Virus elimination during the purification of monoclonal antibodies by column chromatography and additional steps

The theoretical potential for virus transmission by monoclonal antibody based therapeutic products has led to the inclusion of appropriate virus reduction steps. In this study, virus elimination by the chromatographic steps used during the purification process for two (IgG‐1 & ?3) monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) have been investigated. Both the Protein G (>7log) and ion‐exchange (5 log) chromatography steps were very effective for eliminating both enveloped and non‐enveloped viruses over the life‐time of the chromatographic gel. However, the contribution made by the final gel filtration step was more limited, i.e., 3 log. Because these chromatographic columns were recycled between uses, the effectiveness of the column sanitization procedures (guanidinium chloride for protein G or NaOH for ion‐exchange) were tested. By evaluating standard column runs immediately after each virus spiked run, it was possible to directly confirm that there was no cross contamination with virus between column runs (guanidinium chloride or NaOH). To further ensure the virus safety of the product, two specific virus elimination steps have also been included in the process. A solvent/detergent step based on 1% triton X‐100 rapidly inactivating a range of enveloped viruses by >6 log inactivation within 1 min of a 60 min treatment time. Virus removal by virus filtration step was also confirmed to be effective for those viruses of about 50 nm or greater. In conclusion, the combination of these multiple steps ensures a high margin of virus safety for this purification process. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 30:1341–1347, 2014     

Virus reduction in an intravenous immunoglobulin by solvent/detergent treatment, ion-exchange chromatography and terminal low pH incubation

Virus reduction by several steps in the manufacturing process for the intravenous immunoglobulin Vigam^®, has been investigated. The solvent/detergent step based on treatment with 0.3% tri-n-butyl phosphate and 1% polysorbate 80 at 37 °C, was confirmed to be effective for a range of enveloped viruses. Virus infectivity was undetectable i.e. >6 log inactivation within 30 min of the standard 6 h process. This was consistent over the range of conditions tested i.e. solvent/detergent and protein concentration, temperature and pH. The ion-exchange chromatography step in the process was also able to remove some viruses. Virus spiked followed by blank column runs confirmed the effectiveness of the sanitisation step for ensuring there was no virus cross contamination between column runs. The terminal low pH incubation step was also able to inactivate enveloped viruses, as well as some non-enveloped viruses. The combination of these three steps ensures a high margin of virus safety for this product.     

Issues in the development of medical products based on human plasma

Product development and process validation are shown in the case of several products obtained from human plasma. These are virus-inactivated plasma, intravenous immunoglobulins and the clotting factors VIII and IX. Different analytical methods are presented, which are used for product control and in-process control. For the production of virus-inactivated human plasma a down-scale protocol is presented, allowing a simulation of the production on a laboratory scale. Virus validation has shown that the reduction of transfusion-relevant viruses in the process was higher than six log steps. Determination of leachables from the RP-column, which was used in this production, proved that they appear in the final product in quantities below the detection limits only. It was also shown that the chemicals used for virus inactivation could be quantitatively removed from the product. For the isolation of other products, here intravenous gamma globulins and the clotting factors VIII and IX, similar validation steps had to be taken. In the case of clotting factor VIII the following data were determined, the reduction of viruses, the amount of leachables from the column, the residues of chemicals from the solvent/detergent treatment for virus inactivation. Virus reduction was successfully performed as well as the removal of chemicals used for virus inactivation. The amount of leachables from the columns used for chromatographic purification was found to be far below the permissible levels.     

Issues in the development of medical products based on human plasma

Product development and process validation are shown in the case of several products obtained from human plasma. These are virus-inactivated plasma, intravenous immunoglobulins and the clotting factors VIII and IX. Different analytical methods are presented, which are used for product control and in-process control. For the production of virus-inactivated human plasma a down-scale protocol is presented, allowing a simulation of the production on a laboratory scale. Virus validation has shown that the reduction of transfusion-relevant viruses in the process was higher than six log steps. Determination of leachables from the RP-column, which was used in this production, proved that they appear in the final product in quantities below the detection limits only. It was also shown that the chemicals used for virus inactivation could be quantitatively removed from the product. For the isolation of other products, here intravenous gamma globulins and the clotting factors VIII and IX, similar validation steps had to be taken. In the case of clotting factor VIII the following data were determined, the reduction of viruses, the amount of leachables from the column, the residues of chemicals from the solvent/detergent treatment for virus inactivation. Virus reduction was successfully performed as well as the removal of chemicals used for virus inactivation. The amount of leachables from the columns used for chromatographic purification was found to be far below the permissible levels.     

