Heterogeneity in Disulfide Bond Reduction in IgG1 Antibodies Is Governed by Solvent Accessibility of the Cysteines

We studied unpaired cysteine levels and disulfide bond susceptibility in four different γ-immunoglobulin antibodies using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. Our choice of differential alkylating agents ensures that the differential peaks are non-overlapping, thus allowing us to accurately quantify free cysteine levels. For each cysteine residue, we observed no more than 5% to be unpaired, and the free cysteine levels across antibodies were slightly higher in those containing lambda light chains. Interchain and hinge residues were highly susceptible to reducing stresses and showed a 100–1000-fold higher rate of reduction compared to intrachain cysteines. Estimations of the solvent-accessible surface for individual cysteines in IgG1, using an implicit all-atom molecular dynamics simulation, show that interchain and hinge cysteines have >1000-fold higher solvent accessibility compared to intrachain cysteines. Further analyses show that solvent accessibility and the rate of reduction are linearly correlated. Our work clearly establishes the fact that a cysteine’s accessibility to the surrounding solvent is one of the primary determinants of its disulfide bond stability.