Affinity chromatography supports: a look at performance requirements.

Because of its high selectivity, affinity chromatography is a preferred tool in the downstream processing of high-value proteins and peptides of therapeutic interest. This review examines the affinity supports currently available, and investigates the performance characteristics and properties required of the support matrices for improved affinity-based supports for large-scale purification of biomolecules. Parameters for optimizing an affinity chromatographic process, and the advantages of affinity-based separation for scaled-up systems are highlighted.     

High-performance liquid affinity chromatography with phenylboronic acid, benzamidine, tri-L-alanine, and concanavalin A immobilized on 3-isothiocyanatopropyltriethoxysilane-activated nonporous monodisperse silicas

Nonporous, microparticulate, monodisperse silicas with particle diameters between 0.7 and 2.1 microns are introduced as stationary phases in high-performance affinity chromatography. The immobilization of m-aminophenylboronic acid, p-aminobenzamidine, tri-L-alanine, and concanavalin A onto these silicas was successfully achieved using 3-isothiocyanatopropyl-triethoxysilane as an activation reagent. Immobilized phenylboronic acid was applied to the isolation of nucleosides, nucleotides, and glycoprotein hormones such as bovine follicotropin and human chorionic gonadotropin, while immobilized benzamidine was employed for the isolation of the serine proteases thrombin and trypsin, immobilized tri-L-alanine for the separation of pig pancreatic elastase and human leukocyte elastase, and immobilized concanavalin A for the isolation of horseradish peroxidase. In all affinity chromatographic systems studied, the nonporous monodisperse silicas showed improved chromatographic performance compared to results obtained with porous silica supports using identical activation and immobilization procedures. Furthermore, frontal analysis was used as a method to evaluate the influence of experimental parameters on biological activity and accessible ligand densities. Only minor changes in bioactivity were found with the nonporous affinity supports, where accessibilities were typically higher than ca. 60%. The immobilization of affinity ligands onto porous supports as used in this and associated papers thus represents a successful general procedure for the preparation of stable matrices with fast kinetics for use in high-performance affinity chromatography.     

Bioseparation using affinity techniques.

Bioseparation of proteins from dilute solutions using different novel affinity procedures is reviewed. Emphasis is also placed on the quality of the product separated. Whenever possible, physical insights into the separation procedure are provided, besides indicating suitable directions where appropriate further research may be carried out. The procedures analyzed are different affinity chromatographic techniques, affinity separation using liquid perfluorocarbon supports, water soluble nonionic surfactants for affinity bioseparations, affinity cross-flow filtration, bioaffinity separation using reversed micelles, affinity precipitation and dual-functional affinity protein purification.     

Performance of a new protein A affinity membrane for the primary recovery of antibodies

Recovery of antibodies with Protein A affinity chromatography columns has become the standard for the biotechnology industry. Membrane affinity chromatography has not yet experienced extensive application due to the lower capacity of membrane supports compared to chromatographic beads. In this work, new affinity membranes endowed with an interesting binding capacity for human IgG are studied in view of their application in the capturing step of a monoclonal antibody production process. The membranes have been extensively tested with pure IgG solutions and with a cell culture supernatant containing IgG1. The effects of feed flow rate and IgG concentration on the separation performances have been studied in detail, considering in particular binding capacity, selectivity and recovery. These new high capacity affinity membranes appear good candidates to avoid the throughput limitations and other well-known drawbacks of traditional bead-based chromatographic columns.     

A novel purification strategy for retrovirus gene therapy vectors using heparin affinity chromatography

