NeuAc)
A5 (+2DeAm)
Ag/G0F
Ag/G1F M5/M5
B2
Mass (Da) Mobilization Time (Min)
(DAR1 +GlcNacFuc) B2
M1
A1 (+DeAm)
A2 (+2DeAm)
(DAR2 +PyroQ) (DAR1 +DeAm)
M2
B3 (DAR1)
B1
(DAR2 - 2Fuc)
(DAR2 - Fuc) (DAR2 +Hex)
(DAR2 +2Hex)
A3 (+3DeAm)
(DAR1 +Linker) (DAR2 Ref)
(DAR2 +Lys)
0%
50%
100%
150%
200%
8.00 8.25 8.50 8.75 9.00 9.25 9.50
MMAE
Control
pI (pH Units)
Relative Absorbance Units
B3 B2 B1
M
A1
B2
B1
M
A1 A2 A4 A3
A3 A2
A5
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
m/z 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Intensity
V QWK V D N A L Q S G N S Q E S V T E Q D S K
Hex MH
z3y3
z4
z5
a4
z6
c4
z7
c5
z8
y8
c6
z9 a7
c8
z10
a9
z11
c9
c10z13z14 c12
z15
z16
c14
z17
z18
c15
z21 y22
c22a23
-45
-58
HC
10 20 30 40 50 E V Q L V E S G G G L V Q P G G S L R L S C A A S G F N I K D T Y I H W V R Q A P G K G L E W V A R
60 70 80 90 100
I Y P T N G Y T R Y A D S V K G R F T I S A D T S K N T A Y L Q M N S L R A E D T A V Y Y C S R W G
110 120 130 140 150 G D G F Y A M D Y W G Q G T L V T V S S A S T K G P S V F P L A P S S K S T S G G T A A L G C L V K
160 170 180 190 200 D Y F P E P V T V S W N S G A L T S G V H T F P A V L Q S S G L Y S L S S V V T V P S S S L G T Q T
210 220 230 240 250 Y I C N V N H K P S N T K V D K K V E P K S C D K T H T C P P C P A P E L L G G P S V F L F P P K P
260 270 280 290 300 K D T L M I S R T P E V T C V V V D V S H E D P E V K F N W Y V D G V E V H N A K T K P R E E Q Y N
310 320 330 340 350 S T Y R V V S V L T V L H Q D W L N G K E Y K C K V S N K A L P A P I E K T I S K A K G Q P R E P Q
360 370 380 390 400 V Y T L P P S R E E M T K N Q V S L T C L V K G F Y P S D I A V E W E S N G Q P E N N Y K T T P P V
410 420 430 440 450 L D S D G S F F L Y S K L T V D K S R W Q Q G N V F S C S V M H E A L H N H Y T Q K S L S L S P G K
LC
10 20 30 40 50 D I Q M T Q S P S S L S A S V G D R V T I T C R A S Q D V N T A V A W Y Q Q K P G K A P K L L I Y S
60 70 80 90 100 A S F L Y S G V P S R F S G S R S G T D F T L T I S S L Q P E D F A T Y Y C Q Q H Y T T P P T F G Q
110 120 130 140 150 G T K V E I K R T V A A P S V F I F P P S D E Q L K S G T A S V V C L L N N F Y P R E A K V Q W K V
160 170 180 190 200 D N A L Q S G N S Q E S V T E Q D S K D S T Y S L S S T L T L S K A D Y E K H K V Y A C E V T H Q G
210 220 230 240 250 L S S P V T K S F N R G E C
96.7%
94.7%
Glycation
Glycated
ADC
Biologics
Explorer
software
UV profile MS profile
mAb
GlyCLICK
2
Introduction
Antibody-based therapeutics, such as monoclonal antibodies
(mAbs), multi-specific antibodies and ADCs, are highly
heterogeneous due to the coexistence of various glycoforms,
PTMs, degradation products, mis-paired species, aggregates and
charge variants.1,2 These biotherapeutic PQAs need to be closely
monitored and carefully controlled to ensure the safety and
efficacy of the drug molecules. 1,2
ADCs are new generation biotherapeutics consisting of an
antibody conjugated with cytotoxic payloads via chemical
linkers.
