Solid-phase extraction for the simultaneous preconcentration of organic (selenocystine) and inorganic [Se(IV), Se(VI)] selenium in natural waters

The recombinantly produced different forms of protein G, namely monofunctional immunoglobulin G (IgG) binding, monofunctional serum albumin (SA) binding and bifunctional IgG/SA binding proteins G, are compared with respect to their specific affinities to blood IgG and SA. The affinity mode of the recently developed high-performance monolithic disk chromatography has been used for fast quantitative investigations. Using single affinity disks as well as two discs stacked into one separation unit, one order of magnitude in adsorption capacities for IgG and SA were found both for monofunctional and bifunctional protein G forms used as specific affinity ligands. However, despite the adsorption difference observed, the measured dissociation constants of the affinity complexes seemed to be very close. The analytical procedure developed can be realized within a couple of minutes. Up-scaling of the developed technology was carried out using another type of monolithic materials, i.e. CIM affinity tubes.     

Selectivity of monolithic supports under overloading conditions and their use for separation of human plasma and isolation of low abundance proteins

Human serum albumin (HSA) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) represent over 75% of all proteins present in human plasma. These two proteins frequently interfere with detection, determination and purification of low abundance proteins that can be potential biomarkers and biomarker candidates for various diseases. Some low abundance plasma proteins such as clotting factors and inhibitors are also important therapeutic agents. In this paper, the characterization of ion-exchange monolithic supports under overloading conditions was performed by use of sample displacement chromatography (SDC). If these supports were used for separation of human plasma, the composition of bound and eluted proteins in both anion- and cation-exchange mode is dependent on column loading. Under overloading conditions, the weakly bound proteins such as HSA in anion-exchange and IgG in cation-exchange mode are displaced by stronger binding proteins, and this phenomenon was not dependent on column size. Consequently, small monolithic columns with a column volume of 100 and 200 μL are ideal supports for high-throughput screening in order to develop new methods for separation of complex mixtures, and for sample preparation in proteomic technology.     

Characterization of metal chelate methacrylate monolithic disk for purification of polyclonal and monoclonal immunoglobulin G

Dynamic binding capacity (DBC) of commercial metal-chelate methacrylate monolith-convective interaction media (CIM) was performed with commercial human immunoglobulin G (IgG) (Cohn fraction II, III). Monoliths are an attractive stationary phase for purification of large biomolecules because they exhibit very low back pressure even at high flow rates and flow-unaffected binding properties. Adsorption of IgG onto CIM-IDA disk immobilized with Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺ and Zn²⁺ were studied with Tris-acetate (TA), phosphate-acetate (PA) and MMA (MES, MOPS and acetate) buffer systems at different flow rates. Adsorption and elution of IgG varied with different buffers and adsorption of IgG was maximum with MMA buffer. Adsorption of human IgG from Cohn fractions (II, III) was high when Cu²⁺ was used as ligand. CIM-IDA disk showed dynamic binding capacity in the range of 14–16 mg/ml with Cu²⁺ and 7–9 mg/ml with Ni²⁺ for human IgG with MMA buffer. In the case of CIM-IDA-Zn²⁺ column, the binding capacity was only about 0.5 mg/ml of support. Different desorption strategies like lowering of pH and increasing of competitive agent were also studied to achieve maximum recovery. Chromatographic runs with human serum and mouse ascites fluid were also carried out with metal chelate methacrylate monolithic disk and the results indicate the potential of this technique for polyclonal human IgG and monoclonal IgG purification from complex biological samples.     

Fast and efficient separation of immunoglobulin M from immunoglobulin G using short monolithic columns

Certain diagnostic, analytical and preparative applications require the separation of immunoglobulin G (IgG) from immunoglobulin M (IgM). In the present work, different ion-exchange methacrylate monoliths were tested for the separation of IgG and IgM. The strong anion-exchange column had the highest dynamic binding capacity reaching more than 20mg of IgM/ml of support. Additionally, separation of IgM from human serum albumin, a common contaminant in immunoglobulin purification, was achieved on the weak ethylenediamino anion-exchange column, which set the basis for the IgM purification method developed on convective interaction media (CIM) supports. Experiments also confirmed flow independent characteristics of the short monolithic columns.     

