Behavior of human serum albumin on strong cation exchange resins: I. Experimental analysis

Experiments with human serum albumin on the strong cation exchange resin Fractogel EMD SE Hicap (M) were carried out. Even though human serum albumin was used at high purity, two peaks in gradient elution experiments occurred. The obtained data can be explained by considering that human serum albumin binds to Fractogel EMD SE Hicap (M) in two different binding conformations: the protein adsorbs instantaneously in the first conformation and then changes into the second one with a kinetic limitation. The two-peak behavior of human serum albumin was analyzed in detail, especially at various gradient lengths, concentrations and temperatures. Breakthrough curves were performed at four modifier concentrations and three velocities. The characteristic adsorption behavior, found for gradient experiments, was confirmed by the breakthrough curves. The two-peak elution pattern of human serum albumin was also found for other strong cation exchange resins, but not for weak cation exchange resins. It is concluded that the described behavior is peculiar for the interaction of human serum albumin with the strong cation exchange ligand of the resin.     

Role of the ligand density in cation exchange materials for the purification of proteins

The performance of functionalized materials, such as cation exchange resins, is dependent not only on the ligand type and ligand density, but also on the pore accessibility of the target molecule. In the case of large molecules such as antibodies this latter parameter becomes crucial, because the size of such molecules falls somewhere inside the pore size distribution of the resin. The influence of the ligand density and accessibility on the overall performance of the material is explored systematically. Five different materials, having the same chemistry as the strong cation exchange resin Fractogel EMD SO₃⁻ (M) , have been analyzed. These materials only differ in the ligand density. It is shown that the ligand density directly influences the porosity of the materials as well as the pore diffusivity and the dynamic binding capacity. For a given purification problem an optimal ligand density can be found. Based on the above results a new material is proposed, showing superior properties in terms of dynamic binding capacity. This is achieved by an optimization of the ligand density and by a decrease of the particle size of the stationary phase. The material properties are modeled with a general rate model. Further simulations were conducted to evaluate the performance of the new material in comparison with a conventional resin.     

Binding and elution behavior of proteins on strong cation exchangers

This work provides a broad survey of binding and elution behavior of proteins on strong cation exchangers. Four proteins comprising two monoclonal antibodies, lysozyme, and cytochrome c were used as models in the investigation. Seven chromatography resins with different base matrices were compared. Dynamic binding capacity as a function of salt concentration was examined for a monoclonal antibody and lysozyme. Elution behavior as a function of gradient slope was modeled to determine the characteristic charge, essentially a measure of the number of sites involved in binding, for each protein on each resin. Trends with respect to dynamic binding capacity and elution behavior are analyzed and discussed.     

3D structure-based protein retention prediction for ion-exchange chromatography

The interest in understanding fundamental mechanisms underlying chromatography drastically increased over the past decades resulting in a whole variety of mostly semi-empirical models describing protein retention. Experimental data about the molecular adsorption mechanisms of lysozyme on different chromatographic ion-exchange materials were used to develop a mechanistical model for the adsorption of lysozyme onto a SP Sepharose FF surface based on molecular dynamic simulations (temperature controlled NVT simulations) with the Amber software package using a force-field based approach with a continuum solvent model. The ligand spacing of the adsorbent surface was varied between 10 and 20 Å. With a 10 Å spacing it was possible to predict the elution order of lysozyme at different pH and to confirm in silico the pH-dependent orientation of lysozyme towards the surface that was reported earlier. The energies of adsorption at different pH values were correlated with isocratic and linear gradient elution experiments and this correlation was used to predict the retention volume of ribonuclease A in the same experimental setup only based on its 3D structure properties. The study presents a strong indication for the validity of the assumption, that the ligand density of the surface is one of the key parameters with regard to the selectivity of the adsorbent, suggesting that a high ligand density leads to a specific interaction with certain binding sites on the protein surface, while at low ligand densities the net charge of the protein is more important than the actual charge distribution.     