3 The complexity and heterogeneity of ADCs pose an
analytical challenge to scientists from discovery to process
development. Comprehensive characterization of charge
heterogeneity, PTMs and ADC payload typically requires multiple
analytical assays using different instrument platforms. In
addition, it is challenging to fully characterize various
proteoforms within biotherapeutic charge variants and localize
labile PTMs using traditional CE- and LC-MS approaches.4-8
The icIEF-UV/MS workflow―offered by the Intabio ZT system
―coupled with LC-MS workflows provides a single-MS solution
on the ZenoTOF 7600 system to achieve high-resolution
separation, sensitive detection, accurate relative quantitation
and confident identification of charge variants. The powerful
capabilities of EAD technology offered by the ZenoTOF 7600
system enable comprehensive PTM analysis, isomer
differentiation and disulfide bond mapping for enhanced peptide
mapping.9-14
It was demonstrated recently that the combined
benefits of orthogonal cIEF, icIEF-UV/MS and LC-MS workflows
provided an in-depth characterization of infliximab and its
charge variants.
8
In this work, the icIEF-UV/MS and EAD-based peptide mapping
workflows were leveraged to characterize charge heterogeneity
in trastuzumab (Tras) and its ADC conjugated with the
monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) payload.
Methods
Sample preparation:
Site-specific conjugation of Tras with the MMAE payload was
performed using the GlyCLICK technology (Genovis).
icIEF-UV/MS: Unconjugated Tras and its ADC (Tras-MMAE) were
desalted and then mixed with the master mix solution containing
arginine, pharmalyte 5 to 8 (Cytiva), pharmalyte 8 to 10.5 and 6.0
µg/mL peptide pI markers. The solution was vortexed and degassed by
centrifugation.
Peptide mapping: Tras and Tras-MMAE were enzymatically digested
using the Trypsin/Lys-C protease (Promega).
Data acquisition:
icIEF-UV/MS: During icIEF-UV/MS analysis, the mAb and ADC samples
were separated with an Intabio cartridge (SCIEX) installed on the Intabio
ZT system (SCIEX). UV absorbances were measured at 1 Hz during the
focusing and mobilization steps. The samples were introduced into the
ZenoTOF 7600 system by a metered 3 µL/min flow of chemical
mobilizer, followed by MS data acquisition.
Peptide mapping: Tryptic peptides were separated using a Kinetex 2.6
µm XB-C18 100 Å 150 x 0.3 mm LC column (Phenomenex) installed on
the M5 MicroLC system (SCIEX). A flow rate of 5 µL/min was used for
peptide separation. The peptide mapping data was acquired using an
EAD DDA method. Key EAD DDA parameters are shown in Table 1.
Data analysis:
icIEF-UV/MS: UV traces and mass spectra from icIEF-UV/MS analysis
were interpreted using Biologics Explorer software (SCIEX). Intact
masses of the main peak and charge variants were determined from the
deconvolution of the corresponding mass spectra.
Peptide mapping: EAD DDA data were interpreted using the peptide
mapping workflow template within Biologics Explorer software. A
custom modification of MMAE was created for payload localization.
Table 1. Key EAD DDA parameters.
Parameter Value
Start mass 100 m/z
Stop mass 2000 m/z
Q1 resolution Unit
Zeno trap ON
Zeno threshold 100,000 cps
Accumulation time 0.1 s
Electron beam current 5,000 nA
Electron KE 7 eV
ETC Dynamic
Reaction time 20 ms
EAD RF 120 Da
3
ADC conjugation with GlyCLICK technology
GlyCLICK is a three-step, site-specific conjugation technology for
IgG using Fc glycan remodeling and click-chemistry. The
technology generates stable and homogeneous antibody
conjugates for IgGs from several species and subclasses with
preserved immunoreactivity. The GlyCLICK technology was
utilized to generate the Tras-MMAE ADC for icIEF-UV/MS and
peptide mapping analyses in this work.
High-resolution separation of charge variants
The advantages of the icIEF-UV/MS workflow for high-resolution
separation, sensitive detection and confident identification of
biotherapeutic charge variants in a single assay have been
described in the previous technical notes.