免疫吸附治疗用ProteinA切流膜色谱柱的研究

切流膜色谱柱是免疫吸附治疗中实现全血灌流的一种新的模式。实验研究表明,切流膜色谱柱的结构和血液流动形式对血细胞的损害很小。分别考察了水、血浆、血液等不同流体流速与切流膜色谱柱柱压降之间的关系,柱压降随着流体流速和粘度的升高而增高,血液流速为120mL／min时,柱压降达到93kPa;考察了ProteinA切流膜色谱柱对人血浆中免疫球蛋白IgG的吸附能力,切流膜色谱柱ProteinA健合量为139mg（6mgProteinA／g干介质）,血浆在柱中循环1h可吸附IgG553mg（23．8mgIgG／g平介质）,而血液在柱中循环1h,可吸附IgG499.4mm（21.5msIgG／g卡介质）。     

Dye attached poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) cryogel for albumin depletion from human serum

Cibacron Blue F3GA was immobilized on poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) cryogel and it was used for selective and efficient depletion of albumin from human serum. The poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) was selected as the basic component because of its inertness, mechanical strength, chemical and biological stability, and biocompatibility. Cibacron Blue F3GA was covalently attached to the poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) cryogel to produce poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-Cibacron Blue F3GA cryogel affinity column. The poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-Cibacron Blue F3GA cryogel was characterized with respect to gelation yield, swelling degree, total volume of macropores, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. It was found that the maximum amount of adsorption (343 mg/g of dry cryogel) obtained from experimental results is very close to the calculated Langmuir adsorption capacity (345 mg/g of dry cryogel). The maximum adsorption capacity for poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-Cibacron Blue F3GA cryogel column was obtained as 950 mg/g of dry cryogel for nondiluted serum. The adsorption capacity decreased with increasing dilution ratios while the depletion ratio of albumin remained as 77% in serum sample. Finally, the poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-Cibacron Blue F3GA cryogel was optimized for using in the fast protein liquid chromatography system for rapid removal of the high abundant proteins from the human serum.     

Coupled affinity-hydrophobic monolithic column for on-line removal of immunoglobulin G, preconcentration of low abundance proteins and separation by capillary zone electrophoresis

A butyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate (BuMA-co-EDMA) monolith was synthesized by UV initiated polymerization at the inlet end of a 75 microm I.D. fused silica capillary that had been previously coated with a protein compatible polymer, poly(vinyl)alcohol. The monolith was used for on-line preconcentration of proteins followed by capillary electrophoresis (CE) separation. For the analysis of standard proteins (cytochrome c, lysozyme and trypsinogen A) this system proved reproducible. The run-to-run %RSD values for migration time and corrected peak area were less than 5%, which is typical of CE. As measured by frontal analysis using lysozyme as solute, saturation of a 1cm monolith was reached after loading 48 ng of protein. Finally, the BuMA-co-EDMA monolithic preconcentrator was coupled to a protein G monolithic column via a zero dead volume union. The coupled system was used for on-line removal of IgG, preconcentration of standard proteins and CE separation. This system could be a valuable sample preparation tool for the analysis of low abundance proteins in complex samples such as human serum, in which high abundance proteins, e.g., human serum albumin (HSA) and immunoglobulin G (IgG), hinder identification and quantification of low abundance proteins.     

Protein A tangential flow affinity membrane cartridge for extracorporeal immunoadsorption therapy.

Tangential flow affinity membrane cartridge (TFAMC) is a new model of immunoadsorption therapy for hemoperfusion. Recombinant Protein A was immobilized on the membrane cartridge through Schiff base formation for extracorporeal IgG and immune complex removal from blood. Flow characteristics, immunoadsorption capacity and biocompatibility of protein A TFAMC were studied. The results showed that the pressure drop increased with the increasing flow rate of water, plasma and blood, demonstrating reliable strength of membrane at high flow rate. The adsorption capacities of protein A TFAMC for IgG from human plasma and blood were measured. The cartridge with 139 mg protein A immobilized on the matrix (6 mg protein A/g dry matrix) adsorbed 553 mg IgG (23.8 mg IgG/g dry matrix) from human plasma and 499.4 mg IgG (21.5 mg IgG/g dry matrix) from human blood, respectively. The circulation time had a major influence on IgG adsorption capacity, but the flow rate had little influence. Experiments in vitro and in vivo confirmed that protein A TFAMC mainly adsorbed IgG and little of other plasma proteins, and that blood cell damage was negligible. The extracorporeal circulation system is safe and reliable.     