Comparison of chromatographic ion-exchange resins V. Strong and weak cation-exchange resins

Strong and weak cation-exchangers were compared for a number of chromatographic parameters, i.e. pH dependence, efficiency, binding strength, particle size distribution, static and dynamic capacity, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) pictures. Chromatographic resins investigated were Fractogel EMD SO3- (M), Fractogel EMD SE Hicap (M), Fractogel EMD COO- (M), MacroPrep 25S, MacroPrep High S, MacroPrep CM, CM HyperZ, and Matrex Cellufine C-500. Testing was done with three proteins: Anti-FVII Mab (IgG), aprotinin, and lysozyme. For lysozyme and aprotinin with pI above experimental pH, dependence of pH on retention was generally low, though some pronounced decrease of retention with increasing pH was observed for CM HyperZ. For Anti-FVII Mab with pI<7.5, binding was observed on several resins at pH 7.5. Efficiency results present the expected trend of increasing dependence of plate height as a function of increasing flow rate, and the highest flow dependence was observed for Fractogel EMD COO-. Particle size distribution was determined by two independent methods, coulter counting and SEM pictures, with fair agreement. Binding strength data of cation-exchange resins as a function of ionic strength depends on the protein, but binding and elution at high salt concentration may in general be performed with MacroPrep resins. Comparison of dynamic capacity data at 10% break-through and static capacity measurements shows that a very diverse utilization of approximately 25-90% of the total available capacity is employed during chromatographic operation. The effect of competitive binding from yeast fermentation components on dynamic binding capacity of aprotinin was studied showing a significant decrease in binding capacity. Sepharose FF, Toyopearl 650 M, and Ceramic HyperD F strong and weak cation-exchange resins were included in this study. Resins with good pure aprotinin capacity also performed well for aprotinin in fermentation broth, but the highest relative capacity was obtained with MacroPrep High S having a fairly low pure component dynamic capacity. Results of this paper may be used in the selection of resins for further testing in biopharmaceutical protein purification process development.     

Analytical and preparative separation of PEGylated lysozyme for the characterization of chromatography media

The effect of PEGylation on cation exchange chromatography was studied with poly(ethylene glycol) of different chain lengths (5 kDa, 10 kDa and 30 kDa) using lysozyme as a model system. A stable binding via reduction of a Schiff base was formed during random PEGylation on lysine residues with methoxy-PEG-aldehyde. A purification method for PEGylated proteins using cation exchange chromatography was developed, and different isoforms of mono-PEGylated lysozyme were isolated. TSKgel SP-5PW and Toyopearl GigaCap S-650M showed the best performance of all tested cation exchange resins, and the separation of PEGylated lysozyme could be also scaled up to semi-preparative level. Size-exclusion chromatography, SDS-PAGE and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry were used for analysis. Separated mono-PEGylated lysozyme of different sizes was used to determine dynamic binding capacities (DBC) and selectivity of cation exchange chromatography resins. An optimization of binding conditions resulted in a more than 20-fold increase of DBC for Toyopearl GigaCap S-650M with 30 kDa mono-PEGylated lysozyme.     

Microcalorimetric study of the adsorption of PEGylated lysozyme on a strong cation exchange resin

Adsorption of native as well as mono-, di-, and tri-PEGylated lysozyme on Toyopearl Gigacap S-650M in sodium phosphate buffer is studied by isothermal titration calorimetry and by independent adsorption equilibrium measurements at pH 6 and 25°C. The production and separation of PEGylated lysozyme is discussed. Two different PEG sizes are used (5 kDa and 10 kDa) which leads to six different forms of PEGylated lysozyme which were systematically studied. The sodium chloride concentration is varied according to the elution conditions in the production process. The specific enthalpy of adsorption Δh(p)(ads) is determined from the calorimetric and the adsorption equilibrium data. It was found to be exothermal and constant with increasing adsorber loading for native lysozyme. For all PEGylated forms there is an influence of the adsorber loading on Δh(p)(ads) which is found to become more important with increasing PEGylation degree (total molecular weight of conjugated PEG). At low loadings the adsorption of all PEGylated lysozyme forms is exothermal. With increasing loading the adsorption becomes less exothermal and for the species with higher PEGylation degree also endothermal effects are observed at higher loadings. A thermodynamic analysis is carried out by which the enthalpic and entropic contributions to the binding constants are quantified. The findings are discussed on a molecular level. The results provide insight into the adsorption mechanisms of polymer-modified proteins on chromatographic resins.     