5-8 This powerful
workflow can be employed for rapid assessment of charge
heterogeneity profiles or in-depth characterization of
unexpected charge variants. It was also demonstrated that the
icIEF-UV/MS workflow is highly reproducible for separating and
detecting intact biotherapeutics and their charge variants.5-7
Figure 2 shows the icIEF-UV profiles and MS base peak
electropherograms (BPEs) of Tras and Tras-MMAE obtained
using the Intabio ZT system. The icIEF-UV profiles (Figure 2A and
2C) reveal a high-resolution separation of the main species (M)
from the acidic and basic variants (A1-A5 and B1-B3). MMAE
conjugation of Tras led to a significant shift of the icIEF-UV
profile to a lower pI (more acidic) region (Figure 2A). All the
variants detected in the icIEF-UV profiles (Figure 2A and 2C)
were observed in the corresponding BPEs (Figure 2B and 2D),
demonstrating that high-resolution separation is maintained
after chemical mobilization. High-resolution icIEF separation of
charge variants enables accurate peak integration and relative
quantitation of these species for rapid charge heterogeneity
assessment. For unconjugated Tras, the percent compositions of
the main, acidic and basic species were calculated to be 59.9%,
34.7% and 5.4%, respectively (Figure 2C). A slightly lower
percent composition of acidic species (27.9%) and higher level of
basic variants (8.4%) were measured for Tras-MMAE (Figure 2A).
Accurate DAR determination
The icIEF-UV/MS workflow enables confident peak assignment
and DAR determination for ADCs due to its ability to perform
accurate mass measurement using the ZenoTOF 7600 system
and automated data analysis with Biologics Explorer software.7
Figure 3 shows the BPEs and ion maps of Tras and Tras-MMAE.
The species detected in BPEs (Figures 3A and 3C) were
annotated in the ion maps from Biologics Explorer software
(Figures 3B and 3D). The ion map provides an excellent
visualization of the variant species detected at different
deconvoluted masses (x-axis) and mobilization times (right yaxis) with the color scheme (left y-axis) indicating peak
abundance. Intact mass measurement revealed that the main
peak of Tras consists of 3 major glycoforms, including G0F/G0F,
G0F/G1F and G1F/G1F, without the C-terminal Lys (Figure 3B).
Figure 2. icIEF-UV/MS analysis of Tras and Tras-MMAE using the Intabio ZT system. The icIEF-UV profiles of Tras (A) and Tras-MMAE (C) demonstrate the highresolution separation of the main species (M) from the basic (B1-B3) and acidic (A1-A5) charge variants using the Intabio ZT system. The conjugation of MMAE to
Tras led to a shift of the UV profile to the acidic region (A). The BPEs of Tras (B) and Tras-MMAE (D) demonstrate that the separation of charge variants was
preserved following the chemical mobilization step. All the species present in the UV profiles (A and C) were detected in the corresponding BPEs (B and D).
0%
50%
100%
150%
200%
8.00 8.25 8.50 8.75 9.00 9.25 9.50
0%
50%
100%
150%
200%
1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
MMAE
Control
pI (pH Units) Mobilization Time (Min) Relative Absorbance Units Relative MS Intensity
A
B3 B2 B1
M
B2
B1
M
B3
B2
B1
M
A1
A1
B2
B1
M
A1
A2
A3
A1
A2
A3 A4 A4
A2 A3 A2 A3
C
A5 A5
MMAE
Control
B
D
63.7%
8.4%
27.9%
34.7%
59.9%
5.4%
4
These glycoforms were completely absent in Tras-MMAE (Figure
3D), demonstrating the high efficiency of the deglycosylation
step of GlyCLICK. The main species detected in Tras-MMAE
corresponds to the conjugation of Tras with 2 MMAE payloads,
confidently confirming a fixed DAR of 2.
Sensitive detection and confident identification of
charge variants
The icIEF-UV/MS workflow provides sensitive detection and
identification of acidic and basic species of Tras and Tras-MMAE.
A detailed description of these charge variants will be published
Figure 3. Peak annotation of charge variants using Biologics Explorer software. Accurate mass measurement of charge variants following high-resolution icIEF
separation of Tras (A) and Tras-MMAE (C) enabled confident annotation of each species using Biologics Explorer software. The ion maps of Tras (B) and TrasMMAE (D) from Biologics Explorer software provide a powerful visualization of the charge variants separated and detected by icIEF-UV/MS. The color scheme of
the ion map indicates the relative abundances of the main species (M1-M2) and charge variants (A1-A5 and B1-B3). The charge variants of Tras-MMAE (D) were
further characterized by the EAD based peptide mapping workflow. Not all species were annotated in B and D for figure clarity. Fuc: fucose. NeuAc: sialic acids.
