Evaluating the Role of the Air-Solution Interface on the Mechanism of Subvisible Particle Formation Caused by Mechanical Agitation for an IgG1 mAb

Mechanical agitation of monoclonal antibody (mAb) solutions often leads to protein particle formation. In this study, various formulations of an immunoglobulin G (IgG) 1 mAb were subjected to different controlled interfacial stresses using a Langmuir trough, and protein particles formed at the interface and measured in bulk solution were characterized using atomic force microscopy and flow digital imaging. Results were compared to mAb solutions agitated in glass vials and unstressed controls. At lower pH, mAb solutions exhibited larger hysteresis in their surface pressure versus area isotherms and increased number of particles in bulk solution, when subjected to interfacial stresses. mAb samples subjected to 750-1000 interfacial compression-expansion cycles in 6 h contained high particle numbers in bulk solution, and displayed similar particulation trends when agitated in vials. At compression rates of 50 cycles in 6 h, however, particle levels in mAb solutions were comparable to unstressed controls, despite protein aggregates being present at the air-solution interface. These results suggest that while the air-solution interface serves as a nucleation site for initiating protein aggregation, the number of protein particles measured in bulk mAb solutions depends on the total number of compression cycles that proteins at the air-solution interface are subjected to within a fixed time.