Selective separation and enrichment of proteins in aqueous two-phase extraction system

A simple aqueous two-phase extraction system(ATPS) of PEG/phosphate was proposed for selective separation and enrichment of proteins.The combination of ATPE with HPLC was applied to identify the partition of proteins in two phases.Five proteins (bovine serum albumin,Cytochrome C,lysozyme,myoglobin,and trypsin) were used as model proteins to study the effect of phosphate concentration and pH on proteins partition.The PEG/phosphate system was firstly applied to real human saliva and plasma samples,some pro...     

Affinity partitioning of human antibodies in aqueous two-phase systems

The partitioning of human immunoglobulin (IgG) in a polymer-polymer and polymer-salt aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) in the presence of several functionalised polyethylene glycols (PEGs) was studied. As a first approach, the partition studies were performed with pure IgG using systems in which the target protein remained in the bottom phase when the non-functionalised systems were tested. The effect of increasing functionalised PEG concentration and the type of ligand were studied. Afterwards, selectivity studies were performed with the most successful ligands first by using systems containing pure proteins and an artificial mixture of proteins and, subsequently, with systems containing a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells supernatant. The PEG/phosphate ATPS was not suitable for the affinity partitioning of IgG. In the PEG/dextran ATPS, the diglutaric acid functionalised PEGs (PEG-COOH) displayed great affinity to IgG, and all IgG could be recovered in the top phase when 20% (w/w) of PEG 150-COOH and 40% (w/w) PEG 3350-COOH were used. The selectivity of these functionalised PEGs was evaluated using an artificial mixture of proteins, and PEG 3350-COOH did not show affinity to IgG in the presence of typical serum proteins such as human serum albumin and myoglobin, while in systems with PEG 150-COOH, IgG could be recovered with a yield of 91%. The best purification of IgG from the CHO cells supernatant was then achieved in a PEG/dextran ATPS in the presence of PEG 150-COOH with a recovery yield of 93%, a purification factor of 1.9 and a selectivity to IgG of 11. When this functionalised PEG was added to the ATPS, a 60-fold increase in selectivity was observed when compared to the non-functionalised systems.     

Aqueous two-phase systems for protein separation: a perspective

Aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) that are formed by mixing a polymer (usually polyethylene glycol, PEG) and a salt (e.g. phosphate, sulphate or citrate) or two polymers and water can be effectively used for the separation and purification of proteins. The partitioning between both phases is dependent on the surface properties of the proteins and on the properties of the two phase system. The mechanism of partitioning is complex and not very easy to predict but, as this review paper shows, some very clear trends can be established. Hydrophobicity is the main determinant in the partitioning of proteins and can be measured in many different ways. The two methods that are more attractive, depending on the ATPS used (PEG/salt, PEG/polymer), are those that consider the 3-D structure and the hydrophobicity of AA on the surface and the one based on precipitation with ammonium sulphate (parameter 1/m*). The effect of charge has a relatively small effect on the partitioning of proteins in PEG/salt systems but is more important in PEG/dextran systems. Protein concentration has an important effect on the partitioning of proteins in ATPS. This depends on the higher levels of solubility of the protein in each of the phases and hence the partitioning observed at low protein concentrations can be very different to that observed at high concentrations. In virtually all cases the partition coefficient is constant at low protein concentration (true partitioning) and changes to a different constant value at a high overall protein concentration. Furthermore, true partitioning behavior, which is independent of the protein concentration, only occurs at relatively low protein concentration. As the concentration of a protein exceeds relatively low values, precipitation at the interface and in suspension can be observed. This protein precipitate is in equilibrium with the protein solubilized in each of the phases. Regarding the effect of protein molecular weight, no clear trend of the effect on partitioning has been found, apart from PEG/dextran systems where proteins with higher molecular weights partitioned more readily to the bottom phase. Bioaffinity has been shown in many cases to have an important effect on the partitioning of proteins. The practical application of ATPS has been demonstrated in many cases including a number of industrial applications with excellent levels of purity and yield. This separation and purification has also been successfully used for the separation of virus and virus-like particles.     

