Labelling and Fractionating of Black Mamba Venom using 131I and Gel-Filtration Technique

Separation of Black Mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) venom into three fractions was achieved by the use of Sephadex G-100 filtration method. The first and highest peak of the three separated bands proved to be the lethally toxic. Labelling the venom with nascent¹³¹ I prior to fractionating facilitated the detection and the evaluation of three well resoluted fractions. Comparative separation of non-labelled venom was also carried out side by side with the labelled one to study the advantage of radioactivity on extinction measurements.     

Resolution enhancement in hydrophobic interaction chromatography via electrostatic interactions

In this work, a new type of hydrophobic stationary phase that provide electrostatic interactions with analytes was developed by bonding β-phenylethylamine as a functional ligand to silica. This stationary phase can separate proteins with similar hydrophobicity that traditional hydrophobic resins cannot. Hen egg white was separated to examine the selectivity. The results show that the introduced electrostatic interactions are an important factor for the resolution enhancement and the new resin could have important applications in separation and purification of biological macromolecules.     

Ovalbumin at oil–water interfaces: Adsorption and emulsification

In this article, we study the adsorption of protein ovalbumin (OVA) at corn oil (CO), soybean oil (SBO), olive oil (OO), and water interfaces along with the emulsification of these oils in water. The dynamic interfacial tension (IFT) measurements show a reduction in IFT in the order SBO–water?～?CO–water?>?OO–water, with OVA adsorption being dominated by the free diffusion of OVA at the interfaces. CO–water, OO–water, and SBO–water emulsions cream with time. The cream phase consists of jammed closed-packed oil droplets due to depletion-induced inter-droplet attractions with higher G′ and G″ (～700?Pa) for emulsions with 1?wt% OVA.