Biophysical characterisation of proteins and peptides

The term biopharmaceuticals (otherwise known as biotechnological or biological products) was first introduced in the 1980s with the advent of the recombinant DNA technology and refers to proteins, polypeptides and their derivatives, which are produced from cell - culture expression systems. Unlike small molecules, which have a well - defined structure and can be chemically synthesized in large quantities and fully characterized, the manufacturing of biological products is highly complicated involving living cells, and therefore these products are required to be highly purified to meet the safety standards. Biological products have been developed as an effective treatment for patients who suffer from several immune system disorders, cancers, and blood - related diseases such as anemia. Biophysical characterization plays an important role in the development of biosimilars. Biophysical analytical techniques can monitor conformational similarity between batches of biosimilar products. Biophysical analysis aids in the characterization of biopharmaceutical drug candidates. Protein conformation, secondary structure, and folding play an important role in maintaining drug candidate potency and activity. The main goal of this research work is to establish the extent to which different spectroscopic techniques can be utilized to establish whether the same proteins and nucleic acids from different sources have the same structure.