Comparison of chromatographic ion-exchange resins. I. Strong anion-exchange resins

A comparative study has been undertaken on various strong anion-exchangers to investigate the pH dependence, titration curves, efficiency, binding strength, and dynamic capacity of the chromatographic resins. The resins tested included: Macro-Prep 25Q, TSK-Gel Q-5PW-HR, Poros QE/M, Q Sepharose FF, Q HyperD 20, Q Zirconia, Source 30Q, Fractogel EMD TMAE 650s, and Express-Ion Q. Testing was performed with five different proteins: Anti-FVII Mab (IgG), aprotinin, BSA, lipolase, and myoglobin. The dependence of pH on retention varies from generally low to very high for proteins with low pI. No direct link between pH dependence on retention and titration curves of the different resins was observed. Efficiency results show the expected trend of lower dependence of the plate height with increasing flow-rate of resins for medium and high pressure operation compared to the soft resins. Binding to the anion-exchange resins as a function of ionic strength may vary depending on the specific protein. Generally, binding and elution at a high salt concentration may be performed with Poros QE/M or Macro-Prep 25Q, while binding and elution at low salt concentration may be done with TSK-Gel Q-5PW. Dynamic capacities are strongly dependent on the specific protein employed and for some resins dependent on the flow-rate. A general good agreement was obtained between this study and data obtained by suppliers for the dynamic capacity. The results of this study may be used for selection of resins for testing in process development, however, the data does not tell anything about specific selectivity differences or resolution between a target protein and a given impurity. None of the resins studied here should be regarded as good or bad, but more or less suitable for a specific purpose, and only testing for the specific application will determine which one is the optimal resin.     

高亲水性强阳离子交换色谱填料的制备及其在蛋白质分析中的应用

以具有双孔结构的聚甲基丙烯酸环氧丙酯(PGMA)微球为基质,以葡萄糖进行表面亲水改性,制备了强阳离子交换色谱填料,并将其用于复杂生命体系中生物大分子的快速而高效的分离、分析与纯化。葡萄糖亲水改性增进了填料的生物相容性,提高了蛋白质样品的回收率;双孔结构及较高的比表面积赋予填料良好的柱渗透性和样品负载量。以标准蛋白质为样品,考察了该填料对生物样品的分离性能。以100 mm×4.6 mm的色谱柱分离4种蛋白质,在6 min内实现了基线分离;以溶菌酶为样品,填料的吸附容量为39.5 g/L,在蛋白质快速分离纯化分析中显示了良好的应用前景。     

基于废弃固定化酶再利用的高容量强阳离子交换树脂及其对溶菌酶的吸附性能

采用表面引发-原子转移自由基聚合( SI-ATRP)技术,以废弃的固定化酶为基质、4-乙烯基苯磺酸钠为单体,30℃聚合3 h,制备了一种新型强阳离子交换树脂。采用傅里叶变换红外光谱( FT-IR)对合成的强阳离子交换树脂进行表征。以溶菌酶为模型蛋白,考察了溶菌酶初始浓度、离子强度、有机溶剂浓度、吸附时间及温度对吸附容量的影响。结果表明,强阳离子交换树脂对溶菌酶的吸附是一个放热的过程。在室温下对溶菌酶的最大吸附量可达240 mg/g,在30 min内快速达到吸附平衡,比文献报道的阳离子交换树脂具有更好的吸附性能。 Langmuir吸附模型与准二级动力学方程可以较好地对吸附过程进行拟合。     

