Critical processing parameters of carbon dioxide spray drying for the production of dried protein formulations: A study with myoglobin.

The aim of this study was to gain fundamental insight into protein destabilization induced by supercritical CO2 spray drying processing parameters. Myoglobin was used as a model protein (5mg/ml with 50mg/ml trehalose in 10mM phosphate buffer, pH 6.2). The solution was exposed to sub- and supercritical CO2 conditions (65-130bar and 25-50°C), and CO2 spray drying under those conditions. The heme binding of myoglobin was determined by UV/Vis, fluorescence, and circular dichroism spectroscopy, while myoglobin aggregation was studied by using size-exclusion chromatography and flow imaging microscopy. It was found that pressure and temperature alone did not influence myoglobin's integrity. However, when pressurized CO2 was introduced into myoglobin solutions at any condition, the pH of the myoglobin formulation shifted to about 5 (measured after depressurization), resulting in heme binding destabilization and aggregation of myoglobin. When exposed to CO2, these degradation processes were enhanced by increasing temperature. Heme binding destabilization and myoglobin aggregation were also seen after CO2 spray drying, and to a greater extent. Moreover, the CO2 spray drying induced the partial loss of heme. In conclusion, pressurized CO2 destabilizes the myoglobin, leading to heme loss and protein aggregation upon spray drying.