Effect of Excipients on Recombinant Interleukin-2 Stability in Aqueous Buffers

Abstract

In order to retain structural and functional integrity, protein medicines are frequently stabilized with excipients in aqueous solutions. The goal of this investigation was to see how stable IL-2 is with excipients that are acceptable for cell therapy. We investigated the time-dependent stability of commercially available recombinant IL-2 in aqueous solutions (CTS, RPMI, PBS, and water) at different temperatures [2 ̊C 8 ̊C, room temperature (20 ̊C ± 2 ̊C) and 37 ̊C] in the presence of excipients (EDTA, methionine, histidine, and glycine) over a period of up to 30 days. To detect and quantify IL-2, reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography was employed. Electrophoresis on a sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel was used to assess conformational stability. We discovered that IL-2 stability was improved in aqueous solutions including excipients, and that it may have retained its biological activity and sterility in these conditions.