Investigation of the reversibility of freeze/thaw stress-induced protein instability using heat cycling as a function of different cryoprotectants

ABSTRACT: Formulation conditions have a significant influence on the degree of freeze/thaw (FT) stress-induced protein instabilities. Adding cryoprotectants might stabilize the induced FT stress instabilities. However, a simple preservation of protein stability might be insufficient and further methods are necessary. This study aims to evaluate the addition of a heat cycle following FT application as a function of different cryoprotectants with lysozyme as exemplary protein. Sucrose and glycerol were shown to be the most effective cryoprotectants when compared to PEG200 and Tween20. In terms of heat-induced reversibility of aggregates, glycerol showed the best performance followed by sucrose, NaCl and Tween20 systems. The analysis was performed using a novel approach to visualize complex interplays by a clustering and data reduction scheme. In addition, solubility and structural integrity were measured and confirmed the obtained results. GRAPHIC ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00449-020-02327-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.