Comparison of chromatographic ion-exchange resins. II. More strong anion-exchange resins

A comparative study was performed on strong anion exchangers to investigate the pH dependence, titration curves, efficiency, binding strength, particle size distribution, and static and dynamic capacity of the chromatographic resins. The resins tested included Q Sepharose XL, UNO Q-1, Poros 50 HQ, Toyopearl QAE 550c, Separon HemaBio 1000Q, Q-Cellthru Bigbeads Plus, Q Sepharose HP and Toyopearl SuperQ 650s. Testing was performed with five different proteins: anti-Factor VII monoclonal antibody (immunoglobulin G), aprotinin, bovine serum albumin, lipolase and myoglobin. The dependence of pH on retention varies from generally low to very high for proteins with a low isoelectric point (pl). An unexpected binding at pH 7-8 of aprotinin with pI >11 was observed on Separon HemaBio 1000Q. No link between pH dependence on retention and titration curves of the different resins was observed. Efficiency results show the expected trend of higher dependence of the plate height with increasing flow-rate of soft resins compared to resins for medium- and high-pressure operation. No or a very small difference in particle size distribution was obtained between new and used resins. Binding to anion-exchange resins as a function of ionic strength varies to some extent depending on the specific protein. Generally, binding and elution at high salt concentration may be performed with Q Sepharose XL, Toyopearl QAE 550c, Q Sepharose HP and Poros 50 HQ, while binding and elution at low salt concentration may be performed with Q-Cellthru Bigbeads Plus. A very high binding capacity was obtained with Q Sepharose XL. Comparison of static capacity and dynamic capacity at 10% breakthrough shows approx. 50-80% utilization of the total available capacity during chromatographic operation. A general good agreement was obtained between this study and data obtained by the suppliers. The results of this study may be used for selection of resins for testing in process development.     

Cation-cation interactions between uranyl cations in a polar open-framework uranyl periodate

Novel open-framework alkali metal uranyl periodates, having the formula A[(UO2)3(HIO6)(OH)(O)(H2O)].1.5H2O (A = Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs), have been prepared through mild hydrothermal synthesis. These isostructural compounds contain distorted UO7 pentagonal bipyramids that are linked through a uranyl (UO22+) to uranyl cation-cation interaction. This interaction arises from a single axial uranyl oxygen coordinating at an equatorial site of an adjacent uranyl unit. These uranium oxide polyhedra are further bound by IO6 distorted octahedra creating an open-framework structure whose channels contain the alkali metal cations.     

Investigation of bovine ubiquitin conformers separated by high-field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry: Cross section measurements using energy-loss experiments with a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer

High-field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) was used to separate gas-phase conformers of bovine ubiquitin produced by electrospray ionization. These conformers were sampled by a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer where energy-loss experiments, following the work of Douglas and co-workers, were used to determine their cross sections. The measured cross sections for some conformers were readily altered by the voltages applied to the interface ion optics, therefore very gentle mass spectrometer interface conditions were required to preserve gas-phase conformers separated by FAIMS. Cross sections for 19 conformers (charge states +5 through +13) were measured. Two conformers for the +12 charge state, which were readily separated in FAIMS, were found to have similar cross sections. Based on a method to calibrate the collision gas thickness, the cross sections measured using the FAIMS/energy-loss method were compared with literature values determined using drift tube ion mobility spectrometry. The comparison illustrated that the conformers of bovine ubiquitin that were identified using drift tube ion mobility spectrometry were also observed using the FAIMS device.     

Potential-energy surface for the electronic ground state of NH3 up to 20,000 cm-1 above equilibrium