Modeling of salt and pH gradient elution in ion‐exchange chromatography

The separation of proteins by internally and externally generated pH gradients in chromatofocusing on ion‐exchange columns is a well‐established analytical method with a large number of applications. In this work, a stoichiometric displacement model was used to describe the retention behavior of lysozyme on SP Sepharose FF and a monoclonal antibody on Fractogel SO₃ (S) in linear salt and pH gradient elution. The pH dependence of the binding charge B in the linear gradient elution model is introduced using a protein net charge model, while the pH dependence of the equilibrium constant is based on a thermodynamic approach. The model parameter and pH dependences are calculated from linear salt gradient elutions at different pH values as well as from linear pH gradient elutions at different fixed salt concentrations. The application of the model for the well‐characterized protein lysozyme resulted in almost identical model parameters based on either linear salt or pH gradient elution data. For the antibody, only the approach based on linear pH gradients is feasible because of the limited pH range useful for salt gradient elution. The application of the model for the separation of an acid variant of the antibody from the major monomeric form is discussed.     

Investigation of protein binding affinity in multimodal chromatographic systems using a homologous protein library

A library of cold shock protein B mutant variants was employed to examine differences in protein binding behavior in ion exchange and multimodal chromatography. Single site mutations introduced at charged amino acids on the protein surface resulted in a homologous protein set with varying charge density and distribution. The retention times of the mutants varied significantly during linear gradient chromatography in both systems. The majority of the proteins were more strongly retained on the multimodal cation exchange resin as compared to the traditional cation exchanger. Further, the elution order of the mutants on the multimodal resin was different from that obtained with the ion exchanger. Quantitative structure–property relationship models generated using a support vector regression technique were shown to provide good predictions for the retention times of protein mutants on the multimodal resin. A coarse-grained ligand docking package was employed to examine the various interactions between the proteins and ligands in free solution. The multimodal ligand was shown to utilize multiple interaction types to achieve stronger retention on the protein surface. The use of this protein library in concert with the qualitative and quantitative analyses presented in this paper provides an improved understanding of protein behavior in multimodal chromatographic systems.     

Adsorption of protein/surfactant complexes at the air/aqueous interface

We use optical reflectometry and surface pressure techniques to measure co-adsorption of the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and the protein lysozyme at the air-aqueous interface. We observe lysozyme/SDS co-adsorption behavior in two different buffers for which solution-phase binding data are available in the literature. The co-adsorption of lysozyme/SDS complexes is controlled by the mode of protein/surfactant binding that occurs in solution. In a pH 5.0 acetate buffer, the extent of co-adsorption is weakly dependent on SDS concentration throughout the specific and transitional binding regimes. In a pH 6.9 phosphate buffer, the extent of co-adsorption is weakly dependent on SDS concentration in the specific binding regime, but it increases dramatically, giving rise to multilayer co-adsorption, in the transitional binding regime. In both buffers, the extent of co-adsorption dramatically decreases in the cooperative binding regime. Lysozyme/SDS co-adsorption is strongly influenced by kinetically trapped non-equilibrium adsorbed layer states, such that adsorbed amounts are markedly path-dependent. Surface pressure measurements by themselves do not capture the variations in adsorption in the different binding regimes, nor do they capture the path-dependency of co-adsorption.     

Membrane chromatography: Protein purification from E. coli lysate using newly designed and commercial anion-exchange stationary phases

