Label-free assessment of complement-dependent cytotoxicity of therapeutic antibodies via a whole-cell MALDI mass spectrometry bioassay

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 21462 - 11
• Main Authors: Schmidt, Stefan, Geisel, Alexander, Enzlein, Thomas, Fröhlich, Björn C., Pritchett, Louise, Verneret, Melanie, Graf, Christian, Hopf, Carsten
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 13.09.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/154/1435; 631/154/436; 631/154/51; 631/154/53; 631/61/51; Adenosine Triphosphate - metabolism; Antibodies, Monoclonal; ATP; Bioassays; Biological Assay - methods; Biopharmaceuticals; Complement System Proteins - metabolism; Complement-dependent cytotoxicity; Cytotoxicity; Drug screening; Drug-response curves; Glutathione; Glutathione - metabolism; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Immunotherapy; Ionization; Label-free cell assay; MALDI; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Metabolites; Monoclonal antibodies; Monoclonal antibody; multidisciplinary; R&D; Reagents; Research & development; Rituximab; Rituximab - pharmacology; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Scientific imaging; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization - methods; Monoclonal antibody; Label-free cell assay; Mass spectrometry; MALDI; Complement-dependent cytotoxicity; Drug-response curves
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-71483-3

Potency assessment of monoclonal antibodies or corresponding biosimilars in cell-based assays is an essential prerequisite in biopharmaceutical research and development. However, cellular bioassays are still subject to limitations in sample throughput, speed, and often need costly reagents or labels as they are based on an indirect readout by luminescence or fluorescence. In contrast, whole-cell Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight (MALDI-TOF) Mass Spectrometry (MS) has emerged as a direct, fast and label-free technology for functional drug screening being able to unravel the molecular complexity of cellular response to pharmaceutical reagents. However, this approach has not yet been used for cellular testing of biologicals. In this study, we have conceived, developed and benchmarked a label-free MALDI-MS based cell bioassay workflow for the functional assessment of complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) of Rituximab antibody. By computational evaluation of response profiles followed by subsequent m/z feature annotation via fragmentation analysis and trapped ion mobility MS, we identified adenosine triphosphate and glutathione as readily MS-assessable metabolite markers for CDC and demonstrate that robust concentration–response characteristics can be obtained by MALDI-TOF MS. Statistical assay performance indicators suggest that whole-cell MALDI-TOF MS could complement the toolbox for functional cellular testing of biopharmaceuticals.