The goal of this project is to develop methods for characterization of post-translational modifications to therapeutic antibodies that are amenable to perform in an automated and highly parallel fashion in order to facilitate high sample throughput. The project have initially targeted the glycosylation of the antibodies, as it is one of the most frequent post-translational modifications and that it has been shown to have a profound effect on both the effect and residence time of therapeutic antibodies. Other post-translational modifications, such as proteolysis and oxidation, are presently being investigated. Highly selective molecular extraction methods in combination with specific enzymatic processes and information rich detection techniques is used in order to develop methods to meet the pharmaceutical industries needs for efficient characterization of protein pharmaceuticals. The project is performed in collaboration with Gyros AB and makes use of their microfluidic technology.