High‐abundance protein depletion: Comparison of methods for human plasma biomarker discovery

Affinity depletion of abundant proteins from human plasma has become a routine sample preparation strategy in proteomics used prior to protein identification and quantitation. To date, there have been limited published studies comparing the performance of commercially available depletion products. We conducted a thorough evaluation of six depletion columns using 2‐DE combined with sophisticated image analysis software, examining the following criteria: (i) efficiency of high‐abundance protein depletion, (ii) non‐specific removal of other than the targeted proteins and (iii) total number of protein spots detected on the gels following depletion. From all the products investigated, the Seppro IgY system provided the best results. It displayed the greatest number of protein spots on the depleted plasma gels, minimal non‐specific binding and high efficiency of abundant protein removal. Nevertheless, the increase in the number of detected spots compared with the second best performing and cheaper multiple affinity removal column (MARC) was not shown to be statistically significant. The ProteoPrep spin column, considered to be the “deepest” depletion technique available at the time of conducting the study, surprisingly displayed significantly fewer spots on the flow‐through fraction gels compared with both the Seppro and the MARC. The spin column format and low plasma capacity were also found to be impractical for 2‐DE. To conclude, we succeeded in providing an overview of the depletion columns performances with regard to the three examined areas. Our study will serve as a reference to other scientists when deciding on the optimal product for their particular projects.     

HPLC chiral stationary phases produced with isolated human serum albumin fragments.

The enantioselectivity of HPLC chiral stationary phases produced with human serum albumin (HSA) fragments was investigated. An HSA fragment (HSA-FG75) was isolated by size-exclusion chromatography following peptic digestion of HSA. The isolated HSA-FG75 was mainly an N-terminal half peptide with an average molecular weight of about 35,000 daltons. The HSA and HSA-FG75 proteins were bound to aminopropylsilica gels activated by N,N'-disuccinimidyl carbonate. Though the HSA-FG75 column showed lower enantioselectivities for all of the racemates tested than the intact HSA column, the enantioseparations of the racemates tested were attained with a shorter analysis time on the HSA-FG75 column. These results are ascribable to removal of the non-specific binding sites of HSA, changes in the globular structure of the HSA fragment and/or changes in the local environment around the binding sites. Further, the HSA-FG75 column was as stable as the intact HSA column for repetitive injection of samples.     

Use of short monolithic columns for isolation of low abundance membrane proteins

Convective interaction media (CIM) monoliths provide a stationary phase with a high binding capacity for large molecules and are capable of high flow rates at a very low pressure drop. Used as anion- and cation-exchangers or with affinity ligands such as antibodies, these columns have the potential for processing large volumes of complex biological mixtures within a short time. In the present report, monoclonal antibodies against several rat liver plasma membrane proteins were bound and cross-linked to protein A or protein G CIM affinity columns with a bed volume of only 60 microL. Antigens recognized by bound antibodies and co-eluting (interacting) proteins were rapidly isolated in a single step from either total plasma membrane extracts or subfractions isolated using anion-exchange CIM disk-shaped columns. The isolated antigens and co-eluting proteins were subsequently identified by immunoblot or by LC-MS/MS.     

Fractionation of human plasma proteins by hydrophobic interaction membrane chromatography

This paper discusses the fractionation of human plasma proteins HSA and HIgG by hydrophobic interaction membrane chromatography. A type of microporous polyvinylidine fluoride (PVDF) membrane having 0.1 μm pore size was identified as being suitable for carrying out this separation. This membrane bound HIgG at 1.5 M ammonium sulphate concentration, a condition at which HSA did not. Based on this selective binding resulting from the selective pressure induced by the high anti-chaotropic salt concentration, these human plasma proteins were fractionated. The HIgG binding capacity of the PVDF membrane examined in this study was 42.8 mg/ml at a feed concentration of 0.45 mg/ml. Separation of simulated HSA/HIgG mixtures were carried out in the pulse and step input modes and the HSA and HIgG fractions thus obtained were analysed for purity using affinity chromatography and SDS-PAGE. HSA and HIgG purities were typically in excess of 97–98%.     

Application of conjoint liquid chromatography with monolithic disks for the simultaneous determination of immunoglobulin G and other proteins present in a cell culture medium

The aim of this study was to develop a chromatographic method, as a substitute for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, for the rapid and simultaneous detection of IgG, insulin, and transferrin present in a cell culture medium. Conjoint liquid chromatography (conjoint LC) using monolithic disks was applied for this purpose. An anion-exchange disk was combined with a Protein G affinity disk in a preparative HPLC system. IgG bound to the Protein G disk, whereas transferrin and insulin were captured on the quaternary ammonium (QA) disk. Using this method, it was possible to simultaneously determine the concentrations of IgG, transferrin, and insulin in the cell culture medium. Thus, conjoint LC could be used for the rapid and simultaneous detection of different proteins present in a cell culture medium.     

A rapid sample pretreatment protocol: improved sensitivity in the detection of a low-abundant serum biomarker for prostate cancer.

We have developed a rapid immunoglobulin G (IgG) and a human serum albumin (HSA) depletion protocol. We depleted both HSA and IgG (> 97%) separately, and in a single procedure. The method is specific and reproducible (RSD < 1.0%), and substantially lowered the detection limit of prostate-specific antigen, a prostate cancer biomarker. The method can be applied to other biomarkers and proteomic studies. Interestingly, the depletion of HSA might not be blankly as beneficial as widely portrayed. Our study suggests the depletion of IgG to be more beneficial than albumin depletion.     

Temperature influence on the dynamic binding capacity of a monolithic ion-exchange column

This work investigates the influence of temperature on the binding capacity of bovine serum albumin (BSA), soybean trypsin inhibitor and L-glutamic acid to a CIM (DEAE) weak anion-exchange disk monolithic column. The binding capacity was determined experimentally under dynamic conditions using frontal analysis. The effect on the dynamic binding capacity of dimers present in the BSA solution has been evaluated and a closed-loop frontal analysis was used to determine the equilibrium binding capacities. The binding capacity for both BSA and soybean trypsin inhibitor increased with increasing temperature. In the case of L-glutamic acid, an increase in the binding capacity was observed with temperature up to 20 degrees C. A further increase in temperature caused a decrease of the dynamic binding capacity.     

Rapid and sensitive determination of protein by light-scattering technique with Eriochrome Blue Black R

Based on the interaction between Eriochrome Blue Black R (EBBR) and proteins, which causes a strong light-scattering signal with the maximum scattering peak located at 398 nm, a simple, rapid, sensitive and selective method is developed for the determination of proteins by the light-scattering technique using a common spectrofluoremeter. Under proper experimental conditions, the protein determination can be performed in the range of 0.1-25, 0.1-20 and 0.25-25 μg ml⁻¹ for bovine serum albumin (BSA), human serum albumin (HSA) and human immunoglobulin G (IgG), respectively. The detection limit, calculated as 3 times the S.D. of nine blank measurements, are 33 μg l⁻¹ for BSA, 25 μg l⁻¹ for HSA and 38 μg l⁻¹ for IgG. Moreover, there is no significant difference among the scattering signals yielded by HSA, IgG and BSA, and almost no interference of many amino acids and metal ions. The method has been satisfactorily applied to the direct determination of the total protein in human serum, saliva and urine samples. The results obtained from the studies on the binding characteristics of EBBR to BSA indicated that an electrostatic force existed in the binding system, and the binding constant (K) and the number of the binding sites (n) at 25 °C are 1.69×10⁵ l mol⁻¹ and 0.946, respectively.     

Analysis of human serum by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry: improved sample preparation and data analysis