Virus removal capacity at varying ionic strength during nanofiltration of AlphaNine® SD

Nanofiltration is incorporated into the manufacturing processes of many protein biopharmaceuticals to enhance safety by providing the capacity to retain pathogens while allowing protein drugs to pass through the filter. Retention is mainly a function of size; however, the shape of the pathogen may also influence retention. The ability of the Viresolve^® Pro nanofilter to remove different sized viruses during the manufacture of a Coagulation Factor IX (Alphanine^® SD) was studied at varying ionic strength, a process condition with the potential to affect virus shape and, hence, virus retention. Eight viruses were tested in a scale-down of the nanofiltration process. Five of the viruses (EMCV, Reo, BVDV, HIV, PRV) were nanofiltered at normal sodium processing conditions and three (PPV, HAV and WNV) were nanofiltered at higher and lower sodium. Representative Reduction Factors for all viruses were ≥4.50 logs and removal was consistent over a wide range of ionic strength.     

Blood protein technological industrial developments as a mirror of fundamental studies bgy the Institute of Biochemistry of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences

We have examined the technology for an industrial chromatographic production highly purified factor VIII concentrate intended for therapy of the hemophilia A and characterized this factor VIII. The final product has been prepared from cryoprecipitate of pooled human plasma using a large-scale procedure combining three conventional chromatographic steps based on AEM and CEM ion exchange and SPG or SHR gel filtration chromatography. The specific activity of the product was 459 +/- 19 IU factor VIII/mg protein (n = 10), corresponding to a purification factor of about 15,000. The concentrate was free of the fibrinogen, alpha-2-macroglobulin, alpha-1-acidglycoprotein, haptoglobin. Only three contaminants could be detected: fibronectin, immunoglobulins A and G (about 0.020, 0.004 and 0.034 microgram/IU factor VIII, respectively). The purity of the final product was confirmed by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, cellulose acetate electrophoresis, Grabar-Williams immunoelectrophoresis, and bidimensional immunoelectrophoresis. Another examination was concern to the technology for an industrial chromatographic production highly purified factor IX concentrate intended for therapy of the hemophilia B and characterized this factor IX. The final product has been prepared from pooled human plasma using a large-scale procedure combining four conventional chromatographic steps based on AEM ion exchange, AFM affinity and SGS gel filtration chromatography. The specific activity of the product was 149 +/- 10 IU factor IX/mg protein (n = 10), corresponding to a purification factor of about 9000. The concentrate was free of the vitamin K-dependent clotting factors II, VII and X and of proteins C and S. Most of possible contaminants were absent in this new product. High-molecular-weight kininogen, factor VIII, XI, XII or prekallikrein were not detected. There were no activated factors, such as factors IXa and Xa, no thrombin and no phospholipids. Only two contaminants could be detected: C4 and inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor (about 0.8 and 1.2 mg/IU factor IX, respectively). The purity of the final product was confirmed by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, cellulose acetate electrophoresis, Grabar-Williams immunoelectrophoresis, and bidimensional immunoelectrophoresis. Thrombogenicity tests in rabbits revealed that the high purified factor IX by Institute of Biochemistry technology tested had a lower thrombogenic power than the commercial factors IX tested. The concentrate has been subjected to a special solvent--detergent treatment for definite time and temperature during its production to virus inactivation (it will be describe in following special examination). These data demonstrate that a highly purified therapeutic clotting factor VIII and IX concentrates can be prepared from human plasma by conventional chromatographic methods developed by Institute of Biochemistry of NAS of Ukraine and Combio Ltd.     

Reversible interference of Fe with monoclonal antibody analysis in cation exchange columns

The effect of Fe³⁺ treatment on weak cation exchange column chromatography was demonstrated for monoclonal antibody (MAb) analysis. Fe³⁺-exposed columns showed lowered relative peak areas of the parent MAb peak as well as both acidic and basic variant peaks that could lead to erroneous conclusions. Accurate measurement of relative amounts of variants to the parent MAb is essential for demonstrating the safety and efficacy of therapeutic molecules such as MAbs. Complete reversal of the compromised MAb analysis performance was observed after washing the column with chelating agents, confirming that metal contamination was responsible for the compromised column performance.     

Viral clearance studies on new and used chromatography resins: critical review of a large dataset.

Viral clearance studies for na?ve and maximally cycled chromatographic resins used for cGMP recombinant protein production are reviewed for three products, comprising 10 different chromatographic steps, including affinity, ion exchange, immobilized metal ion affinity, and hydrophobic interaction modes. Thirty-two separate studies were conducted (over 90 runs in total). No consistent reductions in model virus clearance were observed with used resins. The results address the reproducibility of virus clearance studies conducted by different scientists over several years at multiple contract labs. The log reduction values (LRVs) are typically within 0.5 LRVs for new and used resin, but varied as much as 2 LRVs for resins showing no functional deterioration. This relatively large difference is not believed to reflect resin changes, but highlights the challenges encountered in modeling column clearance. Production column performance and cleaning efficacy are demonstrated for these steps by trending mock runs, impurity removal and product recovery. No deterioration in cGMP column performance is seen over the established resin lifetimes, confirming that the resin regeneration and sanitization procedures restore the resins to a suitable initial state without damage. It is proposed that for some chromatography steps, the combination of lab-scale cycling studies confirming consistent performance throughout the resin lifetime and monitoring of cGMP manufacturing preclude the need for virus clearance studies on maximally cycled resin.     

Factor IX Amagasaki: a new mutation in the catalytic domain resulting in the loss of both coagulant and esterase activities

Factor IX Amagasaki (AMG) is a naturally occurring mutant of factor IX having essentially no coagulant activity, even though normal levels of antigen are detected in plasma. Factor IX AMG was purified from the patient's plasma by immunoaffinity chromatography with an anti-factor IX monoclonal antibody column. Factor IX AMG was cleaved normally by factor VIIa-tissue factor complex, yielding a two-chain factor IXa. Amino acid composition and sequence analysis of one of the tryptic peptides isolated from factor IX AMG revealed that Gly-311 had been replaced by Glu. We identified a one-base substitution of guanine to adenine in exon VIII by amplifying exon VIII using the polymerase chain reaction method and sequencing the product. This base mutation also supported the replacement of Gly-311 by Glu. In the purified system, factor IXa AMG did not activate factor X in the presence of factor VIII, phospholipids, and Ca2+, and no esterase activity toward Z-Arg-p-nitrobenzyl ester was observed. The model building of the serine protease domain of factor IXa suggests that the Gly-311----Glu exchange would disrupt the specific conformational state in the active site environment, resulting in the substrate binding site not forming properly. This is the first report to show the experimental evidence for importance of a highly conserved Gly-142 (chymotrypsinogen numbering) located in the catalytic site of mammalian serine proteases so far known.     

Removal and inactivation of viruses during the manufacture of a high-purity antihemophilic factor IX from human plasma

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and mechanisms of the solvent/detergent (S/D) treatment, DEAE-toyopearl 650M anion-exchange column chromatography, heparin-sepharose 6FF affinity column chromatography, and Viresolve NFP filtration steps employed in the manufacture of high-purity antihemophilic factor IX (Green-Nine VF) from human plasma, with regard to removal and/or inactivation of blood-borne viruses. A variety of experimental model viruses for human pathogenic viruses, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), bovine herpes virus (BHV), bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV), hepatitis A virus (HAV), murine encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV), and porcine parvovirus (PPV), were all selected for this study. Samples from relevant stages of the production process were spiked with each virus and subjected to scale-down processes mimicking the manufacture of high-purity factor IX. Samples were collected at each step, immediately titrated using a 50% tissue culture infectious dose (TCID₅₀), and virus reduction factors were evaluated. S/D treatment using the organic solvent, tri (n-butyl) phosphate (TNBP), and the detergent, Tween 80, was a robust and effective step in inactivation of enveloped viruses. Titers of HIV, BHV, and BVDV were reduced from the initial titer of 6.06, 7.72, and 6.92 log₁₀ TCID₅₀, respectively, reaching undetectable levels within 1 min of S/D treatment. DEAE-toyopearl 650M anion-exchange column chromatography was found to be a moderately effective step in the removal of HAV, EMCV, and PPV with log reduction factors of 1.12, 2.67, and 1.38, respectively. Heparin-sepharose 6FF affinity column chromatography was also moderately effective for partitioning BHV, BVDV, HAV, EMCV, and PPV with log reduction factors of 1.55, 1.35, 1.08, 1.19, and 1.61, respectively. The Viresolve NFP filtration step was a robust and effective step in removing all viruses tested, since HIV, BHV, BVDV, HAV, EMCV, and PPV were completely removed during the filtration step with log reduction factors of ≥ 5.51, ≥ 5.76, ≥ 5.18, ≥ 5.34, ≥ 6.13, and ≥ 4.28, respectively. Cumulative log reduction factors of HIV, BHV, BVDV, HAV, EMCV, and PPV were ≥ 10.52, ≥ 12.07, ≥ 10.49, ≥ 7.54, ≥ 9.99, and ≥ 7.24, respectively. These results indicate that the production process for GreenNine VF has a sufficient virus reduction capacity for achievement of a high margin of virus safety.     

Blood clotting factor IX BM Nagoya. Substitution of arginine 180 by tryptophan and its activation by alpha-chymotrypsin and rat mast cell chymase

Factor IX BM Nagoya (IX Nagoya) is a natural mutant of factor IX responsible for severe hemophilia B. A patient with this mutant is characterized by a markedly prolonged ox brain prothrombin time. IX Nagoya was purified from the patient's plasma by immunoaffinity chromatography with an anti-factor IX monoclonal antibody column. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that treatment of IX Nagoya with factor XIa/Ca2+ resulted in cleavage only at the Arg145-Ala146 bond. Reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography of a trypsin digest of IX Nagoya showed an aberrant peptide, which was further digested with proteinase Asp-N. Primary structure analysis of one of the Asp-N peptides revealed that Arg180 is replaced by Trp. An essentially complete (99%) amino acid sequence of IX Nagoya was obtained by sequencing fragments derived from a lysyl endopeptidase digest in which no other substitutions in the catalytic triad or substrate binding site were found. We also found that IX Nagoya is activated by alpha-chymotrypsin or rat mast cell chymase by monitoring the rate of factor X activation using a fluorogenic peptide substrate in the presence of factor VIII, phospholipids, and Ca2+. These results indicate that the substitution of Arg180 by Trp impairs the cleavage by factor XIa required for activation of this zymogen and that the substitution causes hemophilia BM.     

Determination of B-trichothecenes in wheat by post column derivatisation liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (PCD-HPLC-FLD)

B-trichothecenes are one of the most common contaminants of cereals in Europe. Therefore, the use of fast and accurate methods is necessary to measure contamination levels and observe regulatory limits. At the moment, mostly gas chromatographic (GC) methods are used but HPLC-UV methods are also employed. Clean-up is commonly done either with immunoaffinity or Mycosep® columns. In the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Mycotoxin Research we have established an alternative HPLC method with post column derivatisation (PCD) as an alternative to existing chromatographic methods. This PCD-HPLC-FLD method uses a Mycosep® clean-up and allows the simultaneous detection and quantification of deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, fusarenon X, 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol and 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol. A validation with wheat gave for deoxynivalenol a limit of quantification ten times below the drafted European Union guideline level (500 µg.kg^?1) and a limit of detection of 8 µg.kg^?1. The relative standard derivation for DON was 10% (n=30). The obtained mean recovery rate for DON was 90% in a range from 50 to 1000 µg.kg^?1.     

A method for systematic purification from bovine plasma of six vitamin K-dependent coagulation factors: prothrombin, factor X, factor IX, protein S, protein C, and protein Z

A systematic purification scheme is presented for the isolation of six vitamin K-dependent coagulation factors from bovine plasma in a functionally and biochemically pure state. The vitamin K-dependent proteins concentrated by the ordinary barium citrate adsorption were first separated into four fractions, fractions A, B, C, and D, by DEAE-Sephadex A-50 chromatography. From the pooled fraction A, protein S, factor IX, and prothrombin were purified by column chromatography on Blue-Sepharose CL-6B. Heparin-Sepharose chromatography of the pooled fraction B provided mainly pure factor IX, in addition to homogeneous prothrombin. A high degree of resolution of protein C and prothrombin from the pooled fraction C was obtained with a Blue-Sepharose column. This dye-ligand chromatographic procedure was also very effective for the separation of protein Z and factor X contained in the pooled fraction D. Thus, these preparative procedures allowed high recovery of milligram and gram quantities of six vitamin K-dependent proteins from 15 liters of plasma in only two chromatographic steps, except for protein S, which required three (the third step was rechromatography on Blue-Sepharose CL-6B).     

Purification of P0 Myelin Glycoprotein by a Cu2+-Immobilized Metal Affinity Chromatography

P0 is an abundant myelin glycoprotein of peripheral nerves of vertebrates. Various point mutations of this protein are responsible for hereditary neuropathies. In this paper we described purification of P0 glycoprotein using SDS and a metal chelate affinity chromatography. Purified myelin fraction from bovine spinal roots in 0.5% SDS, 0.5 M NaCl, 50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.4 is filtered and applied directly to the Cu²⁺-immobilized affinity chromatography column, equilibrated with the same buffer. After eluting a void volume (or pass through) fraction, P0 protein was eluted by the same buffer but without salt. To remove contamination from the eluent, further purification is continued on a Concanavalin-A coupled agarose column. We purify within two days, 30 mg of P0 protein of apparent molecular weight 27 kDa. The method can be used to purify recombinant or mutated P0 protein found in severe pathologies.     

Reversible interference of Fe³(+) with monoclonal antibody analysis in cation exchange columns

The effect of Fe3(+) treatment on weak cation exchange column chromatography was demonstrated for monoclonal antibody (MAb) analysis. Fe3(+)-exposed columns showed lowered relative peak areas of the parent MAb peak as well as both acidic and basic variant peaks that could lead to erroneous conclusions. Accurate measurement of relative amounts of variants to the parent MAb is essential for demonstrating the safety and efficacy of therapeutic molecules such as MAbs. Complete reversal of the compromised MAb analysis performance was observed after washing the column with chelating agents, confirming that metal contamination was responsible for the compromised column performance.     

Immunoaffinity purification of protein C by using conformation-specific monoclonal antibodies to protein C-calcium ion complex

We isolated protein C from a barium citrate-adsorbed fresh plasma and human factor IX concentrate by immunoaffinity chromatography on a column of Sepharose coupled with monoclonal antibodies to protein C. The antibodies used were conformation-specific monoclonal antibodies to the calcium-induced structure of protein C. Protein C was bound to antibodies coupled with Sepharose in the presence of calcium ions and was eluted with EDTA. This immunopurification resulted in a 13,000-fold purification of the fully functional zymogen from plasma. The immunoaffinity-isolated protein C was found to have higher amounts of single-chain protein C than conventionally isolated protein C when analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels under reduced conditions. The factor IX concentrate was applied to this Ca2+-dependent antibody JTC-3-immobilized Sepharose in the presence of 5 mM CaCl2, and protein C with its gamma-carboxyglutamic acid (Gla) domain intact was firstly bound to this column and then eluted by metal chelation with EDTA. When flow-through fractions were applied again in the presence of Ca2+ to this column, modified protein C which had lost its N-terminal 42-residue peptide was weakly bound to this column. It was eluted in the absence of Ca2+. However, only a low percentage of modified protein C was detectable by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using Ca2+-dependent monoclonal antibody JTC-3 and peroxidase-labeled immunopurified polyclonal antibody. These results indicate that factor IX concentrate has both Gla-domain-intact and Gla-domainless protein C. Moreover, it suggests that Ca2+-dependent monoclonal antibody JTC-3 may recognize the coupled conformational change of protein C induced by the combined effect of Ca2+ binding to the Gla domain and to other parts of protein C.     

Porcine circovirus (PCV) removal by Q sepharose fast flow chromatography

The recently discovered contamination of oral rotavirus vaccines led to exposure of millions of infants to porcine circovirus (PCV). PCV was not detected by conventional virus screening tests. Regulatory agencies expect exclusion of adventitious viruses from biological products. Therefore, methods for inactivation/removal of viruses have to be implemented as an additional safety barrier whenever feasible. However, inactivation or removal of PCV is difficult. PCV is highly resistant to widely used physicochemical inactivation procedures. Circoviruses such as PCV are the smallest viruses known and are not expected to be effectively removed by currently‐used virus filters due to the small size of the circovirus particles. Anion exchange chromatography such as Q Sepharose^® Fast Flow (QSFF) has been shown to effectively remove a range of viruses including parvoviruses. In this study, we investigated PCV1 removal by virus filtration and by QSFF chromatography. As expected, PCV1 could not be effectively removed by virus filtration. However, PCV1 could be effectively removed by QSFF as used during the purification of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and a log₁₀ reduction value (LRV) of 4.12 was obtained. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 29:1464–1471, 2013     

Inactivation and clearance of viruses during the manufacture of high purity factor IX.

