Stabilization of fibroblast growth factors by a non-cytotoxic zwitterionic detergent, 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl) dimethylammonio]-1-propane sulfonate (chaps)

Summary The potential usefulness of a zwitterionic detergent, 3-(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]-1-propane sulfonate (CHAPS), in the stabilization of acidic and basic fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) was examined. Among several detergents, CHAPS was found to be not only non-cytotoxic but also most useful in handing the diluted preparations of FGFs. The advantages are as follows: 1) at lower concentrations than 0.01% CHAPS did not affect growth factor activity of calf serum (CS) and the growth rate of BLAB/c 3T3 cells. The primary culture of rat prostate epithelium and colony formation of NRK-49F cells were hardly influenced by CHAPS lower than 0.003%; 2) the loss of FGFs that usually occurs due to their adherence to the surface of storage containers was effectively prevented by inclusion of 0.1% CHAPS; 3) the recovery of FGFs after storage or dialysis was significantly enhanced by inclusion of 0.1% CHAPS; 4) CHAPS at lower concentrations than 0.1% does not interfere with amino acid analysis, except that Thr may be misled only when the ratio of protein/CHAPS is low; 5) amino acid sequence analysis was hardly disturbed by CHAPS up to 0.5%. These results indicate that CHAPS is useful as a stabilizing agent for various kinds of polypeptides capable of showing biological activity at a low concentration. Editor's statement Polypeptide growth factors and hormones, especially heparin-binding growth factors (FGF), are notoriously troublesome to handle in purified form at extremely low concentrations. This report demonstrates an interesting solution to this problem.