This contribution describes the purification of anthrax protective antigen (PA) protein from Escherichia coli lysate using bind-and-elute chromatography with newly designed weak anion-exchange membranes. Protein separation performance of the new AEX membrane adsorber was compared with the commercial Sartobind^® D membrane adsorber and HiTrap™ DEAE FF resin column under preparative scale conditions. Dynamic protein binding capacities of all three stationary phases were determined using breakthrough curve analysis. The AEX membrane showed higher binding capacities than the Sartobind^® D membrane at equivalent volumetric throughput and higher capacities than the HiTrap™ DEAE FF resin column at 15 times higher volumetric throughput. Anion-exchange chromatography was performed using all three stationary phases to purify PA protein. Quantitative SDS-PAGE analysis of effluent fractions showed that the purity of PA protein was higher for membrane adsorbers than the HiTrap™ DEAE FF resin column and was the same for the new AEX membrane and Sartobind^® D membrane adsorbers. The effects of E. coli lysate load volume and volumetric flow rate on PA protein separation resolution using the membrane adsorbers were minor, and the peak elution profile remained un-changed even under conditions where >75% of the total protein dynamic binding capacity of the membranes had been utilized. PA protein peak resolution was higher using pH-gradient elution than with ionic strength gradient elution. Overall, the results clearly demonstrate that membrane chromatography is a high-capacity, high-throughput, high-resolution separation technique, and that resolution in membrane chromatography can be higher than resin column chromatography under preparative conditions and at much higher volumetric throughput.     

Protein adsorption and transport in dextran-modified ion-exchange media. III. Effects of resin charge density and dextran content on adsorption and intraparticle uptake

Custom-synthesized variants of the commercial Capto S resin were used to examine the effects of resin charge density and dextran content on protein adsorption and intraparticle uptake. For the small protein lysozyme, resin charge density had the greatest effect on equilibrium capacity, consistent with calculations suggesting that lysozyme capacity should be limited by the available charge on the resin. Isocratic retention data and confocal microscopy imaging for this protein revealed a consistent ordering of the resins linking stronger protein-resin interactions with higher static capacities but slower intraparticle uptake rates over the range of properties studied. For the larger protein lactoferrin, it was found that increasing dextran content led to increased protein exclusion from the dextran layer, but that increasing resin charge density helped overcome the exclusion, presumably due to the increased electrostatic attraction between the resin and protein. Collectively examining the lysozyme and lactoferrin data along with information from previous studies suggests that a trade-off in maximizing dynamic capacities should exist between static capacities that increase to a finite extent with increased resin charge density and uptake rates that decrease with increased charge density. Column breakthrough data for lysozyme and lactoferrin appear to support the hypothesis, though it appears that whether a resin charge density is low or high must be considered in relation to the protein charge density. Using these trends, this work could be useful in guiding resin selection or design.     

On the origin of the polar order of T4 lysozyme on planar model surfaces

Site directed spin labeling is used to investigate the origin of the macroscopic alignment of T4 lysozyme vectorially tethered to planar biomimetic surfaces. T4 lysozyme was adsorbed to a quartz-supported dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) bilayer by selective binding of the histidine-tagged protein to functionalized headgroups (1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-[[N(5-amino-1-carboxypentyl)iminodiacetic acid]succinyl], DOGS NTA) of the bilayer. This results in a polar oriented ensemble of proteins on the surface, which gives rise to angular-dependent electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra. In order to reveal the mechanism of the protein alignment, the influence of protein coverage on the order of the molecules was addressed. Along the lines described previously for a full monolayer (Jacobsen, et al. Biophys. J. 2005, 88, 4351), the polar orientation of the molecules was inferred from an analysis of the EPR line shape using the stochastic Liouville equation (SLE) approach developed by Freed and co-workers. The simulations reveal that the orientation of the protein is strongly determined by lateral protein-protein interactions. In comparison to the lipid bilayer, a fusion protein of T4 lysozyme (T4L) with Annexin XII was investigated, where the two-dimensional crystallization of Annexin XII on a dioleoylphosphatidylserine (DOPS) bilayer provides a surface layer of regularly anchored T4L molecules. For this system, it is found that the interaction between T4L and Annexin plays a more important role for understanding the structure in the adsorbed state.     