Membrane separation and chromatographic technologies are regarded as an attractive alternative to conventional academic small-scale ultracentrifugation procedures used for retrovirus purification. However, despite the increasing demands for purified retroviral vector preparations, new chromatography adsorbents with high specificity for the virus have not been reported. Heparin affinity chromatography is presented here as a novel convenient tool for retrovirus purification. The ability of bioactive retroviral particles to specifically bind to heparin ligands immobilized on a chromatographic gel is shown. A purification factor of 63 with a recovery of 61% of functional retroparticles was achieved using this single step. Tentacle heparin affinity supports captured retroviral particles more efficiently than conventional heparin affinity chromatography supports with which a lower recovery was obtained (18%). Intact, infective retroviral particles were recovered by elution with low salt concentrations (350 mM NaCl). Mild conditions for retrovirus elution from chromatographic columns are required to preserve virus infectivity. VSV-G pseudotyped retroviruses have shown to be very sensitive to high ionic strength, losing 50% of their activity and showing membrane damage after a short exposure to 1M NaCl. We also report a complete scaleable downstream processing scheme for the purification of MoMLV-derived vectors that involves sequential microfiltration and ultra/diafiltration steps for virus clarification and concentration respectively, followed by fractionation by heparin affinity chromatography and final polishing by size-exclusion chromatography. Overall, by using this strategy, a 38% yield of infective particles can be achieved with a final purification factor of 2,000.     

New developments in affinity chromatography

The design, synthesis and chromatographic operation of a new range of stable and selective immobilized dye affinity adsorbents for potential application in the purification of pharmaceutical proteins is described. Computer aided molecular design has been exploited to design novel dye ligands which show a predictable selectivity for the target protein and which, when coupled to stable perfluoropolymer supports, yield high capacity, low leakage adsorbents for affinity chromatography. It is anticipated that these new materials will withstand the rigorous conditions required for sanitization and cleaning in situ of industrial scale processes.     

"Clickable" agarose for affinity chromatography

Successful purification of biological molecules by affinity chromatography requires the attachment of desired ligands to biocompatible chromatographic supports. The Cu(I)-catalyzed cycloaddition of azides and alkynes-the premier example of "click chemistry"-is an efficient way to make covalent connections among diverse molecules and materials. Both azide and alkyne units are highly selective in their reactivity, being inert to most chemical functionalities and stable to wide ranges of solvent, temperature, and pH. We show that agarose beads bearing alkyne and azide groups can be easily made and are practical precursors to functionalized agarose materials for affinity chromatography.     

Affinity of mouse immunoglobulin G subclasses for sialic acid derivatives immobilized on dextran-coated supports

High-performance liquid affinity chromatography is a powerful method for the purification of biological compounds owing to its specificity, rapidity and high resolution. In our laboratory, we develop chromatographic supports based on porous silica beads. However, in order to minimize non-specific interactions between the inorganic surface and proteins in aqueous solution, the silica beads are coated with modified dextran. As previously reported, many affinity ligands can be covalently grafted onto dextran-coated silica. In this study, N-acetylneuramic acid, which belongs to the sialic acid family and is present in immunoglobulin G (IgG) epitopes, is used as an active ligand. The interactions of this affinity support and IgG subclasses are analyzed. This immobilized ligand enables purification of IgG3 antibodies.     

High-performance affinity chromatography for the purification of heparin-binding proteins from detergent-solubilized smooth muscle cell membranes

Heparin and heparan sulfates are regulators of cellular events including adhesion, proliferation and migration. In particular, the antiproliferative effect of heparin on smooth muscle cell (SMC) growth is well described. However, its mechanism of action remains unclear. Numerous results suggest an endocytosis mediated by a still unknown heparin receptor on vascular SMCs. In order to identify a putative heparin receptor on SMCs that could be involved in heparin signalling, affinity chromatography supports were developed. In this paper, we describe high-performance liquid affinity chromatography (HPLAC) supports obtained from silica beads coated with dextran polymer substituted by a calculated amount of diethylaminoethyl functions. With a polysaccharide dextran layer, this type of support can be grafted with specific ligands, such as heparin, using conventional coupling methods. In a previous work, we demonstrated, using butanedioldiglycidyl ether, that silica stationary phases coupled to heparin could be used for the fast elution and good peak resolution of heparin-binding proteins. In the present work, an affinity chromatographic fraction of SMC membrane extracts was analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS–PAGE) and six heparin-binding proteins from dodecyloctaethyleneglycol monoether-solubilized SMCs were observed. Their M_r values were between 40 and 70 kDa, with three major protein bands at 66, 45 and 41 kDa. These results indicate the usefulness of the chromatographic method for purifying heparin binding proteins from SMC membrane.     

