DEAE-Affi-Gel Blue chromatography of human serum: use for purification of native transferrin

Human serum was subjected to chromatography on DEAE-Affi-Gel Blue which combines ion-exchange and pseudo-ligand-affinity chromatography in a 0.02 M phosphate buffer, pH 7.0. All serum proteins were bound with the exception of transferrin, IgG (immunoglobulin G) and trace amounts of IgA. After a second step of Sephadex G-100 gel chromatography, or affinity chromatography against goat anti-human IgG F(ab')2 coupled to AH-Sepharose 4B, IgG and IgA were removed. The transferrin obtained was homogeneous and of high yield (greater than 80%), and was unaltered as judged by analyses of molecular weight, isoelectric point, iron-binding capacity, antigenicity, and ability to bind to high-affinity specific cellular receptors. Thus, DEAE-Affi-Gel Blue chromatography may be used as the basis for a simple, rapid, two-step method for the purification of large amounts of native transferrin from serum.