Characterization of Sizes of Aggregates of Insulin Analogs and the Conformations of the Constituent Protein Molecules: A Concomitant Dynamic Light Scattering and Raman Spectroscopy Study

To generate aggregates, 3 insulin analogs, lispro, aspart, and glulisine, were incubated without phenolic preservatives for 30 days at 37°C. As a function of incubation time, aggregation was quantified with size exclusion chromatography, and the sizes of aggregates and the conformations of the constituent molecules were characterized with concomitant dynamic light scattering and Raman spectroscopy. During incubation, lispro was progressively converted into soluble aggregates with hydrodynamic diameters of circa 15 nm, and 95% of the native protein had aggregated at day 30. Raman spectroscopy documented that aggregation resulted in conversion of a large fraction of native alpha helix into nonnative beta sheet structure and a distortion of disulfide bonds. In contrast, for aspart and glulisine only 20% of the native proteins aggregated after 30 days, and minimal structural perturbations were detected. In addition, consistent with the relative aggregation rates during isothermal incubation, Raman spectroscopy showed that during heating the onset temperature for secondary structural perturbations of lispro occurred 7°C-10°C lower than those for aspart or glulisine. Overall the results of this study demonstrated that—as in the case during formation of amyloid fibrils from insulin—formation of soluble aggregates of lispro resulted in a high level of conversion of alpha helix into beta sheet.