Accepted answer
4 mg/mL is 4000 µg/mL — roughly 400 times the concentration at which surface adsorption is measurable. Losses to glass and plastic matter in the low microgram-per-millilitre range, where a monolayer on the wall is a real fraction of what is in solution. At 4 mg/mL that same monolayer is a rounding error. If you see an apparent loss at this concentration, suspect the dilution step or the assay before you suspect the wall.
Answer first: the degradation pathways worth knowing are hydrolysis, deamidation, oxidation, aggregation and adsorption, and each has a different trigger and a different mitigation.
Adsorption onto glass and plastic is significant at low concentrations — micrograms per millilitre — and negligible at milligrams per millilitre. It is the usual explanation for an apparent loss in a dilute preparation.
Oxidation targets methionine, cysteine and tryptophan, adding sixteen daltons per oxygen. It is catalysed by trace metals and promoted by dissolved oxygen and by light.
Aggregation at air-liquid interfaces is established from surface-tension and particle-count studies and is the basis for anti-agitation handling guidance.
Sequence determines which pathways apply, so general statements are general.
Cold, dry, dark, still. Those four words cover most of the mitigation.
2I have kept vials both ways for a year and this matches what I saw. – helena_vidmar 36 days ago 3Does the same reasoning apply to material already in solution, or is that a different curve? – bac_or_bust 3 months ago add a comment