IMAC—Immobilized metal ion affinity based chromatography

Immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) is a highly versatile separation method based on interfacial interactions between biopolymers in solution and metal ions fixed to a solid support, which is usually a hydrophilic cross-linked polymer.Polymer-fixed Zn(II), Ni(II), Co(II) and Cu(II) are particularly well suited for fractionation of proteins primarily on the basis of their relative content of surface-located imidazole residues but also of Trp and Cys residues as well as terminal amino groups.IMA methods can also be devised for purification of phosphoproteins and calcium-binding proteins. In some instances, the performance of IMA gels is comparable to that of biospecific affinity-based adsorbents. In fact IMA gels may, by sandwich techniques, occasionally be converted to biospecific adsorbents.Selectivity can be varied by choice of type of ligand and metal ion as well as by varying the modes of elution, including affinity desorption.     

High-speed protein purification by adsorptive cation-exchange hollow-fiber cartridges

Novel cation-exchange adsorptive membranes were assessed according to their protein adsorption capacity and permeation flowrate. Maximum static adsorption capacities for the three main egg-white proteins, lysozyme, ovoalbumin and conalbumin, were 140, 88 and 66 mg/ml, respectively. However, membranes showed an inverse relationship between permeation flowrate and static protein adsorption capacity. Two size cartridges (membrane volume of 0.42 and 3.5 ml) were built using the selected membrane. An adsorptive cross-flow cartridge was tested to recover and purify lysozyme from an egg-white solution. Breakthrough curves developed using a pure lysozyme solution showed a dynamic-to-static capacity ratio of 0.6, which was reduced to 0.4 during lysozyme recovery from egg-white solution in cross-flow mode. Total process cycle for the enzyme recovery and purification was in the range of 10–15 min for both cartridges. In both cases high-purity lysozyme (95%) was recovered with a productivity of 150 g/(l h) and no size-exclusion effect was detected.     

Fractionation of natural and model egg-white protein solutions with modified and unmodified polysulfone UF membranes

Mostly, fractionation in laboratory experiments have been carried out with single or binary model protein solutions. The question has arisen whether these experiments can be representative for industrial and natural biological solution fractionations. In this study, a comparison of single, ternary, and natural egg-white solutions is made. Thus, fractionation of ternary mixtures of ovalbumin, conalbumin, and lysozyme and natural egg-white protein solutions at different pH and two ionic strengths was studied with unmodified and UV modified polysulfone ultrafiltration membranes. The modified membranes had an increased initial water flux and their zeta potentials were more negative than those of the unmodified membranes. The UV modified membranes became more hydrophilic due to the formation of carboxylate and sulphonate groups. In ultrafiltration of single protein solutions the highest flux reduction and the lowest protein retention were obtained with ovalbumin at its isoelectric point (pH 4.8). At this pH lysozyme and conalbumin were positively charged and highly retained because of effective size exclusion due to charge repulsion. Also, in fractionation of ternary mixtures and natural egg-white solutions, ovalbumin was the major protein that could permeate the membranes at pH 4.8. Ovalbumin was highly retained due to charge repulsion at all other tested pH values. Retention of ovalbumin and transmission of lysozyme increased in ultrafiltration of egg-white solutions in the presence of salt at pH 4.8. It could be seen clearly that the behaviour of ovalbumin being the most abundant protein, mainly determined the fractionation properties of the mixtures. Comparison of the results from fractionation of solutions of ternary model proteins and natural egg-whites showed that retention was lower and flux reduction smaller in UF of the natural egg-white solutions. This was probably due to interaction of proteins or/and salts presents in the natural egg-white solutions, which could not be modelled by the main protein components. On the whole it seemed as the proteins studied behaved much in the same way in mixtures as separately.     

Egg-white protein fractionation using new weak anion-exchange resins based on poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylendimethacrylate). Preparation and characterization

A new formulation for a poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylendimethacrylate)-based resin with a 11:9 proportion of monomer to crosslinker is developed and amino-functionalized in order to obtain new particulate materials suitable for egg-white protein fractionation. Functionalization is carried out using three different chemical reagents: diethylamine (DEA), DEA-tetrahydrofuran (THF) (1:1), and concentrated ammonia. The ammonia- and DEA-THF-treated polymers are used to fractionate egg-white proteins, in particular lysozyme and ovalbumin, by anion-exchange chromatography in packed column experiments, the latter resin showing better performances. Finally, both supports, working at semipreparative scale and step-gradient elution, separate pure ovalbumin with a yield of 83%.     

Capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry of basic proteins using a new physically adsorbed polymer coating. Some applications in food analysis

A new physically adsorbed capillary coating for capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS) of basic proteins is presented, which is easily obtained by flushing the capillary with a polymer aqueous solution for two min. This coating significantly reduces the electrostatic adsorption of a group of basic proteins (i.e., cytochrome c, lysozyme, and ribonuclease A) onto the capillary wall allowing their analysis by CE-MS. The coating protocol is compatible with electrospray inonization (ESI)-MS via the reproducible separation of the standard basic proteins (%RSD values (n = 5) < 1% for analysis time reproducibility and < 5% for peak heights, measured from the total ion electropherograms (TIEs) within the same day). The LODs determined using cytochrome c with total ion current and extracted ion current defection were 24.5 and 2.9 fmol, respectively. Using this new coating lysozymes from chicken and turkey egg white could be easily distinguished by CE-MS, demonstrating the usefulness of this method to differentiate animal species. Even after sterilization at 120 degrees C for 30 min, lysozyme could be detected, as well as in wines at concentrations much lower than the limit marked by the EC Commission Regulation. Adulteration of minced meat with 5% of egg-white could also be analysed by our CE-MS protocol.     

Strong improvement of interfacial properties can result from slight structural modifications of proteins: the case of native and dry-heated lysozyme

Identification of the key physicochemical parameters of proteins that determine their interfacial properties is still incomplete and represents a real stake challenge, especially for food proteins. Many studies have thus consisted in comparing the interfacial behavior of different proteins, but it is difficult to draw clear conclusions when the molecules are completely different on several levels. Here the adsorption process of a model protein, the hen egg-white lysozyme, and the same protein that underwent a thermal treatment in the dry state, was characterized. The consequences of this treatment have been previously studied: net charge and hydrophobicity increase and lesser protein stability, but no secondary and tertiary structure modification (Desfougères, Y.; Jardin, J.; Lechevalier, V.; Pezennec, S.; Nau, F. Biomacromolecules 2011, 12, 156-166). The present study shows that these slight modifications dramatically increase the interfacial properties of the protein, since the adsorption to the air-water interface is much faster and more efficient (higher surface pressure). Moreover, a thick and strongly viscoelastic multilayer film is created, while native lysozyme adsorbs in a fragile monolayer film. Another striking result is that completely different behaviors were observed between two molecular species, i.e., native and native-like lysozyme, even though these species could not be distinguished by usual spectroscopic methods. This suggests that the air-water interface could be considered as a useful tool to reveal very subtle differences between protein molecules.     

Comparison of adsorption performances of metal–chelated polyamide hollow fibre membranes in lysozyme separation

Commercially available microporous polyamide hollow fibres are modified by acid hydrolysis to activate the reactive groups and subsequently binding of the ligand, i.e. Cibacron Blue F3GA. Then the Cibacron Blue F3GA-derived hollow fibres were loaded with different metal ions (i.e. Zn(II), Cu(II), Ni(II)) to form the metal chelate. The internal polymer matrix was characterised by scanning electron microscopy. The effects of pH, initial concentration of lysozyme, metal type and temperature on the adsorption of lysozyme to the metal–chelated hollow fibres were examined in a batch reactor. The non-specific adsorption of lysozyme onto the polyamide hollow fibres was 1.8 mg/g. Cibacron Blue F3GA immobilisation increased the lysozyme adsorption up to 62.3 mg/g. Metal–chelated hollow fibres showed a significant increase of the adsorption efficiency. Lysozyme adsorption capacities of Zn(II), Cu(II) and Ni(II)-chelated hollow fibres were different. The maximum capacities of Zn(II), Cu(II) or Ni(II)-chelated hollow fibres were 144.2, 75.2 and 68.6 mg/g, respectively. Significant amount of the adsorbed lysozyme (up to 97%) was eluted in 1 h in the elution medium containing 1.0 M NaSCN at pH 8.0 and 25 mM EDTA at pH 4.9. Repeated adsorption–desorption process showed that this novel metal–chelated polyamide hollow fibres are suitable for lysozyme adsorption.     

