High-throughput dynamic light scattering method for measuring viscosity of concentrated protein solutions

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Materials Science
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Accurate viscosity measurements are crucial for protein formulation and characterization.
• Traditional methods can be time-consuming and not suitable for high-throughput screening.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel, high-throughput method for measuring the viscosity of concentrated protein solutions.
• To validate the method's accuracy and comparability with established techniques.

Main Methods:

• Utilized dynamic light scattering (DLS) to measure the apparent hydrodynamic radius of polystyrene beads.
• Employed a microplate reader format for high-throughput analysis.
• Compared DLS-based viscosity measurements with cone-and-plate rheometry.

Main Results:

• Glycerol solution viscosities measured by DLS correlated well with literature values.
• Viscosity measurements for monoclonal antibody solutions using DLS and cone-and-plate methods showed comparable results.
• The DLS method demonstrated reliability for viscosity determination.

Conclusions:

• The proposed DLS-based method provides a high-throughput and accurate approach for viscosity measurement of protein solutions.
• This technique offers a valuable alternative for protein characterization in various research and development settings.
• The method has broad potential applications in biopharmaceutical development and quality control.