Applications

Biopharma

Next-generation biotherapeutics utilize a novel biomolecules and delivery mechanisms to tackle disease. Grown in cell media, these therapeutics require a variety of chemical and physical characterization steps to ensure quality during manufacturing and promote basic understanding during development. From protein secondary structure analysis with Raman; to rapid infectious titer determination with simultaneous multi-laser NanoTracking Analysis; to AAV characterization and vaccine batch release with the A-TEEM fluorescence method, HORIBA provide answers that matter, providing insight into biotherapeutics, from development to manufacturing.

Browse Applications

Fluorescence spectroscopy is widely used in a variety of industries including biological sciences. Two dimensional (2D) fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) spectroscopy has been described in the literature for over 30 years to characterize or “fingerprint” biological samples.

Disinfecting your hands with hydroalcoholic gel has become a daily practice. In the meanwhile, 70° alcohol has been used for even longer to disinfect wounds. But, to remain efficient, the alcohol concentration of these products must not be below a defined threshold and must be controlled. This application note demonstrates how to evaluate alcohol concentrations in a quality control process with Raman.

Due to the corona crisis, hand sanitizer became part of our daily routine. However, their use is not without potential risks because of their microplastics content. HORIBA offers all the tools necessary to analyze and characterize the presence of Microplastics in hand sanitizers: High-performance Raman microscopes, dedicated filtration kit, and especially the powerful particles detection software ParticleFinder™. We analyzed 3 samples of hand sanitizers, from different countries, and we were able to identify the different plastic content of each.

This application note presents data from the SZ-100 using cells with unique, patented carbon coated electrodes that facilitate zeta potential measurements of proteins.

Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles, 30-150 nm in diameter, which have been determined to play a crucial role in extracellular signaling. They have been observed in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms, meaning they are incredibly widely spread in nature. Exosomes bud off from their parent cells in a sealed package, taking the properties of their parent cell walls with them and encasing many intracellular components.

A virus particle consists of several parts including the genetic material (DNA or RNA), a protein coat that protects these genes, and in some cases an envelope of lipids that surrounds the protein coat when they are outside a cell.

Stability and aggregation of insulin are studied using simultaneous fluorescence excitation emission matrices (EEMs) and UV-Vis absorbance spectroscopy [1]. Insulin is a protein-hormone, produced by the pancreas and is necessary for basic metabolic processes. The different types of commercial insulin therapeutics generally fall into two categories: short-acting and long-acting insulin. The difference between some short-acting and long-acting insulin is, in some cases, only one to three residues in the protein sequence.

In this application note, we highlight the high sensitivity of the Duetta for measuring transferrin at very low concentrations. The Duetta spectrofluorometer combines both fluorescence and absorbance measurements simultaneously, thus providing key advantages for protein analysis. In parallel, we compare the fluorescence results obtained using the Duetta with absorbance results obtained with a dedicated low-volume, benchtop spectrophotometer.

Adeno-Associated Viruses (AAVs) are becoming widely used as viral vectors to deliver cell and gene therapies and vaccines. As production methods scale to meet growing demand, more information is needed more quickly.

Size matters in vaccine delivery systems. Nanoparticles smaller than 200 nm generally present a greater immunogenic response than micro-particles larger than 1 micron.

We have measured solutions of lysozyme under conditions known to effect its physical state in order to investigate the potential of Raman spectroscopy as a non-invasive and label-free tool to assess protein formulation stability. Results from this study identified specific Raman signature bands in this protein that can be used to identify individual amino acid residues that are reflect structural changes in proteins.

In this note, the upstream process of analyzing viral preparations is addressed, as well as the use of multi-laser nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) as a cost and time efficient method to measure size, count virus particles, and correlate to infectious titer.

Protein aggregation is an important concern when developing and manufacturing biotherapeutics. It is important to quantify protein aggregation and particle formulation as this data is needed to guide formulation development, evaluate handling requirements, and monitor product quality.

The study of protein aggregation encompasses a broad range of interactions and mechanisms. The LA-960 laser diffraction particle size analyzer possesses the unique ability to measure from 10 nanometers to 5 millimeters, accurately detecting the aggregates and, in some cases, the primary protein size.

The size of a protein is an important physical characteristic that provides useful information including the presence of monomers, dimer and trimer, changes in conformation, aggregation state, and denaturation. Protein scientists typically discuss “protein size” or molecular weight, as opposed to using the phrase “particle size”, but particle size analyzers are often used in their studies.

With the rise of protein production using mammalian cell culture, it has become increasingly important to control the quality of the cell culture media for use in production processes. Cell culture media are usually prepared as aqueous solutions and should provide everything a cell line needs for optimal cell growth as well as product yield and quality.

The ViewSizer™ 3000 enables scientists to visualize and quantify the kinetics of protein aggregation in real-time for biologic therapeutics under a variety of stress conditions.

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