System Establishment of ATPS for One-Step Purification of Glutamate Decarboxylase from <Emphasis Type="Italic">E. coli</Emphasis> After Cell Disruption

The partition of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) from Escherichia coli in polyethylene glycol (PEG) and sodium sulfate aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) has been explored with the purpose of establishing a phase system for the purification of GAD after cell disruption. The results showed that the partitioning of GAD was slightly influenced by PEG molecular weight (MW) but depended on the tie line length (TLL) and NaCl and loading sample concentrations. The optimum system obtained for GAD purification was composed of a PEG MW of 4,000, TLL of 63.5%, a volume ratio of 2.31, a loading sample concentration of 0.4 g/mL, which produced a GAD recovery of 90% with the purification fold of 73. Furthermore, the feasibility of directly purifying GAD from the cell disrupts using ATPS was evaluated. The established ATPS for GAD purification exhibited an efficient integrated purification process compared to the reported purification process in terms of purification efficiency and recovery.     

双水相萃取结合液相色谱法分离蛋白质

建立了PEG/( NH4)2SO4双水相体系萃取富集,结合液相色谱分离分析多种蛋白质的方法.考察了无机盐种类和浓度、PEG分子量、pH值和温度等因素对双水相形成以及对细胞色素C、肌红蛋白、牛血清白蛋白、溶菌酶、胰蛋白酶分配行为的影响.结果表明,上述5种蛋白在室温、pH 3.5～9.0范围内,可在15％ PEG-4000/10％ (NH4)2SO4双水相体系中得到富集,且主要集中在下相.同样条件下,血清中的高丰度蛋白在上下相均有分配,下相分配量较大.通过双水相萃取分离蛋白质及对液相色谱一定时间段的色谱峰收集,可初步实现血清中高丰度蛋白质的分离去除.     

Direct purification of pectinase from mango (Mangifera Indica Cv. Chokanan) peel using a PEG/salt-based Aqueous Two Phase System

An Aqueous Two-Phase System (ATPS) was employed for the first time for the separation and purification of pectinase from mango (Mangifera Indica Cv. Chokanan) peel. The effects of different parameters such as molecular weight of the polymer (polyethylene glycol, 2,000-10,000), potassium phosphate composition (12-20%, w/w), system pH (6-9), and addition of different concentrations of neutral salts (0-8%, w/w) on partition behavior of pectinase were investigated. The partition coefficient of the enzyme was decreased by increasing the PEG molecular weight. Additionally, the phase composition showed a significant effect on purification factor and yield of the enzyme. Optimum conditions for purification of pectinase from mango peel were achieved in a 14% PEG 4000-14% potassium phosphate system using 3% (w/w) NaCl addition at pH 7.0. Based on this system, the purification factor of pectinase was increased to 13.2 with a high yield of (97.6%). Thus, this study proves that ATPS can be an inexpensive and effective method for partitioning of pectinase from mango peel.     

Partitioning of lactate dehydrogenase from bovine heart crude extract by polyethylene glycol-citrate aqueous two-phase systems

Aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) composed of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-citrate have been used for enzyme partitioning studies. The behavior of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) from bovine heart crude extract was analyzed using a two-level factorial design in which the PEG molar mass and concentration, the citrate concentration were selected as independent variables, while the purification factor, the partition coefficient (K) and the activity yield were selected as responses. The statistical analysis revealed the effect of PEG molar mass on K. LDH exhibited a better partitioning toward PEG-rich phase and the highest K value (1079.81) was obtained with 42% (w/w) PEG 400 and 7.5% (w/w) citrate concentration. PEG molar mass also influenced the purification factor of the enzyme in the top phase. Possibly these ATPS remove inhibitors present in the extract affording higher enzyme yield.     

Affinity partitioning of plasmid DNA with a zinc finger protein

The affinity isolation of pre-purified plasmid DNA (pDNA) from model buffer solutions using native and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) derivatized zinc finger-GST (Glutathione-S-Transferase) fusion protein was examined in PEG-dextran (DEX) aqueous two-phase systems (ATPSs). In the absence of pDNA, partitioning of unbound PEGylated fusion protein into the PEG-rich phase was confirmed with 97.5% of the PEGylated fusion protein being detected in the PEG phase of a PEG 600-DEX 40 ATPS. This represents a 1322-fold increase in the protein partition coefficient in comparison to the non-PEGylated protein (Kc = 0.013). In the presence of pDNA containing a specific oligonucleotide recognition sequence, the zinc finger moiety of the PEGylated fusion protein bound to the plasmid and steered the complex to the PEG-rich phase. An increase in the proportion of pDNA that partitioned to the PEG-rich phase was observed as the concentration of PEGylated fusion protein was increased. Partitioning of the bound complex occurred to such an extent that no DNA was detected by the picogreen assay in the dextran phase. It was also possible to partition pDNA using a non-PEGylated (native) zinc finger-GST fusion protein in a PEG 1000-DEX 500 ATPS. In this case the native ligand accumulated mainly in the PEG phase. These results indicate good prospects for the design of new plasmid DNA purification methods using fusion proteins as affinity ligands.     

Purification of recombinant DNA-derived factor IX produced in transgenic pig milk and fractionation of active and inactive subpopulations

Transgenic animal bioreactors can be engineered to make gram per liter quantities of complex recombinant glycoproteins in milk. However, little is known about the limitations in post-translational processing that occurs for very complex proteins and how this impacts the task of purification. We report on the purification of recombinant factor IX (rFIX) from the milk of transgenic pigs having an expression level of 2-3 g rFIX/(l(-1) h(-1)), an expression level that is about 20-fold higher than previously reported. This purification process efficiently recovers highly active rFIX and shows that even complex mixtures like pig milk, which contains 60 g/l total endogenous milk protein and multiple subpopulations of rFIX, can be processed using conventional, non-immunoaffinity chromatographic methods. Without prior removal of caseins, heparin-affinity chromatography was used to first purify the total population of rFIX at greater than 90% yield. After the total population was isolated, the biologically active and inactive subpopulations were fractionated by high-resolution anion exchange chromatography using an ammonium acetate elution. Capillary isoelectric focusing of the active and inactive rFIX fractions demonstrated that the active subpopulations are the most acidic.     

Evaluation of a PEG/hydroxypropyl starch aqueous two‐phase system for the separation of monoclonal antibodies from cell culture supernatant

In this study, an aqueous two‐phase system (ATPS) with PEG and hydroxypropyl starch (HPS) was used to separate monoclonal antibody (mAb) from Chinese hamster ovary cell culture supernatant. The phase diagram of the PEG/HPS ATPS was determined, and the effects of NaCl addition were investigated. The results showed that NaCl addition could lead to a shift of the binodal curve and that phase separation would occur at higher PEG and HPS concentrations. The effects of NaCl addition, pH, and the load of cell supernatant on the partitioning of mAb in a PEG/HPS ATPS were investigated. It was found that with 6% cell supernatant and 15% NaCl addition at pH 6.0, the yield of mAb in the upper phase was 96.7% with a purity of 96.0%. The back‐extraction of mAb with a PEG/phosphate ATPS were also studied, and the results showed that after the two‐step extraction with ATPSs the purity of mAb could reach 97.6 ± 0.5% with a yield of 86.8 ± 1.0%, which was comparable to the purification with Protein A chromatography. These results indicate that the two‐step extraction with PEG/HPS and PEG/phosphate ATPSs might be a promising alternative for the separation of mAb from cell culture supernatant.     

Tobacco protein separation by aqueous two-phase extraction

Tobacco has long been considered as a host to produce large quantity of high-valued recombinant proteins. However, dealing with large quantities of biomass is a challenge for downstream processing. Aqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE) has been widely used in purifying proteins from various sources. It is a protein-friendly process and can be scaled up easily. In this paper, ATPE was studied for its applicability to recombinant protein purification from tobacco with egg white lysozyme as the model protein. Separate experiments with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-salt-tobacco extract and PEG-salt-lysozyme were carried out to determine the partition behavior of tobacco protein and lysozyme, respectively. Two-level fractional factorial designs were used to study the effects of factors such as, PEG molecular mass, PEG concentration, the concentration of phase forming salt, sodium chloride concentration and pH, on protein partitioning. The results showed that, among the studied systems, PEG-sodium sulfate system was most suitable for lysozyme purification. Detailed experiments were conducted by spiking lysozyme into the tobacco extract. The conditions with highest selectivity of lysozyme over native tobacco protein were determined using a response surface design. The purification factor was further improved by decreasing the phase ratio along the tie line corresponding to the phase compositions with the highest selectivity. Under selected conditions the lysozyme yield was predicted to be 87% with a purification factor of 4 and concentration factor of 14. From this study, ATPE was shown to be suitable for initial protein recovery and partial purification from transgenic tobacco.     

Prediction of the partitioning behaviour of proteins in aqueous two-phase systems using only their amino acid composition

The prediction of the partition behaviour of proteins in aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) using mathematical models based on their amino acid composition was investigated. The predictive models are based on the average surface hydrophobicity (ASH). The ASH was estimated by means of models that use the three-dimensional structure of proteins and by models that use only the amino acid composition of proteins. These models were evaluated for a set of 11 proteins with known experimental partition coefficient in four-phase systems: polyethylene glycol (PEG) 4000/phosphate, sulfate, citrate and dextran and considering three levels of NaCl concentration (0.0% w/w, 0.6% w/w and 8.8% w/w). The results indicate that such prediction is feasible even though the quality of the prediction depends strongly on the ATPS and its operational conditions such as the NaCl concentration. The ATPS 0 model which use the three-dimensional structure obtains similar results to those given by previous models based on variables measured in the laboratory. In addition it maintains the main characteristics of the hydrophobic resolution and intrinsic hydrophobicity reported before. Three mathematical models, ATPS I-III, based only on the amino acid composition were evaluated. The best results were obtained by the ATPS I model which assumes that all of the amino acids are completely exposed. The performance of the ATPS I model follows the behaviour reported previously, i.e. its correlation coefficients improve as the NaCl concentration increases in the system and, therefore, the effect of the protein hydrophobicity prevails over other effects such as charge or size. Its best predictive performance was obtained for the PEG/dextran system at high NaCl concentration. An increase in the predictive capacity of at least 54.4% with respect to the models which use the three-dimensional structure of the protein was obtained for that system. In addition, the ATPS I model exhibits high correlation coefficients in that system being higher than 0.88 on average. The ATPS I model exhibited correlation coefficients higher than 0.67 for the rest of the ATPS at high NaCl concentration. Finally, we tested our best model, the ATPS I model, on the prediction of the partition coefficient of the protein invertase. We found that the predictive capacities of the ATPS I model are better in PEG/dextran systems, where the relative error of the prediction with respect to the experimental value is 15.6%.     

Solvent systems for countercurrent chromatography: an aqueous two phase liquid system based on a room temperature ionic liquid

A new aqueous two phase liquid system (ATPS) based on the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium chloride (BMIM Cl), potassium dibasic phosphate (K(2)HPO(4)) and water was recently proposed in the literature. The full phase diagram of this ATPS was prepared and some tie lines were fully determined. It was compared to classical ATPSs based on polyethylene glycol with an average molecular mass of 1000 (PEG 1000) and 10,000 (PEG 10000) and K(2)HPO(4). Two countercurrent chromatography (CCC) columns, a hydrostatic Sanki and a J type hydrodynamic CCC columns were used to test the liquid phase retention of these ATPSs in all possible configurations. It was found that the BMIM Cl ATPS liquid phases were much easier to retain in the two CCC columns than the PEG 1000 ATPS phases. Using protein and alcohol solutes, it was established that the BMIM Cl ATPS has a polarity completely different from that of the PEG 1000 ATPS. For example, ovalbumin partitions equally between the two phases of the PEG 1000 ATPS (K(D)=1.4) when it is completely located in the BMIM Cl upper phase of the ionic liquid ATPS (K(D)=180). The discrimination factor of the ionic liquid system and its intrinsic hydrophobicity were respectively found three times higher and ten times lower than the respective values of the PEG 1000 ATPS.     

Application of central composite design to the optimisation of aqueous two-phase extraction of human antibodies

The partition of human antibodies in aqueous two-phase systems (ATPSs) of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and phosphate was systematically studied using first pure proteins systems and then an artificial mixture of proteins containing 1mg/ml human immunoglobulin G (IgG), 10mg/ml serum albumin and 2mg/ml myoglobin. Preliminary results obtained using pure proteins systems indicated that the PEG molecular weight and concentration, the pH value and the salts concentration had a pronounced effect on the partitioning behaviour of all proteins. For high ionic strengths and pH values higher than the isoelectric point (pI) of the contaminant proteins, IgG could be selectively recovered on the top phase. According to these results, a face centred composite design was performed in order to optimise the purification of IgG from the mixture of proteins. The optimal conditions for the isolation of IgG were observed for high concentrations of NaCl and low concentrations of both phase forming components. The best purification was achieved using an ATPS containing 8% (w/w) PEG 3350, 10% (w/w) phosphate pH 6 and 15% (w/w) NaCl. A recovery yield of 101+/-7%, a purity of 99+/-0% and a yield of native IgG of 97+/-4% were obtained. Back extraction studies of IgG to a new phosphate phase were performed and higher yields were obtained using 10% phosphate buffer at pH 6. The total extraction yield was 76% and the purity 100%.     

Extraction of the antimicrobial peptide cerein 8A by aqueous two-phase systems and aqueous two-phase micellar systems

Cerein 8A is an antimicrobial peptide with potential application against food spoilage and pathogenic bacteria. The partitioning of cerein 8A was investigated in two liquid-liquid extraction systems that are considered promising for bioseparation and purification purposes. Aqueous two-phase systems (ATPSs) were prepared with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and inorganic salts, and the addition of NaCl was investigated in this system. The best results concerning partition coefficients (K (b)) were obtained with PEG?+?ammonium sulphate, and K (b) value significantly increases when NaCl was added. Cerein 8A was effectively extracted into the micelle-rich phase in a 4% Triton X-114 medium. Recovery yield was higher for ATPS compared to micellar systems. Cerein 8A can be isolated from a crude suspension containing the bioactive molecule by ATPSs. Successful implementation of peptide partitioning represents an important step towards developing a low-cost effective separation method for cerein 8A.     

Integrated Downstream Processing of Lactoperoxidase from Milk Whey Involving Aqueous Two-Phase Extraction and Ultrasound-Assisted Ultrafiltration

The present work involves the adoption of an integrated approach for the purification of lactoperoxidase from milk whey by coupling aqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE) with ultrasound-assisted ultrafiltration. The effect of system parameters of ATPE such as type of phase system, polyethylene glycol (PEG) molecular mass, system pH, tie line length and phase volume ratio was evaluated so as to obtain differential partitioning of contaminant proteins and lactoperoxidase in top and bottom phases, respectively. PEG 6000-potassium phosphate system was found to be suitable for the maximum activity recovery of lactoperoxidase 150.70% leading to 2.31-fold purity. Further, concentration and purification of enzyme was attempted using ultrafiltration. The activity recovery and purification factor achieved after ultrafiltration were 149.85% and 3.53-fold, respectively. To optimise productivity and cost-effectiveness of integrated process, influence of ultrasound for the enhancement of permeate flux during ultrafiltration was also investigated. Intermittent use of ultrasound along with stirring (2 min acoustic and 2 min stirring) resulted in increased permeate flux from 0.94 to 2.18 l/m² h in comparison to the ultrafiltration without ultrasound. The use of ultrasound during ultrafiltration resulted in increase in flux, but there was no significant change in activity recovery and purification factor. The integrated approach involving ATPE and ultrafiltration may prove to be a feasible method for the downstream processing of lactoperoxidase from milk whey.     