Scanning-force techniques to monitor time-dependent changes in topography and adhesion force of proteins on surfaces

Scanning-force microscopy (SFM) investigations were conducted to probe the influences of the interactions of proteins with surfaces relevant in medicine. These interactions are an important feature in the area of biofilm formation. The adsorption of proteins leads to changes in topography, which was monitored for the build up of protein layers of hen egg-white lysozyme and bovine serum albumin (BSA) on mica in real time in phosphate-buffered aqueous solution over a time period of 10 min. Phase imaging was additionally applied to compare material contrasts and to evaluate this method for further application in this field. The adhesion forces that develop on a time scale below 20 s between a protein-modified SFM tip and titanium surfaces (TiO(2), TiAl6V4 and TiAl6Nb7) were investigated. The influences of the parameters loading force and interaction time between the protein and the surface were monitored as well as the influence of protein structure. The interaction time dependency of the adhesion force could be described with a kinetic model of two consecutive first-order reactions. For the maximal adhesion force a correlation to the ratio of the amino acids cysteine, proline and glycine has been proposed.     

Determination of Ag(I), Hg(II) and Pb(II) by using silica gel loaded with dithizone and zinc dithizonate

The modified sorbents with dithizone and zinc dithizonate adsorbed on the silica surface were obtained. The adsorption of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions onto loaded silicas was studied. Color scales for Ag(I), Hg(II) and Pb(II) visual test detection were worked out. The modified silica gels were established to be applicable to semi-quantitative determination of these metal ions in buttermilk, natural, mineral and waste water.     

Adsorption of poly(ethylene glycol)-modified lysozyme to silica

Covalent grafting of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) to pharmaceutical proteins, "PEGylation", is becoming more commonplace due to improved therapeutic efficacy. As these conjugates encounter interfaces in manufacture, purification, and end use and adsorption to these interfaces may alter achievable production yields and in vivo efficacies, it is important to understand how PEGylation affects protein adsorption mechanisms. To this end, we have studied the adsorption of unmodified and PEGylated chicken egg lysozyme to silica, using optical reflectometry, total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy (AFM) under varying conditions of ionic strength and extent of PEG modification. PEGylation of lysozyme changes the shape of the adsorption isotherm and alters the preferred orientation of lysozyme on the surface. There is an abrupt transition in the isotherm from low to high surface excess concentrations that correlates with a change in orientation of mono-PEGylated conjugates lying with the long axis parallel to the silica surface to an orientation with the long axis oriented perpendicular to the surface. No sharp transition is observed in the adsorption isotherm for di-PEGylated lysozyme within the range of concentrations examined. The net effect of PEGylation is to decrease the number of protein molecules per unit area relative to the adsorption of unmodified lysozyme, even under conditions where the surface is densely packed with conjugates. This is due to the area sterically excluded by the PEG grafts. The other major effect of PEGylation is to make conjugate adsorption significantly less irreversible than unmodified lysozyme adsorption.     

Electrostatic model for protein adsorption in ion-exchange chromatography and application to monoclonal antibodies,lysozyme and chymotrypsinogen A

A model for the adsorption equilibrium of proteins in ion-exchange chromatography explicitly accounting for the effect of pH and salt concentration in the limit of highly diluted systems was developed. It is based on the use of DLVO theory to estimate the electrostatic interactions between the charged surface of the ion-exchanger and the proteins. The corresponding charge distributions were evaluated as a function of pH and salt concentration using a molecular approach. The model was verified for the adsorption equilibrium of lysozyme, chymotrypsinogen A and four industrial monoclonal antibodies on two strong cation-exchangers. The adsorption equilibrium constants of these proteins were determined experimentally at various pH values and salt concentrations and the model was fitted with a good agreement using three adjustable parameters for each protein in the whole range of experimental conditions. Despite the simplifications of the model regarding the geometry of the protein–ion-exchanger system, the physical meaning of the parameters was retained.     

Cu(II)-loaded iminodiacetic acid-silica particles for protein profiling of human serum samples using surface-enhanced affinity capture: support porosity effects

Silica particles of different porosity were functionalised with iminodiacetic acid (IDA) and loaded with Cu(II) ions to yield Cu(II)-IDA-silica. These immobilised metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) materials were subjected to a comprehensive characterisation study. The Cu(II) content--determined via UV/Vis spectroscopy and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS)--was found to be linearly dependent on the specific surface area of the silica particles. The evaluation of protein adsorption isotherms provided information on binding properties towards biomolecules. The data fitted Langmuir's adsorption theory. Binding capacity of hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL) was highest for Cu(II)-IDA-silica with mean pore diameter of 120 A, reaching nearly 350 mg/g. All derivatised materials were applied to the fractionation of human serum samples and subsequent mass spectrometric analysis (m/z: 2000-10,000) according to a surface-enhanced affinity capture (SEAC) protocol. Pore size of the support material affected the appearance of the mass spectra to a great extent, showing that surface morphology is another parameter that has to be considered in addition to surface chemistry. Signal intensity as well as the number of detected masses were strongly dependent on the pore diameter, indicating that the carrier material has to be carefully chosen to assure best results.     

