Protein Structure

Increasingly, drug developers are looking to large molecules, particularly proteins, as a therapeutic option. Formulation of a protein drug product can be quite a challenge, and without a good understanding of the nature of protein structure and the conformational characteristics of the specific protein being formulated, the results can be ruinous. This technical brief aims to give the reader a quick overview of protein structure. It will also cover briefly how protein structure can be affected during formulation and some of the analytical methods which can be used both to determine the structure and analyze the stability of the protein. The term, structure, when used in relation to proteins, takes on a much more complex meaning than it does for small molecules. Proteins are macromolecules and have four different levels of structure – primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary.