Determination of diffusion coefficients of proteins in stationary phases by frontal chromatography

A strategy to determine effective diffusion coefficients of proteins in chromatographic gels is presented in this article. An experimental methodology based on frontal liquid chromatography was combined with a numerical methodology based on a mathematical model describing the chromatographic process including the extra-column dispersion, the dispersion due to the packed bed, the external mass transfer from the bulk phase to the stationary phase, and the diffusive transport within the stationary phase. The methodology has several advantages compared to previously reported methods to determine diffusion coefficients in that no other equipment than an HPLC is required, any class of stationary phases can be investigated as long as the experiments are performed under non-binding conditions, and no modification, e.g., moulding of slabs or membranes, to the stationary phase is required. To show the applicability of the methodology, the effective diffusion coefficients of lysozyme, bovine serum albumin, and immunoglobulin gamma in Sepharose CL-4B were determined and shown to be comparable with those determined with other methods.     

Ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography of oligodeoxyribonucleotides using formamide

The superiority of buffer systems containing formamide for the ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatographic separation of oligodeoxyribonucleotide mixtures generated in solid-phase syntheses is illustrated. The resolutions achieved are compared to those achieved with the same mixtures in other eluting solvents. The use of formamide systems is recommended for oligodeoxyribonucleotide purification in general and is particularly valuable where the oligonucleotide of interest is highly self-complementary and/or rich in deoxyguanosine residues.     

The role of polymer nanolayer architecture on the separation performance of anion-exchange membrane adsorbers: I. Protein separations

This contribution describes the preparation of strong anion-exchange membranes with higher protein binding capacities than the best commercial resins. Quaternary amine (Q-type) anion-exchange membranes were prepared by grafting polyelectrolyte nanolayers from the surfaces of macroporous membrane supports. A focus of this study was to better understand the role of polymer nanolayer architecture on protein binding. Membranes were prepared with different polymer chain graft densities using a newly developed surface-initiated polymerization protocol designed to provide uniform and variable chain spacing. Bovine serum albumin and immunoglobulin G were used to measure binding capacities of proteins with different size. Dynamic binding capacities of IgG were measured to evaluate the impact of polymer chain density on the accessibility of large size protein to binding sites within the polyelectrolyte nanolayer under flow conditions. The dynamic binding capacity of IgG increased nearly linearly with increasing polymer chain density, which suggests that the spacing between polymer chains is sufficient for IgG to access binding sites all along the grafted polymer chains. Furthermore, the high dynamic binding capacity of IgG (>130 mg/mL) was independent of linear flow velocity, which suggests that the mass transfer of IgG molecules to the binding sites occurs primarily via convection. Overall, this research provides clear evidence that the dynamic binding capacities of large biologics can be higher for well-designed macroporous membrane adsorbers than commercial membrane or resin ion-exchange products. Specifically, using controlled polymerization leads to anion-exchange membrane adsorbers with high binding capacities that are independent of flow rate, enabling high throughput. Results of this work should help to accelerate the broader implementation of membrane adsorbers in bioprocess purification steps.     

Inactivation and stabilization of stabilisins in neat organic solvents

The stability of the serine proteases from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (subtillisin BPN') and Bacillus licheniformis (subtilisin Carlsberg) was investigated in various anhydrous solvents at 45 degrees C. The half-life of subtilisin BPN' in dimethyl-formamide dramatically depends on the pH of the aqueous solutions from which the enzyme was lyophilized, increasing from 48 min to 20 h when the pH is raised from 6.0 to 7.9. Both subtilisins exhibited substantial inactivation during multihour incubations in tert-amyl alcohol and acetonitrile when enzymatic activities were also measured in these solvents; however, when the enzymes were assayed in water instead, hardly any loss of activity was detected. This surprising difference appears to stem from the partitioning of the bound water essential for catalytic activity from the enzymes into the solvents. When assayed in organic solvents, this time-dependent stripping of water results in decay of enzymatic activity; however, when assayed in water, where the dehydrated subtilisins can undergo rehydration thereby recovering catalytic activity, little inactivation is observed. In agreement with this hypothesis, the addition of small quantities of water tert-amyl alcohol stabilized the subtilisins in it even when enzymatic activity was measured in the nonaqueous solvent. Ester substrates (vinyl butyrate and trichloroethyl butyrate) greatly enhanced the stability of both subtilisins in organic solvents possibly because of the formation of the acyl-enzymes.     

Peptide synthesis in neat organic solvents with novel thermostable proteases

Biocatalytic peptide synthesis will benefit from enzymes that are active at low water levels in organic solvent compositions that allow good substrate and product solubility. To explore the use of proteases from thermophiles for peptide synthesis under such conditions, putative protease genes of the subtilase class were cloned from Thermus aquaticus and Deinococcus geothermalis and expressed in Escherichia coli. The purified enzymes were highly thermostable and catalyzed efficient peptide bond synthesis at 80 °C and 60 °C in neat acetonitrile with excellent conversion (>90%). The enzymes tolerated high levels of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) as a cosolvent (40–50% v/v), which improved substrate solubility and gave good conversion in 5+3 peptide condensation reactions. The results suggest that proteases from thermophiles can be used for peptide synthesis under harsh reaction conditions.     

Countercurrent tangential chromatography for large-scale protein purification

Recent advances in cell culture technology have created significant pressure on the downstream purification process, leading to a "downstream bottleneck" in the production of recombinant therapeutic proteins for the treatment of cancer, genetic disorders, and cardiovascular disease. Countercurrent tangential chromatography overcomes many of the limitations of conventional column chromatography by having the resin (in the form of a slurry) flow through a series of static mixers and hollow fiber membrane modules. The buffers used in the binding, washing, and elution steps flow countercurrent to the resin, enabling high-resolution separations while reducing the amount of buffer needed for protein purification. The results obtained in this study provide the first experimental demonstration of the feasibility of using countercurrent tangential chromatography for the separation of a model protein mixture containing bovine serum albumin and myoglobin using a commercially available anion exchange resin. Batch uptake/desorption experiments were used in combination with critical flux data for the hollow fiber filters to design the countercurrent tangential chromatography system. A two-stage batch separation yielded the purified target protein at >99% purity with 94% recovery. The results clearly demonstrate the potential of using countercurrent tangential chromatography for the large-scale purification of therapeutic proteins.     

A new flow cell and chemometric protocol for implementing in-line Raman spectroscopy in chromatography

On-line monitoring tools for downstream chromatographic processing (DSP) of biotherapeutics can enable fast actions to correct for disturbances in the upstream, gain process understanding, and eventually lead to process optimization. While UV/Vis spectroscopy is mostly assessing the protein's amino acid composition and the application of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy is limited due to strong water interactions, Raman spectroscopy is able to assess the secondary and tertiary protein structure without significant water interactions. The aim of this work is to implement the Raman technology in DSP, by designing an in-line flow cell with a reduced dead volume of 80 μL and a reflector to increase the signal intensity as well as developing a chemometric modeling path. In this context, measurement settings were adjusted and spectra were taken from different chromatographic breakthrough curves of IgG1 in harvest. The resulting models show a small average RMSEP of 0.12 mg/mL, on a broad calibration range from 0 to 2.82 mg/mL IgG1. This work highlights the benefits of model assisted Raman spectroscopy in chromatography with complex backgrounds, lays the fundamentals for in-line monitoring of IgG1, and enables advanced control strategies. Moreover, the approach might be extended to further critical quality attributes like aggregates or could be transferred to other process steps.     

Plate height determination for gradient elution chromatography of proteins

A method for determining the plate height HETP from the elution curve obtained by the linear gradient elution (LGE) ion-exchange chromatography (IEC) of proteins is presented. The method was developed on the basis of the numerical solutions of a chromatography model which considers the zone sharpening and the distribution coefficient as a function of the salt concentration. The plate height HETP is determined from the peak width and the salt concentration at which the peak is eluted in LGE. The method was applied to the experimental results with various ion-exchange chromatography media. A calculation example based onthe present method is presented to show how the chromatographic and operating parameters should be tuned to obtain a desired resolution. A simplified calculation procedure for the peak profile is also described. (c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

On the activity loss of hydrolases in organic solvents: I. Rapid loss of activity of a variety of enzymes and formulations in a range of organic solvents

Dehydrated enzyme powders have been used extensively as suspensions in organic solvents to catalyze synthetic reactions. Prolonged enzyme activity is necessary to make such applications commercially successful. However, it has recently become evident that the stability and thus activity of many enzymes is compromised in organic solvents. Herein we explore the stability of various hydrolases (i.e., lipases from Mucor meihei and Candida rugosa, -chymotrypsin, subtilisin Carlsberg, and pig-liver esterase) and various formulations (lyophilized powder, cross-linked enzyme crystals, poly(ethylene glycol)-enzyme conjugates) in different organic solvents. The results show a roughly exponential activity decrease for all enzymes and formulations studied after exposure to organic solvents. Inactivation was observed independent of the enzyme, formulation details, and the solvent. In addition, no relationship was found between the magnitude of inactivation and the value of initial activity. Thus, quite active formulations lost their activity as quickly as less active formulations. The estimated half-times (t_1/2) for all enzymes and preparations ranged from 1.8 h for subtilisin C. co-lyophilized with methyl-β-cyclodextrin to 61.6 h for the most stable poly(ethylene glycol)--chymotrypsin preparation. The data here presented indicates that the inactivation is likely not related to changes in enzyme structure and dynamics.     

Fermentative production of rhamnolipid and purification by adsorption chromatography

Glycolipids are one of the major classes of biosurfactants in which the rhamnolipids are best studied. The present work investigates the optimization of inoculum age and batch time for maximizing the yield of rhamnolipid from Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MTCC 2453). The yield and titer of rhamnolipids were maximum in the fermentation batch with an inoculum age of 24?hr. Batch time studies were performed on biomass production, rhamnolipid production, and sunflower oil utilization. The maximum yield of rhamnolipid was achieved at 96?hr when the culture cells were in the late exponential/early stationary phase. At optimum substrate concentration, maximum yield of 10.8?g/L was achieved. Further, downstream processing of crude rhamnolipid from broth using organic solvent extraction and subsequent purification using adsorption chromatography was done. In this study, chromatographic method was developed for purification of rhamnolipid by adsorption phenomena with more than 88.7% purity and 86.5% recovery. The present study provides new perspective on concepts involving separation by adsorption. Further antimicrobial properties and surfactant properties were studied for rhamnolipid production.     

Proteins in organic solvents

Catalysis in organic solvents and the mapping of protein surfaces using multiple solvent crystal structures are two rapidly developing areas of research. Recent advances include the study of protein folding and stability in different solvents, and the demonstration that it is possible to qualitatively rank the affinities of protein binding sites for a given organic solvent using the multiple solvent crystal structures method.     

重组人EGF-IL-18融合蛋白的表达纯化及复性

融合基因EGF-IL-18与表达载体pET32a( )连接构建融合型原核表达质粒pET32a( )-EGF-IL-18。该基因在E.coliRosetta(DE3)中获得高效表达,SDS-PAGE分析表明表达产物大部分以包涵体形式存在。以2mol/L尿素和1%TritonX-100对包涵体进行反复洗涤后,利用离子交换柱层析对包涵体进行柱上复性,结果表明离子交换层析柱上复性不仅能够获得可溶性的EGF-IL-18融合蛋白,而且产物同时得到纯化,纯度大于90%。复性的EGF-IL-18经分子筛进一步纯化后,体外实验证明具有促进人外周血单个核细胞(PBMC)IFN-g基因表达的能力。该方法简单、高效,为进一步开展EGF-IL-18的动物实验及其大量纯化制备打下基础。     

Time-dependent sorption behavior of lentiviral vectors during anion-exchange chromatography

Use of lentiviral vectors (LVs) in clinical Cell and Gene Therapy applications is growing. However, functional product loss during capture chromatography, typically anion-exchange (AIEX), remains a significant unresolved challenge for the design of economic processes. Despite AIEX's extensive use, variable performance and generally low recovery is reported. This poor understanding of product loss mechanisms highlights a significant gap in our knowledge of LV adsorption and other types of vector delivery systems. This work demonstrates HIV-1-LV recovery over quaternary-amine membrane adsorbents is a function of time in the adsorbed state. Kinetic data for product loss in the column bound state was generated. Fitting a second order-like rate model, we observed a rapid drop in functional recovery due to increased irreversible binding for vectors encoding two separate transgenes ($t_{Y_{1/2}}$ = 12.7 and 18.7 min). Upon gradient elution, a two-peak elution profile implicating the presence of two distinct binding subpopulations is observed. Characterizing the loss kinetics of these two subpopulations showed a higher rate of vector loss in the weaker binding peak. This work highlights time spent in the adsorbed state as a critical factor impacting LV product loss and the need for consideration in LV AIEX process development workflows.     