On the Use of the Hypothesis of Statistically Homogeneous Suspensions in the Calculation of Their Conductivity

Electrostatic effects on protein adsorption were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and adsorption isotherms. The thermal denaturation of lysozyme, ribonuclease A (RNase), and alpha-lactalbumin in solution and adsorbed onto silica nanoparticles was examined at three concentrations of cations: 10 and 100 mM of sodium and 100 mM of sodium to which 10 mM of calcium was added. The parameters investigated were the denaturation enthalpy (DeltaH), the temperature at which the denaturation transition was half-completed (T(m)), and the temperature range of the denaturation transition. For lysozyme and RNase, adsorption isotherms depend strongly on the ionic strength. At low ionic strength both proteins have a high affinity for the silica particles and adsorption is accompanied by a 15-25% reduction in DeltaH and a 3-6 degrees C decrease in T(m), indicating that the adsorbed state of the proteins is destabilized. Also, an increase in the width of the denaturation transition is observed, signifying a larger conformational heterogeneity of the surface bound proteins. At higher ionic strengths, both with and without the addition of calcium, no significant adsorption-induced alteration in DeltaH was observed for all three proteins. The addition of calcium, however, decreases the width of the denaturation transition for lysozyme and RNase in the adsorbed state. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

Concentration-Dependent Influence of Silver Nanoparticles on Amyloid Fibrillation Kinetics of Hen Egg-White Lysozyme

Understanding the influence of nanoparticles on the formation of protein amyloid fibrillation is crucial to extend their application in related biological diagnosis and nanomedicines. In this work, Raman spectroscopy was used to probe the amyloid fibrillation of hen egg-white lysozyme in the presence of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) at different concentrations, combined with atomic force microscopy and thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence assays. Four representative Raman indicators were utilized to monitor transformation of the protein tertiary and secondary structures at the molecular level: the Trp doublet bands at 1340 and 1360 cm^-1, the disulfide stretching vibrational peak at 507 cm^-1, the N-C$\alpha$-C stretching vibration at 933 cm^-1, and the amide Ⅰ band. All experimental results confirmed the concentration-dependent influence of AgNPs on the hen egg-white lysozyme amyloid fibrillation kinetics. In the presence of AgNPs at low concentration (17 μg/mL), electrostatic interaction of the nanoparticles stabilizes disulfide bonds, and protects the Trp residues from exposure to hydrophilic environment, thus leading to formation of amorphous aggregates rather than fibrils. However, with the action of AgNPs at high concentration (1700 μg/mL), the native disulfide bonds of hen egg-white lysozyme are broken to form Ag-S bonds owing to the competition of electrostatic interaction from a great deal of nanoparticles. As for providing functional surfaces for protein to interact with, AgNPs play a bridge role in direct transformation from $\alpha$-helices to organized $\beta$-sheets. The present investigation sheds light on the controversial effects of AgNPs on the kinetics of hen egg-white lysozyme amyloid fibrillation.     

Zeta potential measurement for air bubbles in protein solutions

Protein adsorption at gas-liquid interfaces is important in a number of processes including foam formation in bioreactors, foam fractionation for protein recovery, and production of protein based food and drinks. The physical properties of the gas-liquid interface will influence foam stability; important properties will include both surface rheological and electrokinetic properties. While surface rheological properties of gas-protein solution interfaces have been reported, there are no published values for electrokinetic properties at such interfaces. In this paper, zeta potential values of gas bubbles in solutions of three proteins, measured using a microelectrophoresis technique, are reported. The three proteins chosen were BSA, beta-casein, and lysozyme; these proteins have all been used previously in protein foaming studies. The effect of protein concentration and ionic strength is considered. For BSA and beta-casein, zeta potential was found to increase with increasing protein concentration and ionic strength. For air bubbles in lysozyme solutions, measured zeta potential was zero. zeta potential values for air bubbles in some binary protein mixtures are also presented.     