Ab initio coupled cluster calculations with single and double substitutions and a perturbative treatment of connected triple excitations [CCSD(T)] with the augmented correlation-consistent polarized valence triple-zeta aug-cc-pVTZ basis at 51 816 geometries provide a six-dimensional potential-energy surface for the electronic ground state of NH3. At 3814 selected geometries, CBS+ energies are obtained by extrapolating the CCSD(T) results for the aug-cc-pVXZ(X=T,Q,5) basis sets to the complete basis set (CBS) limit and adding corrections for core-valence correlation and relativistic effects. CBS** ab initio energies are generated at 51,816 geometries by an empirical extrapolation of the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ results to the CBS+ limit. They cover the energy region up to 20,000 cm-1 above equilibrium. Parametrized analytical functions are fitted through the ab initio points. For these analytical surfaces, vibrational term values and transition moments are calculated by means of a variational program employing a kinetic-energy operator expressed in the Eckart-Sayvetz frame. Comparisons against experiment are used to assess the quality of the generated potential-energy surfaces. A "spectroscopic" potential-energy surface of NH3 is determined by a slight empirical adjustment of the ab initio potential to the experimental vibrational term values. Variational calculations on this refined surface yield rms deviations from experiment of 0.8 cm-1 for 24 inversion splittings and 0.4 (3.0) cm-1 for 34 (51) vibrational term values up to 6100 (10,300) cm-1.     

Identification of phage antibodies toward the Werner protein by selection on Western blots

A procedure was established for selecting phage antibodies (phage-abs) from phage-displayed antibody repertoires by panning against proteins, separated by sodium dodecyl phosphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and electroblotted onto nitrocellulose membranes (Western blots). This immobilization strategy is applicable for secondary rounds of panning in selections against semipurified proteins, and directs the selection toward antibodies suitable as immunochemical reagents in Western blots. In model experiments, enrichment factors as high as 1.9x10(5) were obtained in a single round of panning. Furthermore, we demonstrate the application of this approach by selection of phage-abs recognizing the human Werner protein, which is defective in a premature aging syndrome.     

Macrocyclic copper(II) and zinc(II) complexes incorporating phosphate esters

Slow evaporation of solutions prepared by adding either Cu(ClO(4))(2).6H(2)O or Zn(ClO(4))(2).6H(2)O to solutions containing appropriate proportions of Me(3)tacn (1,4,7-trimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane) and sodium phenyl phosphate (Na(2)PhOPO(3)) gave dark blue crystals of [Cu(3)(Me(3)tacn)(3)(PhOPO(3))(2)](ClO(4))(2).(1)/(2)H(2)O (1) and colorless crystals of [Zn(2)(Me(3)tacn)(2)(H(2)O)(4)(PhOPO(3))](ClO(4))(2).H(2)O (2), respectively. Blue crystals of [Cu(tacn)(2)](BNPP)(2) (3) formed in an aqueous solution of [Cu(tacn)Cl(2)], bis(p-nitrophenyl phosphate) (BNPP), and HEPES buffer (pH 7.4). Compound 1 crystallizes in the triclinic space group P1 (No. 2) with a = 9.8053(2) A, b = 12.9068(2) A, c = 22.1132(2) A, alpha = 98.636(1) degrees, beta = 99.546(1) degrees, gamma = 101.1733(8) degrees, and Z = 2 and exhibits trinuclear Cu(II) clusters in which square pyramidal metal centers are capped by two phosphate esters located above and below the plane of the metal centers. The trinuclear cluster is asymmetric having Cu...Cu distances of 4.14, 4.55, and 5.04 A. Compound 2 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/c (No. 14) with a = 13.6248(2) A, b = 11.6002(2) A, c = 25.9681(4) A, beta = 102.0072(9) degrees, and Z = 4 and contains a dinuclear Zn(II) complex formed by linking two units of [Zn(Me(3)tacn)(OH(2))(2)](2+) by a single phosphate ester. Compound 3 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group C2/c (No. 15) with a = 24.7105(5) A, b = 12.8627(3) A, c = 14.0079(3) A, beta = 106.600(1) degrees, and Z = 4 and consists of mononuclear [Cu(tacn)(2)](2+) cations whose charge is balanced by the BNPP(-) anions.     