Partitioning and assembly of metal particles and their bioconjugates in aqueous two-phase systems

The behavior of metal nanospheres and nanowires and their bioconjugates in aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) is described. The ATPS used in this work comprised poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), dextran, and water or aqueous buffer. Au and Ag nanospheres less than 100 nm in diameter partition between the PEG-rich and dextran-rich phases on the basis of their surface chemistry and can be separated on this basis. Larger Au nanospheres and wires accumulate at the interface between the two aqueous phases. The influence of polymer molecular weight and concentration on interfacial assembly of Au wires is described. DNA-derivatized nanowires at the aqueous/aqueous interface retain the ability to selectively bind to fluorescent complementary DNA. In addition, Au nanoparticles have been bound to Au wires via selective DNA hybridization at the ATPS interface. Transmission electron microscopy and thermal denaturation experiments confirm that DNA-driven assembly is responsible for the formation of the nanosphere/wire assemblies. These results demonstrate the biocompatibility of the two-phase interface and point to future use as scaffolding in biorecognition-driven assembly.     

Purification of plasmid DNA vectors by aqueous two-phase extraction and hydrophobic interaction chromatography

The current study explores the possibility of using a polyethyleneglycol(PEG)-ammonium sulphate aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) as an early step in a process for the purification of a model 6.1 kbp plasmid DNA (pDNA) vector. Neutralised alkaline lysates were fed directly to ATPS. Conditions were selected to direct pDNA towards the salt-rich bottom phase, so that this stream could be subsequently processed by hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC). Screening of the best conditions for ATPS extraction was performed using three PEG molecular weights (300, 400 and 600) and varying the tie-line length, phase volume ratio and lysate load. For a 20% (w/w) lysate load, the best results were obtained with PEG 600 using the shortest tie-line (38.16%, w/w). By further manipulating the system composition along this tie-line in order to obtain a top/bottom phase volume ratio of 9.3 (35%, w/w PEG 600, 6%, w/w NH4)2 SO4), it was possible to recover 100% of pDNA in the bottom phase with a three-fold increase in concentration. Further increase in the lysate load up to 40% (w/w) with this system resulted in a eight-fold increase in pDNA concentration, but with a yield loss of 15%. The ATPS extraction was integrated with HIC and the overall process compared with a previously defined process that uses sequential precipitations with iso-propanol and ammonium sulphate prior to HIC. Although the final yield is lower in the ATPS-based process the purity grade of the final pDNA product is higher. This shows that it is possible to substitute the time-consuming two-step precipitation procedure by a simple ATPS extraction.     

Synthesis of a Novel pH-Sensitive Methacrylate Amphiphilic Polymer and Its Primary Application in Aqueous Two-phase Systems

In this study, a novel pH-sensitive and reversible water-soluble polymer(P(ABC)) forming aqueous two-phase systems(ATPS) was synthesized by using 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate, t-butyl methacrylate, and methyl methacrylate as monomers and 2,2'-azo-bis-isobutyronitrile as initiator. The P(ABC) could be recovered by adjusting isoelectric point (PI) to 8.4, and recovery at PI could reach 95%. ATPS was formed by 5% (w/w) P(ABC) and 10% (w/w) PEG20000. The partition coefficient K of lysozyme was 6.8, and the partition coefficient K of bovine serum albumin could reach 12.5 in the ATPS.     

Separation and purification of aloe polysaccharides by a combination of membrane ultrafiltration and aqueous two-phase extraction

A two-step process was developed for the purification of polysaccharides from the pulp of Aloe varavia using aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) extraction and a novel copolymer ultrafiltration membrane. The first step was ATPS under optimal separations conditions using a total composition of 18% PEG2000, 25% ammonium sulfate, pH 3.0, and 0.3 M NaCl. To form the copolymer membrane, poly(acrylonitrile-acrylamide-styrene) was prepared by solution polycondensation using azoisobutyronitrile as initiator. Then, membranes were formed from the dissolved copolymer by the phase inversion method. Copolymer structure was investigated by infrared spectrum and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The copolymer membrane surface and cross section were observed by scanning electron microscopy. The water flux of this membrane was 26.33 mL/(cm² h), and retention was 96% for bovine serum albumin and 34% for dextran T40000. The separation and purification of aloe polysaccharide were carried using this copolymer membrane following ATPS. The TGA of aloe polysaccharide demonstrated a high purity of the polysaccharide. By gas chromatographic analysis, it was shown that mannose is the main monosaccharide in the aloe polysaccharide, and only a few glucose residues are present.