THERMAL-STABILITY STUDIES OF IMMUNOGLOBULINS USING CAPILLARY ISOELECTRIC-FOCUSING AND CAPILLARY ZONE ELECTROPHORETIC METHODS

The affinity of an antibody towards its antigen is highly specific to its conformation, in order to have optimal antibody-antigen interactio n. The increase of temperature might cause changes in antibody conform ations. The change of structure conformations may be reflected in the isoelectric points (pl values), peak shape and absorbance of the antib ody. In this study, a monoclonal antibody was heated over a period of time. Capillary isoelectric focusing (cIEF) and capillary zone electro phoresis (CZE) were used to monitor the change in the antibody. The lo nger the heating period, the lower the pi values were under cIEF condi tions. CZE also showed changes in peak shapes and decreases in absorba nce of the antibody with heating. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Scien ce B.V.