Discovery of biomarkers is a fast developing field in proteomics research. Liquid chromatography coupled on line to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) has become a powerful method for the sensitive detection, quantification and identification of proteins and peptides in biological fluids like serum. However, the presence of highly abundant proteins often masks those of lower abundance and thus generally prevents their detection and identification in proteomics studies. To perform future comparative analyses of samples from a serum bank of cervical cancer patients in a longitudinal and cross-sectional manner, methodology based on the depletion of high-abundance proteins followed by tryptic digestion and LC-MS has been developed. Two sample preparation methods were tested in terms of their efficiency to deplete high-abundance serum proteins and how they affect the repeatability of the LC-MS data sets. The first method comprised depletion of human serum albumin (HSA) on a dye ligand chromatographic and immunoglobulin G (IgG) on an immobilized Protein A support followed by tryptic digestion, fractionation by cation-exchange chromatography, trapping on a C18 column and reversed-phase LC-MS. The second method included depletion of the six most abundant serum proteins based on multiple immunoaffinity chromatography followed by tryptic digestion, trapping on a C18 column and reversed-phase LC-MS. Repeatability of the overall procedures was evaluated in terms of retention time and peak area for a selected number of endogenous peptides showing that the second method, besides being less time consuming, gave more repeatable results (retention time: <0.1% RSD; peak area: <30% RSD). Application of an LC-MS component detection algorithm followed by principal component analysis (PCA) enabled discrimination of serum samples that were spiked with horse heart cytochrome C from non-spiked serum and the detection of a concentration trend, which correlated to the amount of spiked horse heart cytochrome C to a level of 5 pmol cytochrome C in 2 microl original serum.     

Novel affinity separations based on perfluorocarbon emulsions. Use of a perfluorocarbon affinity emulsion for the purification of human serum albumin from blood plasma in a fluidised bed.

A perfluorocarbon affinity emulsion has been generated by homogenisation of a saturated perfluorocarbon oil with a polymeric fluorosurfactant based on poly(vinyl alcohol) (relative molecular mass 9000-10,000) previously derivatised with the triazine dye CI Reactive Blue 4. This affinity emulsion has subsequently been cross-linked in situ and used in a fluidised bed for the purification of human serum albumin (HSA) from blood plasma. HSA was quantitatively recovered in a semi-continuous fashion from plasma at an average purity of 90 +/- 3.3%. The albumin binding capacity of the emulsion has been shown to be 0.59 mg/ml by frontal analysis corresponding to a mol/mol ligand usage of 13.5%. In all regards, when used in a fluidised bed, the emulsions have been shown to behave as a normal chromatographic material. They are stable under operational conditions with no coalescence being observed for periods greater than 1 year. These novel liquid affinity supports present an exciting opportunity to develop a range of unit operations for the continuous purification of proteins.     

Albumin separation with Cibacron Blue carrying macroporous chitosan and chitin affinity membranes

Cibacron Blue F3GA, Procion Red HE-3B and Procion Blue MX-R were immobilized on macroporous chitosan and chitin membranes with concentrations as high as 10–200 μmol/ml membrane. These dyed membranes were chemically and mechanically stable, could be reproducibly prepared, and operated at high flow rates. Human serum albumin (HSA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) were selected as model proteins, and their adsorption on and desorption from the dyed chitosan membranes investigated. The Cibacron Blue F3GA membranes had a higher protein adsorption capacity, much greater for HSA than BSA, than the other dyed membranes. About 8.4 mg HSA/ml membrane were adsorbed at saturation by Cibacron Blue F3GA–chitosan membranes from a 0.05 M Tris–HCl/0.05 M NaCl, pH 8 solution. The chitin membranes had a lower dye content and hence a lower protein adsorption capacity than the chitosan membranes. The effects of important operation parameters (flow rate, protein concentration and loading) were also investigated. Cibacron Blue F3GA–chitosan membranes were employed for the separation of HSA from human plasma and high purity HSA thus obtained. This suggests that these membranes could be used for large-scale plasma fractionation.     

Characterisation of metal-chelate methacrylate monoliths

Monoliths are attractive stationary phases for purification of large biomolecules like proteins because of their flow-unaffected properties. Isolation of histidine containing proteins to high purity can be efficiently performed using metal-chelate interactions within a single chromatographic step. In this work, we investigated properties of commercial metal-chelate methacrylate monoliths-Convective Interaction Media (CIM). Analytical CIM disk monolithic columns and CIM 8 ml monolithic columns were used for purification of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) analog LK-801 and green fluorescence protein with 6 histidine tag (GFP-6His). In both cases, purity over 90% was achieved. Dynamic binding capacity at 10% of breakthrough was around 17-18 mg/ml for LK-801 and around 30 mg/ml for GFP-6His. Adsorption isotherm revealed that the maximal capacity is achieved at protein concentration above 60 microg/ml. Dynamic binding capacity and resolution were found to be flow unaffected.