Protein binding to polymer brush,based on ion-exchange,hydrophobic, and affinity interactions

The major limitations associated with conventional packed bed chromatography for protein separation and purification can be overcome by using adsorptive microporous membranes as chromatographic media. Microporous membranes have advantages as support matrices in comparison to conventional bead supports because they are not compressible and they eliminate diffusion limitations. As a result, higher throughput and shorter processing times are possible using these membrane systems. In this paper, we review the current state of development in the area of attaching functionalized polymer brushes onto a microporous membrane to form a novel chromatographic medium for protein separation and purification. The functionalized polymer brushes were appended onto the pore surface of a microporous hollow-fiber membrane uniformly across the membrane thickness by radiation-induced graft polymerization and subsequent chemical modifications. We review various applications of this adsorptive membrane chromatography by focusing on polymer brushes bearing ion-exchange, hydrophobic and affinity groups. Proteins were captured in multilayers by the ion-exchange group-containing polymer brushes due to the formation of a three-dimensional space for protein binding via the electrostatic repulsion of the polymer brushes. In contrast, proteins were captured in a monolayer at most by the polymer brushes containing hydrophobic or affinity ligands. By permeating a protein solution through the pores rimmed by the polymer brushes, an ideal capturing rate of the proteins with a negligible diffusional mass-transfer resistance was achieved by the functionalized polymer brushes, based on ion-exchange, hydrophobic, and affinity interactions.     

Use of weak monoclonal antibodies for affinity chromatography

When using weakly interacting ligands in affinity chromatography, it is possible to take advantage of a true chromatographic process in the separation, as compared with traditional affinity chromatography which is rather an on/off process. In this work, weak monoclonal antibodies were immobilized on a silica and a perfusion-type support (POROS AL) and used for high-performance liquid affinity chromatography (HPLAC). Similar carbohydrate antigens were separated under isocratic conditions according to their weak interaction with the immobilized monoclonal antibody. The affinity of the antibodies was adjusted with temperature and pH to modify the separation. The productivity of the chromatographic system was increased with the immobilized perfusion support but at the expense of loss of plate numbers. This study clearly demonstrates the potential of weak affinity biological interactions as a basis for chromatographic separation.     

Purification of a catalase from Thermus thermophilus via IMAC chromatography: effect of the support

A hexameric Mn-catalase was purified from crude extracts of Thermus thermophilus using ammonium sulfate precipitation and ion metal-chelate affinity chromatography (IMAC). Eupergit 250 and Sepabeads FP-EP3 epoxy supports derivatized with iminodiacetic acid (IDA) and copper were used, at similar micromole/packed milliliter of support. Although Eupergit 250-IDA-Cu support adsorbed 80% of the total proteins in the extract, it exhibited a minimum affinity for the catalase. On the other hand, Sepabeads FP-EP3-IDA-Cu allowed the full adsorption of the catalase activity, which could be desorbed in fractions of different purity. This was attributed to a different geometrical congruence of the support surfaces with the enzyme surface, resulting in a different ability to form multipoint interactions with the proteins. Thus, by a cleanup step, followed by a negative chromatographic step using Eupergit 250-IDA-Cu2+ and by the adsorption of the catalase on Sepabeads-IDA-Cu2+ support, a pure enzyme fraction was obtained and its N-terminal end was sequenced.     

Influence of the nature of coupling agents on insulin adsorption on supports grafted with sialic acid for high-performance affinity chromatography

Porous silica exhibits excellent mechanical properties for use as a stationary phase for high-performance liquid chromatography. However, negative surface charges make it unusable in its native state. For this reason, silica beads are coated with dextran polymers carrying a calculated amount of diethylaminoethyl groups. Both the minimization of non-specific interactions and the hydrophilic character of such supports allow their functionalization with biospecific ligands and finally their use in high-performance affinity chromatography of biological products. The use of these modified supports in high-performance affinity chromatography requires a better understanding of various characteristics of stationary phases. For this purpose, several techniques were utilized, in particular, size-exclusion chromatography and adsorption of radiolabelled albumin. These methods provided complementary information on the structure of these supports. Coated silica-based supports were functionalized with sialic acid by means of different coupling agents. The affinity of these supports for insulin was determined by the establishment of adsorption isotherms and by high-performance affinity chromatography, to evidence the relationships between structural characteristics of the supports and their separation properties. The study of interactions between these supports and insulin allowed us to show the importance of the coupling method on the performances of supports in affinity chromatography.     