Cyclic voltammetry of highly hydrophilic ions at a supported liquid membrane

Cyclic voltammetry has been used to study the coupling of ion transfer reactions at a liquid membrane. The liquids are either supported by a porous hydrophobic membrane (polyvinylidene difluoride, PVDF) when the organic solvent is non-volatile (o-nitrophenyloctylether) or are merely a free standing organic solvent layer such as 1,2-dichloroethane comprised between two hydrophilic dialysis membranes supporting the adjacent aqueous phases. The passage of current across the liquid membrane is associated with two ion transfer reactions across the two polarised liquid liquid interfaces in series. It is shown that it is possible to study the transfer of highly hydrophilic ions at one interface by limiting the mass transfer of the other ion transfer reaction at the other interface. Indeed, for systems comprising an ion M in one aqueous phase and a reference ion R partitioned between the membrane and the other aqueous phase, the observed and simulated cyclic voltammograms have a half-wave potential determined by the Gibbs energy of transfer of M transferring at one interface and by the limiting mass transfer of R at the other interface. This new methodology opens a way to measure the Gibbs energy of transfer of highly hydrophilic or hydrophobic ions, which usually limits the potential window at single liquid liquid interfaces (ITIES).     

Protein adsorption in static microsystems: effect of the surface to volume ratio

A numerical model for the adsorption kinetics of proteins on the walls of a microchannel has been developed using the finite element method (FEM) to address the coupling with diffusion phenomena in the restricted microchannel volume. Time evolutions of the concentration of one species are given, both in solution and on the microchannel walls. The model illustrates the adsorption limitation sometimes observed when the microdimensions of these systems induce a global depletion of the bulk solution. A new non-dimensional parameter is introduced to predict the final value of the coverage of any microsystem under static adsorption. A working curve and a criteria (h/K[Gamma](max) > 10) are provided in order to choose, for given adsorption characteristics, the value of the volume-to-surface ratio (i.e. the channel height h) avoiding depletion effects on the coverage (relative coverage greater than 90% of the theoretical one). Simulations were compared with confocal microscopy measurements of IgG antibody adsorption on the walls of a PET microchannel. The fit of the model to the experimental data show that the adsorption is under apparent kinetic control.     

Multiple polypeptide forms observed in two-dimensional gels of Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) polypeptides are generated during the separation procedure

We have examined two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) gel maps of polypeptides from the Gram-negative bacterium Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) and found the same widespread trains of spots as often reported in 2-DE gels of polypeptides of other Gram-negative bacteria. Some of the trains of polypeptides, both from the outer membrane and soluble protein fraction, were shown to be generated during the separation procedure of 2-DE, and not by covalent post-translational modifications. The trains were found to be regenerated when rerunning individual polypeptide spots. The polypeptides analysed giving this type of trains were all found to be classified as stable polypeptides according to the instability index of Guruprasad et al. (Protein Eng. 1990, 4, 155-161). The phenomenon most likely reflects conformational equilibria of polypeptides arising from the experimental conditions used, and is a clear drawback of the standard 2-DE procedure, making the gel picture unnecessarily complex to analyse.     

NMR chemical shifts in the low–pH form of a-chymotrypsin. A QM/MM and ONIOM–NMR study

 The relationship between hydrogen bonding and NMR chemical shifts in the catalytic triad of low-pH α-chymotrypsin is investigated by combined use of the effective fragment potential [(2001) J Phys Chem A 105:293] and ONIOM–NMR [(2000) Chem Phys Lett 317:589] methods. Our study shows that while the His57 N^δ1−H bond is stretched by a relatively modest amount (to about 1.060 ?) this lengthening, combined with the polarization due to the molecular environment, is sufficient to explain the experimentally observed chemical shifts of 18.2 ppm. Furthermore, the unusual down-field shift of H^ɛ1 (9.2 ppm) observed experimentally is reproduced and shown to be induced by interactions with the C=O group of Ser214 as previously postulated. The free-energy cost of moving H^δ1 from His57 to Asp102 is predicted to be 5.5 kcal/mol. Received: 26 September 2001 / Accepted: 6 September 2002 / Published online: 21 January 2003 Contribution to the Proceedings of the Symposium on Combined QM/MM Methods at the 222nd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, 2001 Correspondence to: J. H. Jensen e-mail: jan-jensen@uiowa.edu Acknowledgements. This work was supported by a Research Innovation Award from the Research Corporation and a type G starter grant from the Petroleum Research Fund. The calculations were performed on IBM RS/6000 workstations obtained through a CRIF grant from the NSF (CHE-9974502) and on supercomputers at the National Center for Supercomputer Applications at Urbana-Champaign. The authors are indebted to Visvaldas Kairys for help with the CHARMM program, and to Daniel Quinn for many helpful discussions.