Hex: glycation. Ag: aglycosylation. DeAm: deamidation. Tras MMAE
Mobilization Time (Min)
0.0E+00
5.0E+06
1.0E+07
1.5E+07
2.0E+07
2.5E+07
3.0E+07
1.8 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8
B2 MS Intensity
B1
M1
M2
A1
A2
A3A4 A5
B2 (+Lys)
B1 (+PyroQ)
M1 (Ref)
M2 (+Hex)
A1 (+NeuAc)
A2 (+DeAm)
A3 (+DeAm+Hex)
A4 (+2NeuAc)
A5 (+2DeAm)
Ag/G0F
Ag/G1F
A B
Mass (Da) Mobilization Time (Min)
M5/M5
0.0E+00
5.0E+06
1.0E+07
1.5E+07
2.0E+07
2.5E+07
2.6 2.8 3 3.2 3.4 3.6
Mobilization Time (Min)
B3 MS Intensity
B1
M1
M2
A1
A2 A3
B2 (+Lys)
B1 (+PyroQ)
Ma (Ref)
Mb (+Hex)
A1 (+NeuAc)
A2 (+DeAm)
A3 (+DeAm+Hex)
A4 (+2NeuAc)
A5 (+2DeAm)
Ag/G0F
Ag/G1F
C D
M5/M5
B2
Mass (Da) Mobilization Time (Min)
(DAR1 +GlcNAcFuc)
B2
M1
A1 (+DeAm)
A2 (+2DeAm)
(DAR2 +PyroQ) (DAR1 +DeAm)
M2
B3 (DAR1)
B1
(DAR2 - 2Fuc)
(DAR2 - Fuc) (DAR2 +Hex)
(DAR2 +2Hex)
A3 (+3DeAm)
(DAR1 +Linker) (DAR2 Ref)
(DAR2 +Lys)
5
elsewhere. Selected charge variants will be highlighted in the
following sections.
The major basic peaks identified for Tras and Tras-MMAE are the
C-terminal Lys and N-terminal pyro-Q species (Figures 3B and
3D). Low-abundant DAR1 and DAR1+GlcNAcFuc species were
also identified among the basic variants for Tras-MMAE (peak B3
in Figures 3C and 3D). The DAR1 species are formed from the
native aglycosylated species (Ag/G0F and Ag/G1F) in Tras (Figure
3B). DAR1+GlcNAcFuc is a side product of payload conjugation.
The percent composition of this species was measured to be
~0.5% in Tras-MMAE, demonstrating both the sensitive
detection of low-abundant charge variants with the icIEF-UV/MS
workflow and the high efficiency of payload conjugation using
GlyCLICK.
The deamidated species are the dominant acidic variants
detected in Tras and Tras-MMAE (Figures 3B and 3D). For Tras,
the acidic variants containing sialic acids (NeuAc) were also
observed (Figure 3B). By comparison, this species was absent in
Tras-MMAE (Figure 3D), showing again the efficient removal of
glycosylation when using GlyCLICK.
The icIEF-UV/MS workflow enables the detection and
identification of singly and doubly glycated (Hex) species in the
main and acidic regions of Tras and Tras-MMAE (Figure 3B and
3D).
The results described above demonstrate the powerful
capabilities of icIEF-UV/MS for high-resolution separation,
sensitive detection and confident peak assignment of charge
variants. These capabilities can be leveraged for rapid charge
heterogeneity analysis and product quality assessment. In the
scenarios where detailed characterization of charge variants is
required to verify unexpected species identified by icIEF-UV/MS,
analyze labile PTMs and/or localize conjugation sites, orthogonal
peptide mapping workflows can be deployed using the same MS
instrument (ZenoTOF 7600 system).
Peptide mapping for sequence confirmation, PTM
analysis and payload localization
Previous studies have demonstrated the capability, versatility
and flexibility of the ZenoTOF 7600 system equipped with the
Zeno trap and EAD cell to achieve unparalleled peptide mapping
results for comprehensive biotherapeutic characterization.9-14 A
5- to 10-fold sensitivity increase in the detection of MS/MS
fragments offered by the Zeno trap leads to high sequence
coverage of biotherapeutics. The ability of EAD to preserve labile
PTMs and differentiate amino acid isomers greatly enhances the
capability of peptide mapping for biotherapeutic
characterization. In addition, the flexibility to create DDA or
MRMHR methods using CID, EAD or the combination of 2
fragmentation techniques in SCIEX OS software ensures that
different needs for biotherapeutic development can be met. In
this work, the EAD-based peptide mapping workflow was
employed to further characterize the Tras-MMAE ADC. EAD data
from selected peptides were highlighted to demonstrate the
strengths of this workflow for the comprehensive
characterization of biotherapeutic charge variants.