Challenges and recent advances in affinity purification of tag-free proteins

There is currently no generic, simple, low-cost method for affinity chromatographic purification of proteins in which the purified product is free of appended tags. Existing approaches for the purification of tagless proteins fall into two broad categories: (1) direct affinity-based capture of tag-free proteins that utilize affinity ligands specific to the target protein or class of target protein, and (2) removal of an appended affinity tag following tag-mediated protein capture. This paper reviews current state-of-the-art approaches for tagless protein purification in both categories, including specific examples of affinity ligands used for the capture of different classes of proteins and cleavage systems for affinity tag removal following chromatographic capture. A particular focus of this review is on recent developments in affinity tag removal systems utilizing split inteins.     

Analysis of hSCOMT adsorption in bioaffinity chromatography with immobilized amino acids: the influence of pH and ionic strength

In the last years, chromatographic supports with amino acids as immobilized ligands (AAILs) were been used successfully for isolation of several biomolecules, such as proteins. In this context and based on specific properties of human soluble cathecol-O-methyltransferase (hSCOMT), we screened and analyzed the effect of experimental conditions, such as pH and ionic strength manipulation for hSCOMT adsorption, over six different AAIL commercial supports. Typically, the proteins adsorption on AAIL chromatographic supports is around their pI. While hSCOMT isoelectric point is around 5.5, this parameter leads us to design new adsorption strategies with several acid buffers for the chromatographic process. In terms of the ionic strength manipulation strategy, the results suggest that the AAILs-hSCOMT interaction is strongly affected by the intrinsic hSCOMT hydrophobic domains. On the other hand, the interaction mechanism of hSCOMT on amino acid resins appears to be highly dependent on the binding pH. Consequently the retention mechanism of the target enzyme on the AAILs can be as either in typical hydrophobic or ionic chromatographic supports, so long as selecting various mobile phases and separation conditions. In spite of these mixed-mode interactions and operation strategies, the elution of interferent's proteins from recombinant host can be achieved only with suitable adjusts in pH mobile phase set point. This lead to a new approach in biochromatographic COMT retention, while possess a higher specificity than other chromatographic methods reported in literature.     

Recognition properties of antisense peptides to Arg8-vasopressin/bovine neurophysin II biosynthetic precursor sequences

We studied the interaction properties of synthetic antisense (AS) peptides encoded in the antisense strand of DNA corresponding to the N-terminal 20-residue sequence of the biosynthetic precursor of Arg8-vasopressin (AVP) and its binding protein bovine neurophysin II (BNPII). Binding affinities of sense polypeptides AVP and BNPII with AS peptides were measured by analytical affinity chromatography, in each case by the extent of chromatographic retardation of a soluble polypeptide interactor on an affinity matrix containing the other interactor as the immobilized species. Chromatographically calculated dissociation constants ranged from 10(-3) to 10(-6) M. Experiments were carried out to define the selectivity and underlying forces involved in the AS peptide interactions. For AS peptide elutions on sense peptide affinity supports, reduced binding affinity with increasing 1-propanol concentration and ionic strength suggested the presence of both ionic and hydrophobic contributions to AS peptide/immobilized sense peptide recognition. This same conclusion was reached with the antisense peptides as the immobilized species and measurement of elution of sequence-simplified, truncated, and charge-depleted forms of sense peptides. Immobilized AS 20-mer affinity matrix differentially retarded AVP versus oxytocin (OT) and BNPII versus BNPI (the neurophysin related biosynthetically to OT) and was used to separate these polypeptides from acid extracts of bovine posterior pituitaries. In addition, immobilized AS 12-mer corresponding to AVP-Gly-Lys-Arg could be used to separate AVP from OT. The results confirm that antisense peptides recognize sense peptides with significant selectivity in the AVP/BNPII precursor case.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Immunoadsorbents with synthetic oligosaccharide hapten representing blood group A substances