Haemophilia is a bleeding disorder characterised by a deficiency in Factor IX. Replacement therapy in the form of a Factor IX concentrate is a widely accepted practice. In this paper we describe a double virus inactivated chromatographic process for producing a high purity Factor IX product, MonoFIX((R))-VF. The process involves separation of the prothrombin complex by cryoprecipitation, fraction I precipitation and DEAE-cellulose adsorption, further ion-exchange chromatography of crude Factor IX, followed by solvent/detergent treatment. Heparin affinity chromatography is then used to further purify Factor IX. Final nanofiltration is sequential through 35 nm then 15 nm membrane filters. The principal virus inactivation/removal steps are solvent/detergent treatment and nanofiltration and the partitioning of relevant and model viruses provides further reduction in virus load through the production process.Solvent/detergent treatment was shown to achieve log reduction factors of 4.5 for HIV-1, 5.1 for Sindbis virus, 6.1 for vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), 5.1 for bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) and 5.3 for pseudorabies virus (PRV). BVDV is a model for hepatitis C virus (HCV), and pseudorabies virus (PRV), like hepatitis B virus (HBV) is an enveloped DNA virus. Using scaled down models of the production process, we have also demonstrated the neutralization/partitioning of at least 6 logs of hepatitis A virus (HAV) during cryoprecipitation, Fraction I precipitation, and the DEAE adsorption and elution step, and a further 1.6 log reduction in HAV load as a result of heparin affinity chromatography. The log reduction factors for HAV as a result of the second ion-exchange chromatography step and as a result of enhanced neutralisation associated with solvent/detergent treatment were not significant. Nanofiltration was shown to contribute a further log reduction factor of 6.7 for HAV and 5.8 for BVDV indicating that log reduction factors of this order would be obtained with other viruses of a similar or larger size, such as HIV, HBV and HCV.Overall, these studies indicate that MonoFIX-VF is a product with an extremely high level of viral safety.     

Homologous human blood protein separation using immobilized metal affinity chromatography: protein C separation from prothrombin with application to the separation of factor IX and prothrombin.

Protein C (PC) is a natural anticoagulant and antithrombotic present in human blood at a concentration of 4 microg/mL. Its deficiency can result in excessive clotting and thrombosis. Protein C can be obtained from human blood plasma; however, there are other coagulant proteins in blood, including prothrombin (factor II), which is present in relatively large amounts and is one of the most active components. Protein C and prothrombin are homologous proteins with similar biochemical features; therefore, immunoaffinity chromatography is used for their separation. However, this technology is very expensive, protein C recovery and activity is low, and contamination problems with mouse antibody are likely. Immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) utilizes the protein metal-binding properties for protein separation. Protein C has twelve surface-accessible histidines, which are the major metal-binding groups for IMAC separation. After investigating metal ion-binding properties of protein C, we used an IDA-Cu column to separate protein C and prothrombin. Following protein adsorption to the column, prothrombin was washed out using a sodium phosphate buffer containing 2 mM imidazole and protein C was recovered with 15 mM imidazole in the buffer. The mild elution condition allows a high protein C activity and a high recovery. Also, this technology introduces no immunoglobulins, and it is relatively inexpensive. IMAC could replace the immunoaffinity technology for the large-scale separation of protein C from blood plasma Cohn Fraction IV-1. In addition, this work demonstrates a significant application of this technology for the separation of factor IX from prothrombin. Prothrombin has proven to be a harmful contaminant in factor IX cocktails that have been administered to humans in the treatment of hemophilia B.     

Purification of human adult and foetal intestinal alkaline phosphatases by monoclonal antibody immunoaffinity chromatography.

We have used the technique of monoclonal antibody immunoaffinity chromatography to purify adult and foetal intestinal alkaline phosphatases. Pure adult intestinal enzyme was obtained from a crude tissue extract with a single immunoaffinity chromatographic step in yields exceeding 95%. An additional ion-exchange chromatographic step was necessary for purification of the foetal enzyme, but yields still exceeded 70%. Experiments to optimize the efficiency of the monoclonal antibody immunoaffinity chromatography procedure suggest that the relative strength of binding of an antibody to its antigen is the most important factor to consider when constructing such columns. A column made from an antibody of too low an avidity will not retain the enzyme, while one of too high an avidity will make elution of enzyme in the active state difficult. A scheme is suggested for the application of this technique to a general approach to enzyme purification.