Effect of polysaccharide structure on protein adsorption

Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for quantification, the adsorption has been studied of chicken egg lysozyme, human serum albumin (HSA), bovine colostrum lactoferrin, and γ-globulin (IgG) from single solutions onto surface-immobilised polysaccharide coatings, which were produced by the covalent attachment of a series of carboxymethyldextrans (CMDs) onto aminated fluoropolymer surfaces. CMDs with differing degrees of carboxymethyl substitution were synthesized by the reaction of dextran with bromoacetic acid under different reactant ratios. Substantial amounts of protein adsorption onto these coatings were observed with the majority of the coating/protein combinations. On the most extensively substituted CMD (1 carboxyl group per 2 dextran units), lysozyme and lactoferrin adsorbed to approximately monolayer amounts whereas there was minimal adsorption of HSA, indicating the importance of electrostatic interfacial interactions. CMD 1:14 was similar whereas the least substituted, least dense coating, from CMD 1:30, adsorbed less lysozyme and lactoferrin but more HSA. Adsorption of the large multidomain protein IgG varied little with the coating. Grazing angle XPS data indicated that for the CMD 1:30 coating there occurred significant in-diffusion of the lower molecular weight proteins. The data suggest that elimination of adsorption of a broad spectrum of proteins is not straightforward with negatively charged polysaccharide coatings; elimination of protein accumulation onto/into such coatings may not be achievable solely with a balance of electrostatic and steric–entropic interfacial forces.     

Bifunctionalized SBA-15 as a novel micropipette tip sorbent for selective removal and enrichment of biomolecules

Selective enrichment or removal of specific proteins prior to analysis can minimize nonspecific interferences as well as information loss, which has been an important issue in current proteomics fields. In this work, two kinds of mesoporous silica SBA-15 (mean pore diameter of 5 nm and 7 nm), bifunctionalized with quaternary ammonium and C18 groups via silylanization reaction, was used to investigate the adsorption behavior for different proteins (bovine serum albumin (BSA), ovalbumin (OVA), hemoglobin (Hb), lysozyme (Lys) and cytochrome c (cyt c)). As possessing anion exchange (quaternary ammonium) groups, the bifunctionalized SBA-15 showed selective adsorption of the negative charged proteins, BSA and OVA. Based on these properties, sequential fractionation based on different SBA-15 materials as micropipette tip sorbents was developed for sample preparation prior to protein analysis. As expected, after the sequential treatment of the sample, the detection signal of the high abundant BSA was significantly decreased and that of the low abundant cyt c was obviously enlarged, which solved the problem that low abundant protein was suppressed by adjacent high abundant protein. The sample preparation technique significantly improved protein identification and this sequential fractionation approach could be potentially applied to extend information on the protein identification for biological samples with a wide dynamic range.     

Improved detection limits for electrospray ionization on a magnetic sector mass spectrometer by using an array detector

Array detection was compared with point detection for solutions of hen egg-white lysozyme, equine myoglobin, and ubiquitin analyzed by electrospray ionization with a magnetic sector mass spectrometer. The detection limits for samples analyzed by using the array detector system were at least 10 times lower than could be achieved by using a point detector on the same mass spectrometer. The minimum detectable quantity of protein corresponded to a signal-to-background ratio of approximately 2∶1 for a 500 amol/μL solution of hen egg-white lysozyme. However, the ultimate practical sample concentrations appeared to be in the 10–100 fmol/μL range for the analysis of dilute solutions of relatively pure proteins or simple mixtures.     

Nd-Fe-B alloy-densified agarose gel for expanded bed adsorption of proteins

Novel dense composite adsorbents for expanded bed adsorption of protein have been fabricated by coating 4% agarose gel onto Nd-Fe-B alloy powder by a water-in-oil emulsification method. Two composite matrices, namely Nd-Fe-B alloy-densified agarose (NFBA) gels with different size distributions and densities, NFBA-S (50-165 microm, 1.88 g/ml) and NFBA-L (140-300 microm, 2.04 g/ml), were produced. Lysozyme was used as a model protein to test the adsorption capacity and kinetics for the NFBA gels modified by Cibacron blue 3GA (CB-NFBA gels). Liquid-phase dispersion behavior in the expanded beds was examined by measurements of residence time distributions, and compared with that of Streamline SP (Amersham-Pharmacia Biotech, Sweden). The dependence of axial mixing in the expanded beds on flow velocity, bed expansion degree. settled bed height, and viscosity of liquid phase was investigated. Breakthrough curves of lysozyme in the expanded beds of the CB-NFBA gels were also examined. The dynamic binding capacity at 5% breakthrough was 23.3 mg/ml matrix for the CB-NFBA-S gels, and 16.7 mg/ml matrix for the CB-NFBA-L, at a flow velocity of 220 cm/h. The results indicate that the NFBA gels are promising for expanded bed adsorption of proteins.