High Throughput Intact Protein Analysis for Drug Discovery Using Infrared Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

Mass spectrometry (MS) is the primary analytical tool used to characterize proteins within the biopharmaceutical industry. Electrospray ionization (ESI) coupled to liquid chromatography (LC) is the current gold standard for intact protein analysis. However, inherent speed limitations of LC/MS prevent analysis of large sample numbers (>1000) in a day. Infrared matrix-assisted laser desorption electrospray ionization (IR-MALDESI-MS), an ambient ionization MS technology, has recently been established as a platform for high throughput small molecule analysis. Here we report the applications of such a system for the analysis of intact proteins commonly performed within the drug discovery process. A wide molecular weight range of proteins 10 – 150 kDa was detected on the system with improved tolerance to salts and buffers compared to ESI. With high concentrations and model proteins, a sample rate up to 22 Hz was obtained. For proteins at low concentrations and in buffers used in commonly employed assays, robust data at a sample rate of 1.5 Hz was achieved, which is ∼ 22x faster than current technologies used for high throughput ESI-MS-based protein assays. In addition, two multiplexed plate-based high throughput sample cleanup methods were coupled to IR-MALDESI-MS to enable analysis of samples containing excessive amounts of salts and buffers without fully compromising productivity. Example experiments, which leverage the speed of the IR-MALDESI-MS system to monitor NISTmAb reduction, protein autophosphorylation and compound binding kinetics in near real-time, are demonstrated. Graphical Abstract