Influence of surface modification on protein retention in ion-exchange chromatography: Evaluation using different retention models

A large number of different stationary phases for ion-exchange chromatography (IEC) from different manufacturers are available, which vary significantly in a number of chemical and physical properties. As a consequence, binding mechanisms may be different as well. In the work reported here, the retention data of model proteins (α-lactalbumin, β-lactoglobulin A, bovine serum albumin and alcohol dehydrogenase) were determined for three anion-exchange adsorbents based on synthetic copolymer beads with differences in the functional group chemistry. Fractogel EMD DEAE and Fractoprep DEAE consist of functional groups bound to the surface via “tentacles”, ToyopearlDEAE by a short linker. Three models which describe chromatographic retention were used to analyse the characteristic parameters of the protein/stationary-phase interactions. The number of electrostatic interaction between the stationary phase and the model proteins, the protein specific surface charge densities and the interacting surface of the proteins with the adsorptive layer of the chromatographic media depend on the surface modification as well as on the molecular mass of the model proteins. In general, protein retention of the model proteins on the weak anion exchangers was found to be greater if the stationary phase carries tentacles and protein mass is above 60 kDa.     

Chemical imaging of protein adsorption and crystallization on a wettability gradient surface

The use of self-assembled monolayers is an established method to study the effect of surface properties on proteins and other biological materials. The generation of a monolayer with a gradient of chemical properties allows for the study of multiple surface properties simultaneously in a high throughput manner. Typically, in order to detect the presence of proteins or biological material on a surface, the use of additional dyes or tags is required. Here we present a novel method of studying the effect of gradient surface properties on protein adsorption and crystallization in situ through the use of ATR-FTIR spectroscopic imaging, which removes the need for additional labeling. We describe the successful application of this technique to the measurement of the growth of a gradient monolayer of octyltrichlorosilane across the surface of a silicon ATR element. ATR-FTIR imaging was also used to study the adsorption of lysozyme, as a model protein, onto the modified surface. The sensitivity of measurements obtained with a focal plane array (FPA) detector were improved though the use of pixel averaging which allowed small absorption bands to be detected with minimal effect on the spatial resolution along the gradient. Study of the effect of surface hydrophobicity on both adsorption of lysozyme to the element and lysozyme crystallization revealed that more lysozyme adsorbed to the hydrophobic side of the ATR element and more lysozyme crystals formed in the same region. These findings strongly suggest a correlation exists between surface protein adsorption and protein crystallization. This method could be applied to the study of other proteins and whole cells.     

Mixed‐monolayer of N‐hydroxysuccinimide‐terminated cross‐linker and short alkanethiol to improve the efficiency of biomolecule binding for biosensing

The goal of this study was to use a novel surface chemistry for modifying gold surfaces to decrease the steric hindrance, minimize the nonspecific bindings while providing directed immobilization of proteins for advancing the transducer property and to provide a biosensing platform for surface plasmon resonance (SPR) applications. Mixed self‐assembled monolayers (mSAMs) were prepared using 3,3′‐Dithiodipropionic acid di (N‐hydroxysuccinimide ester) (DSP) and 6‐mercapto‐1‐hexanol (MCH) and the selected model proteins bovine serum albumin (BSA) and lysozyme were tested for binding efficiency. First, binding of these two proteins at constant concentration to different DSP:MCH mSAMs were compared to deduce the best molar ratio for forming mSAM using a continuous flow system coupled to SPR. Coincidently the maximum protein binding DSP:MCH mSAM were the same for both proteins. The change in Response Unit (∆RU) signal due to protein binding between DSP SAM and maximum protein binding DSP:MCH mSAM for lysozyme binding was more in comparison to BSA binding. Second, the effect of BSA and lysozyme concentration on binding efficiency to maximum protein binding DSP:MCH mSAM were compared and discussed. Lysozyme and BSA were shown to reach saturations on the same monolayer at concentrations of 5.7x10⁻⁵ and 8.96x10⁻⁶ [M] respectively, hence the molar ratio for limit concentrations is 6:1. The DSP SAM, MCH SAM, and DSP:MCH mSAMs where maximum and minimum protein binding occurs were also characterized with XPS and Attenuated total reflectance‐Fourier transform infrared (ATR‐FTIR) spectroscopy. Blank gold surface, maximum protein binding DSP:MCH mSAM and BSA immobilized DSP:MCH mSAM on gold surface were also investigated utilizing tapping mode AFM.