Immunoadsorbents with a synthetic oligosaccharide hapten representing human blood group A specific substances are prepared. The synthetic hapten, known as A-trisaccharide, which carries a space arm, is chemically attached to various solid supports, either directly through a suitable functional group at the end of the spacer arm or indirectly via a protein conjugated to the hapten. The preparation involves simple and mild procedures for the activation and/or derivatization of the supports. The latter includes naturally occurring polyhydroxy materials such as agarose, cellulose, or cellulose derivatives, and other particulate materials such as inorganic diatomites and a synthetic organic copolymer. The methods used for the coupling concern specifically the preparation of controlled-capacity and high-efficiency immunoadsorbents, with limited incorporations, which may be prepared easily and used for the selective removal, or affinity chromatographic separation, of specific antibodies from plasma environment or blood. It has been found that while hapten incorporation to the support may be varied rather easily, the physical nature of the support as well as the form of the hapten is important in determining the efficiency of an immunoadsorbent.     

Recombinant proteins L and LG: efficient tools for purification of murine immunoglobulin G fragments

In order to improve antibody purification methods, recombinant proteins L and LG were tested in the purification of murine monoclonal immunoglobulin G (IgG) and its fragments. After affinity constant evaluation in different buffer systems, high-performance affinity chromatographic columns were prepared by coupling the proteins to Affi-prep 10 resin and tested with eight different murine monoclonal antibodies and their fragments of different isotypes. Affinity chromatographic experiments confirmed radioimmunoassay results showing that protein L bound 75% of the tested antibody fragments whereas protein LG had affinity for all the tested fragments. These results demonstrate that protein LG is the most powerful Ig-binding tool so far described.     

Affinity chromatography of microsomal enzymes on immobilized detergent-solubilized cytochrome b5

Highly selective chromatography of microsomal enzymes has been carried out on columns of immobilized cytochrome b5 that was obtained by detergent solubilization (d-b5) of the complete amphipathic molecule. Several partially purified isozymes of cytochrome P-450 are resolved on d-b5 columns, and one high-affinity isozyme has been readily purified to homogeneity. Chromatographic selectivity and correlation of elution order of isozymes of cytochrome P-450 with direct spectral measurements of affinity constants suggests affinity chromatography on d-b5 columns. Substantial one-step enrichments of NADH-cytochrome-b5 reductase and an unstable cytochrome b5-dependent oxidase of cholesterol synthesis, 4-methyl sterol oxidase, have been obtained on d-b5 columns which further supports this conclusion. Comparison of chromatographic behavior on columns of immobilized cytochrome b5 that was obtained by trypsin solubilization (t-b5) with d-b5 columns shows marked differences which must be attributed to the absence of the hydrophobic domain of the t-b5 molecule. NADH-cytochrome-b5 reductase and the high affinity isozyme of cytochrome P-450 purified by d-b5 affinity chromatography are poorly retained on t-b5 columns. A different cytochrome P-450 isozyme with lower affinity for cytochrome b5 is only retained on d-b5 columns. Cytochrome-P-450 reductase is not retained on either column. Because affinity chromatography is suggested on d-b5 columns, the procedure may be generally applicable for predicting protein-protein interactions of microsomal electron transport components that either donate electrons to, or receive electrons from, cytochrome b5. In addition, the procedure should have considerable utilitarian application for enzyme enrichment.     

Rapid chromatographic monitoring of bioprocesses

This paper describes the use of rapid chromatographic separation systems to monitor the level of specific proteins in various bioprocesses such as downstream processing and fermentation. In these monitoring systems, samples of the liquid are continuously extracted from the process and the proteins resolved from one another by a rapid chromatographic separation. The peak on the chromatogram corresponding to the protein of interest is identified and quantified to obtain on-line information on the level of that protein in the bioprocess. There are a number of advantages in using affinity separations as the rapid chromatographic principle. In particular, the use of immobilised monoclonal antibodies potentially allows a chromatographic sensor to be constructed for any protein against which a suitable antibody can be raised. The potential of this technique is illustrated with various examples, including measurement of the levels of monoclonal antibody in tissue culture supernatant using immobilised Protein A as the affinity adsorbent. A discussion of the inherent limitations of this type of protein biosensor is also included.