Dual-ligand affinity systems with octapeptide ligands for affinity chromatography of hIgG and monoclonal antibody

• Dual-ligand affinity systems for antibody adsorption and purification were reported.
• Synergistic effect of dual ligands were found and elucidated by MD simulations.
• The effect increased with increasing total ligand density in a dual-ligand system.
• The effect resulted in a proper molar ratio of ligands for the highest affinity.
• hIgG and mAb purifications were achieved at higher purities and recovery yields.

This work reports the development of affinity systems with dual octapeptide ligands for affinity adsorption and purification of human IgG (hIgG) and monoclonal antibody (mAb). The three octapeptide ligands, FYWHCLDE (1), FYCHWALE (2), and FYCHTIDE (3), identified earlier by the biomimetic design strategy were used; any two of the three were mixed and coupled to Sepharose gel, leading to the formation of three dual-ligand affinity systems. Research emphasis was first placed on hIgG adsorption isotherms and the results were compared to the three single-ligand affinity systems. It was found that there was synergistic effect of the two peptide ligands in a dual-ligand system, so the affinity of a dual-ligand resin for hIgG was higher than those of its counterparts, single-ligand resins. Of the three dual-ligand systems, the FYWHCLDE (1)–FYCHTIDE (3) resin showed the highest affinity, so it was selected for investigating the effects of ligand density and molar ratio on hIgG adsorption equilibrium. It was found that the synergistic effect increased with increasing the total ligand density of the two peptides in the dual-ligand affinity system. Moreover, the FYWHCLDE (1)–FYCHTIDE (3) system at a molar ratio of 2:1 displayed the highest affinity for hIgG (0.69 μM at a total ligand density of 31.1 μmol/mL), indicating that the synergistic effect reached the maximum at this ratio. This dual-ligand affinity column was then used for the purification of hIgG and mAb by affinity chromatography, resulting in over 95% pure hIgG and mAb at recovery yield over 90%. Molecular docking of the two peptides to the Fc fragment simultaneously showed that FYWHCLDE (1) stood still but FYCHTIDE (3) shifted aside the CH2CH3 inter-domain. Molecular dynamics simulation of the binding process of the two octapeptides to Fc revealed that both the peptide ligands kept stable interactions with Fc. The synergistic effect of the dual-ligand affinity system was thus elucidated by the molecular simulations.