NanoSight, world-leading manufacturers of unique nanoparticle characterization technology will host an interactive webinar on the subject of the characterization of protein aggregation. It will be held on Thursday 9th September, 0700 PDT, 1000 EDT, 1500 BST, then again live, two hours later at 0900 PDT, 1200 EDT, 1700 BST.

Characterizing aggregation in proteins is paramount in understanding both biopharmaceutical product stability and efficacy. Product quality, both in terms of biological activity and immunogenicity can be highly influenced by the state of protein aggregation. A wide variety of aggregates are encountered in biopharmaceutical samples. These may be soluble or insoluble in nature, covalent or non-covalently bonded and produced by an aggregation process which may or may not be reversible. Observed sizes of stable aggregates range from small oligomers (nanometers) to insoluble micron-sized aggregates that may contain millions of monomer units.

The objectives in characterizing aggregation include:

• Quantitatively describing degree of aggregation (concentration by size class).
• Definition of acceptable quality, in development, in process or as a release test.
• Providing insight into the mechanisms of aggregation onset, as it begins at the nanoscale.

NanoSight has recently applied Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) to protein aggregation. This technique allows nanoscale particles, such as protein aggregates, to be directly and individually visualized and counted in liquid in real-time to provide high-resolution particle size distribution profiles.

The technique is fast, robust, accurate and low cost, representing an attractive alternative or complement to existing methods of nanoparticle analysis such as Dynamic Light Scattering, DLS (also known as Photon Correlation Spectroscopy, PCS) or Electron Microscopy.

This webinar will also describe the NTA technique and compare its strengths and limitations with other techniques currently used. The format will be interactive, aiming to give participants an opportunity to pose questions on the challenges and techniques in this important topic. The webinar will be led by Dr Bob Carr, founder and CTO of NanoSight.

To register for the webinar, please click here (www.nanosight.com/webinar).

To learn more about nanoparticle characterization using Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis, NTA, please visit the company website (www.nanosight.com) and register for the latest issue of NanoTrail, the company's electronic newsletter.