Study of the Mechanisms of Antibody Aggregation in Solution

In order to avoid aggregation during preparative separation of antibodies, it is desirable to have thorough knowledge of the mechanistic behavior of the reaction. A study of antibody aggregation occurring in a solution has been conducted with the main aim to find a methodology to determine the mechanisms of the reaction.

The aggregation reaction is sensitive to antibody and salt concentration as well as pH and temperature. A time series of the monomer, dimer and high molecular weight product (HMWP) under varying conditions were studied to produce a time dependent model of the system. The experiments showed a significant increase in dimer concentration and a low formation rate of HMPW at low salt concentrations. At high salt concentrations however, the situation was the opposite, with higher formation rate of HMWP and low formation rate of dimers. Calibrations to different reaction models were then conducted, estimating the kinetic parameters and searching for a likely mechanism.