Rapid Determination of Antibody-Antigen Affinity by Mass Photometry

J Vis Exp. 2021 Feb 8:(168):10.3791/61784. doi: 10.3791/61784.

Abstract

Measurements of the specificity and affinity of antigen-antibody interactions are critically important for medical and research applications. In this protocol, we describe the implementation of a new single-molecule technique, mass photometry (MP), for this purpose. MP is a label- and immobilization-free technique that detects and quantifies molecular masses and populations of antibodies and antigen-antibody complexes on a single-molecule level. MP analyzes the antigen-antibody sample within minutes, allowing for the precise determination of the binding affinity and simultaneously providing information on the stoichiometry and the oligomeric state of the proteins. This is a simple and straightforward technique that requires only picomole quantities of protein and no expensive consumables. The same procedure can be used to study protein-protein binding for proteins with a molecular mass larger than 50 kDa. For multivalent protein interactions, the affinities of multiple binding sites can be obtained in a single measurement. However, the single-molecule mode of measurement and the lack of labeling imposes some experimental limitations. This method gives the best results when applied to measurements of sub-micromolar interaction affinities, antigens with a molecular mass of 20 kDa or larger, and relatively pure protein samples. We also describe the procedure for performing the required fitting and calculation steps using basic data analysis software.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural
  • Video-Audio Media

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies / immunology
  • Antibody Affinity*
  • Antigen-Antibody Complex / immunology*
  • Humans
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional
  • Molecular Weight
  • Normal Distribution
  • Photometry / methods*
  • Protein Binding
  • Software
  • Thrombin / immunology

Substances

  • Antibodies
  • Antigen-Antibody Complex
  • Thrombin