Structural Characterization of Antibodies by Mass Spectrometry

Among all analytical methods used to characterize monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), mass spectrometry plays an increasingly important role for both global and fine structural characterization of therapeutic candidates. In this chapter we discuss and provide detailed protocols for intact antibody and light and heavy chain primary structure characterisation by LC-ESI-TOF, glycosylation and production-system fingerprinting, structural isotyping and disulfide connection determination (humanised IgG1 vs IgG4) and finally non-stable “hot spots” mapping by Mass Spectrometry (de-amidation by MALDI-TOF and LC-IT MS/MS).