Freezing of protein solutions is required for many applications such as storage, transport, or lyophilization; however, freezing has inherent risks for protein integrity. It is difficult to study protein stability below the freezing temperature because phase separation constrains solute concentration in solution. In this work, we developed an isochoric method to study protein aggregation in solutions at -5, -10, -15, and -20 °C. Lowering the temperature below the freezing point in a fixed volume prevents the aqueous solution from freezing, as pressure rises until equilibrium (P,T) is reached. Aggregation rates of bovine hemoglobin (BHb) increased at lower temperature (-20 °C) and higher BHb concentration. However, the addition of sucrose substantially decreased the aggregation rate and prevented aggregation when the concentration reached 300 g/L. The unfolding thermodynamics of BHb was studied using fluorescence, and the fraction of unfolded protein as a function of temperature was determined. A mathematical model was applied to describe BHb aggregation below the freezing temperature. This model was able to predict the aggregation curves for various storage temperatures and initial concentrations of BHb. The aggregation mechanism was revealed to be mediated by an unfolded state, followed by a fast growth of aggregates that readily precipitate. The aggregation kinetics increased for lower temperature because of the higher fraction of unfolded BHb closer to the cold denaturation temperature. Overall, the results obtained herein suggest that the isochoric method could provide a relatively simple approach to obtain fundamental thermodynamic information about the protein and the aggregation mechanism, thus providing a new approach to developing accelerated formulation studies below the freezing temperature.

Protein aggregation is a long-standing problem for preservation of proteins in both laboratory settings and for commercial biotechnology products. It is well established that heating (cooling) can accelerate (slow) aggregation by populating (depopulating) unfolded or partially unfolded monomer states that are key intermediates in aggregation processes. However, there is a long-standing question of whether the same mechanism(s) that lead to aggregation under high-temperature stress are relevant for low-temperature stress such as in refrigerated or supercooled liquids. This report shows the first direct comparison of “hot” and “cold” aggregation kinetics and folding/unfolding thermodynamics, using bovine hemoglobin as a model system. The results suggest that the same mechanism for non-native aggregation holds from “hot” to “cold” temperatures, with an aggregation temperature-of-maximum-stability slightly below 0°C. This highlights that sub-zero temperatures can induce cold-mediated aggregation, even in the absence of freezing stresses. From a practical perspective, the results suggests the possibility that cold-stress may be a useful alternative to heat-stress for extrapolating predictions of protein shelf life at refrigerated conditions, as well as providing a foundation for more mechanistic studies of cold-stress conditions in future work. A comparison between isochoric and isobaric methods is also briefly discussed.

Freezing is an important operation in biotherapeutics industry. However, water crystallization in solution, containing electrolytes, sugars and proteins, is difficult to control and usually leads to substantial spatial solute heterogeneity. Herein, we address the influence of the geometry of freezing direction (axial or radial) on the heterogeneity of the frozen matrix, in terms of local concentration of solutes and thermal history. Solutions of hemoglobin were frozen radially and axially using small-scale and pilot-scale freezing systems. Concentration of hemoglobin, sucrose and pH values were measured by ice-core sampling and temperature profiles were measured at several locations. The results showed that natural convection is the major source for the cryoconcentration heterogeneity of solutes over the geometry of the container. A significant improvement in this spatial heterogeneity was observed when the freezing geometry was nonconvective, i.e., the freezing front progression was unidirectional from bottom to top. Using this geometry, less than 10% variation in solutes concentration was obtained throughout the frozen solutions. This result was reproducible, even when the volume was increased by two orders of magnitude (from 30 mL to 3 L). The temperature profiles obtained for the nonconvective freezing geometry were predicted using a relatively simple computational fluid dynamics model. The reproducible solutes distribution, predictable temperature profiles, and scalability demonstrate that the bottom to top freezing geometry enables an extended control over the freezing process. This geometry has therefore shown the potential to contribute to a better understanding and control of the risks inherent to frozen storage.

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