On the relationship between the activity and structure of PEG-alpha-chymotrypsin conjugates in organic solvents

Enzymes are attractive catalysts for the production of optically active compounds in organic solvents. However, their often low catalytic activity in such applications hampers their practical use. To overcome this, we investigated the effectiveness of the covalent modification of alpha-chymotrypsin with methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) with a Mw of 5,000 to enhance its activity. The model transesterification reaction between sec-phenethyl alcohol and vinyl butyrate in various neat dry organic solvents and at a controlled water activity of 0.008 in two solvents was employed to measure the effect of PEGylation on activity and enantioselectivity. Synthesis conditions were varied to obtain various conjugates with average molar ratios of PEG-to-chymotrypsin ranging from ca. 1 to 7. While the enantioselectivity increased only modestly from ca. 4.4 to 6.1 when averaging results in all solvents, PEG was very efficient in increasing the activity of alpha-chymotrypsin up to more than 400-fold compared to that of the powder lyophilized from buffer alone. The activity increase was more pronounced in apolar than in polar organic solvents and also depended on the amount of PEG bound to the enzyme. For example, the activity of the modified enzyme towards the most reactive "S" enantiomer in octane increased 440-fold but increasing the molar ratio of PEG-to-enzyme from 1.1 to 7.1 resulted in a more than twofold decrease in enzyme activity. Controlling the water activity did not prevent the drop in activity. To investigate the possible origin of the activity changes, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy experiments were conducted. It was found that PEGylation reduced lyophilization-induced structural perturbations, but exposure to the organic solvents caused structural perturbations. These perturbations were more pronounced in polar than in apolar solvents. The pronounced activity drop in polar solvents at increasing PEG-modification levels correlated with an increasing level of solvent-induced structural perturbations. This correlation was less pronounced in apolar solvents where both, activity drop and structural perturbations, were less pronounced at increasing PEGylation levels. In summary, PEG-modified alpha-chymotrypsin might be an interesting system to catalyze reactions, particularly in apolar organic solvents.     

Peptide synthesis catalyzed by polyethylene glycol-modified chymotrypsin in organic solvents

Chymotrypsin modified with polyethylene glycol was successfully used for peptide synthesis in organic solvents. The benzene-soluble modified enzyme readily catalyzed both aminolysis of N-benzoyl-L-tyrosine p-nitroanilide and synthesis of N-benzoyl-L-tyrosine butylamide in the presence of trace amounts of water. A quantitative reaction was obtained when either hydrophobic or bulky amides of L- as well as D-amino acids were used as acceptor nucleophiles, while almost no reaction occurred with free amino acids or ester derivatives. The acceptor nucleophile specificity of modified chymotrypsin as a catalyst in the formation of both amide and peptide bonds in organic solvents was quite comparable to that in aqueous solution as well as to that of the leaving group in hydrolysis reactions. By contrast, the substrate specificity of modified chymotrypsin in organic solvents was different from that in water since arginine and lysine esters were found to be as effective as aromatic amino acids to form the acyl-enzyme with subsequent synthesis of a peptide bond.     

Advances in Lentivirus Purification

Lentiviral vectors (LVs) have been increasingly used as a tool for gene and cell therapies since they can stably integrate the genome in dividing and nondividing cells. LV production and purification processes have evolved substantially over the last decades. However, the increasing demands for higher quantities with more restrictive purity requirements are stimulating the development of novel materials and strategies to supply the market with LV in a cost-effective manner. A detailed review of each downstream process unit operation is performed, limitations, strengths, and potential outcomes being covered. Currently, the majority of large-scale LV manufacturing processes are still based on adherent cell culture, although it is known that the industry is migrating fast to suspension cultures. Regarding the purification strategy, it consists of batch chromatography and membrane technology. Nevertheless, new solutions are being created to improve the current production schemes and expand its clinical use.     

A combined screening and in silico strategy for the rapid design of integrated downstream processes for process and product-related impurity removal

Integrated designs of chromatographic processes for purification of biopharmaceuticals provides potential gains in operational efficiency and reductions of costs and material requirements. We describe a combined method using screening and in silico algorithms for ranking chromatographic steps to rapidly design orthogonally selective integrated processes for purifying protein therapeutics from both process- and product-related impurities. IFN-α2b produced in Pichia pastoris containing a significant product variant challenge was used as a case study. The product and product-related variants were screened on a set of 14 multimodal, ion exchange, and hydrophobic charge induction chromatography resins under various pH and salt linear gradient conditions. Data generated from reversed-phase chromatography of the fractions collected were used to generate a retention database for IFN-α2b and its variants. These data, in combination with a previously constructed process-related impurity database for P. pastoris, were input into an in silico process development tool that generated and ranked all possible integrated chromatographic sequences for their ability to remove both process and product-related impurities. Top-ranking outputs guided the experimental refinement of two successful three step purification processes, one comprising all bind-elute steps and the other having two bind-elute steps and a flowthrough operation. This approach suggests a new platform-like approach for rapidly designing purification processes for a range of proteins where separations of both process- and product-related impurities are needed.