Figure 4 shows sequence coverage of light and heavy chains (LC
and HC) from EAD DDA analysis of the tryptic digest of TrasMMAE in a single injection. >95% sequence coverage was
obtained for both LC and HC, demonstrating the capability of
EAD DDA as a single-injection platform method for routine
peptide mapping analysis.
Figure 5 shows EAD spectra of selected Tras-MMAE peptides
representing the aglycosylated, C-terminal Lys, glycated and
MMAE-conjugated variants detected by icIEF-UV/MS (Figure
3D). EAD led to extensive fragmentation of these peptides,
allowing for their confident identification (Figure 5). The
identification of an aglycosylated peptide by the EAD-based
peptide mapping workflow (Figure 5A) confirms the peak
assignment for a DAR1 species detected in the icIEF-UV/MS
experiment (Figure 3D). Additionally, EAD DDA confidently
identified a GlcNAcFuc-linked peptide without the MMAE
payload (data not shown), further confirming the assignment of
the low-abundant DAR1+GlcNAcFuc peak by icIEF-UV/MS (Figure
3D). The ability of EAD to preserve labile PTMs enables accurate
Figure 4. Sequence coverage maps of LC and HC from Tras-MMAE. The EADbased peptide mapping workflow provides high sequence coverage of
biotherapeutics in a single injection, enabling confident sequence confirmation
for the charge variants detected by icIEF-UV/MS. Additionally, the ability of EAD
to preserve labile PTMs leads to accurate localization of these modifications.
LC, 98.6%
HC, 97.3%
6
localization of glycation (Figure 5C) and MMAE conjugation
(Figure 5D). For the MMAE-linked peptide, EAD produced a
payload-specific fragment for the payload confirmation (Figure
5D). The advantages of EAD vs. CID for comprehensive ADC
characterization were described in the previous technical note.14
The EAD-based peptide mapping workflow did not identify any
glycosylated peptides (e.g. G0F and G1F), further demonstrating
the highly efficient deglycosylation step of the GlyCLICK
technology.
In summary, the data presented in this technical note
demonstrates the combined power of orthogonal icIEF-UV/MS
and EAD-based peptide mapping workflows for the complete
characterization of ADCs and their charge variants using a single
MS platform and data analysis software. The icIEF-UV/MS
workflow provides high-resolution separation, sensitive
detection and confident identification of charge variants for
rapid screening or monitoring of biotherapeutics from early
discovery to late development. The EAD-based peptide mapping
workflow can be leveraged to confirm variant identification,
characterize unexpected species and determine the sites of
PTMs and payload. These 2 workflows are streamlined and can
be implemented separately or jointly for routine charge variant
analysis of biotherapeutics. The multi-level information obtained
from icIEF-UV/MS and EAD-based peptide mapping can facilitate
important decision-making early in the development pipeline.
Conclusions
• SCIEX offers a complete analytical solution for comprehensive
characterization of biotherapeutics and their charge variants
using a single MS platform.
• Orthogonal, streamlined icIEF-UV/MS and EAD-based peptide
mapping workflows provide an in-depth charge heterogeneity
analysis of ADCs, allowing confidence in assignments beyond
traditional workflows such as fraction collection and CID-based
peptide mapping.
• The icIEF-UV/MS workflow provides high-resolution
separation, sensitive detection and confident identification of
biotherapeutic charge variants.
Figure 5. Sequence coverage maps of HC and LC from Tras-MMAE. The EAD-based peptide mapping workflow provides high sequence coverage of
biotherapeutics in a single injection, enabling confident sequence confirmation for the charge variants detected by icIEF-UV/MS, such as aglycosylted (A) and Cterminal Lys (B) species. Additionally, the ability of EAD to preserve labile PTMs leads to accurate localization of glycation (C) and the MMAE payload (D).
0
100
200
300
400
m/z 200 300 400 500 600 700
Intensity
S L S L S P G K
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
m/z 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Intensity
V QWK V D N A L Q S G N S Q E S V T E Q D S K
0
100
200
300
400
m/z 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
Intensity
T K P R E E Q Y N S T Y R V V S V L T V L H Q DWL N G K
MMAE
y2
z3
c3
z4
c4
c5
z5
z6
c6
z7
c7
z8 c8
z9
z10
z11 z14
z13
z17
z16 z19
z20 c10 c18 c25 a26
MH
MMAE
0
50
100
150
200
250
m/z 200 400 600 800 1000
Intensity
E E Q Y N S T Y R
z1
z2
z3
a3
v3
v2
w3
y3
w4
z4
a4
w5
a5
y5 y6
z6
w7
w7
y7
w8
b8
-17
-45
-75
-107
A
C D
Hex
B
a2
z2
b2
c2
x2
Y3
w4
z4
a4
b4
-H2O
x4
c4
a5
b5
-H2O
b5
w6
a6
z6
b7
x6
y7x7
-18
MH MH
MH
b3
-H2O
z3
y3
z4
z5
a4
z6
c4
z7
c5
z8
y8
c6
z9 a7
c8
z10
a9
z11
c9
c10
z13
z14
c12
z15
z16
c14
z17
z18
c15
z21 y22
c22
a23
-45
-58
Aglycosylated Lys variant
Glycated MMAE-conjugated
7
• A 30-min sample analysis time offered by the icIEF-UV/MS
workflow is faster than conventional cIEF and IEX workflows
requiring fractionation for the subsequent identification.
• The EAD-based peptide mapping workflow leads to excellent
peptide fragmentation, high sequence coverage and accurate
PTM or payload localization in a single injection. By
comparison, traditional CID MS/MS does not work effectively
for labile PTMs, large peptides and amino acid isomers.
• Streamlined icIEF-UV/MS and EAD-based peptide mapping
workflows can be easily adopted for routine biotherapeutic
characterization throughout the development pipeline.
References
1. Anna Robotham and John Kelly. (2020) LC-MS characterization of
antibody-based therapeutics: recent highlights and future
prospects. Approaches to the Purification, Analysis and
Characterization of Antibody-Based Therapeutics. Chapter 1: 1-33.
2. Yi Du et al. (2012) Chromatographic analysis of the acidic and basic
species of recombinant monoclonal antibodies. MABS. 4(5):578-
585.
3. Joshua Hurwitz et al. (2023) Antibody–drug conjugates: ushering
in a new era of cancer therapy. Pharmaceutics. 15: 2017.
4. Ostrowski M. Rapid multi-attribute characterization of intact
bispecific antibodies by a microfluidic chip-based integrated icIEFMS technology. Electrophoresis. 2022 Oct;1-9.
5. Direct and rapid multi-attribute monitoring of multiple intact
monoclonal antibodies with a wide isoelectric-point range of 7.3 to
9.1. SCIEX technical note, MKT-26996-A.
6. A comprehensive workflow to characterize deglycosylated
NISTmAb using imaged capillary isoelectric focusing (icIEF)-UV/MS.
SCIEX technical note, MKT-27945-A.
7. Charge variant analysis of antibody-drug conjugates using an icIEFUV/MS workflow. SCIEX technical note, MKT-29837-A.
8. Leverage orthogonal technologies: cIEF, icIEF-UV/MS and LC-MS to
facilitate biotherapeutics development. SCIEX technical note, MKT31116-A.
9. A single-injection workflow for enhanced peptide mapping using
collision-induced dissociation (CID) and electron-activated
dissociation (EAD). SCIEX technical note, MKT-28039-A.
10. Comprehensive characterization of O-linked glycosylation in
etanercept by electron activated dissociation (EAD). SCIEX technical
note, RUO-MKT-02-14921-A.
11. Monitoring and determining the cause of antibody discoloration
using capillary isoelectric focusing (cIEF) and electron activated
dissociation (EAD). SCIEX technical note, MKT-26819-A.
12. Differentiation of leucine and isoleucine for enhanced sequence
variant analysis using electron activated dissociation. SCIEX
technical note, MKT-30799-A.
13. Comprehensive mapping of disulfide linkages in etanercept using
an electron activated dissociation (EAD) based LCMS/MS
methodology. SCIEX technical note, RUO-MKT-02-15195-A.
14. Comprehensive characterization of an antibody-drug conjugate
(ADC) using electron activated dissociation (EAD). SCIEX technical
note, MKT-28847-A
The SCIEX clinical diagnostic portfolio is For In Vitro Diagnostic Use. Rx Only. Product(s) not available in all countries. For information on availability, please contact your
local sales representative or refer to https://sciex.com/diagnostics. All other products are For Research Use Only. Not for use in Diagnostic Procedures.
Trademarks and/or registered trademarks mentioned herein, including associated logos, are the property of AB Sciex Pte. Ltd. or their respective owners in the United
States and/or certain other countries (see www.sciex.com/trademarks).
© 2024 DH Tech. Dev. Pte. Ltd. MKT-32353-A
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