On-line purification of His-tag enhanced green fluorescent protein taken directly from a bioreactor by continuous ultrasonic homogenization coupled with immobilized metal affinity expanded bed adsorption

Protein refolding at high concentrations always leads to aggregation, which limits commercial application. An ion-exchange chromatography process with gradient changes in urea concentration and pH was developed to refold denatured lysozyme at high concentration. After adsorption of the denatured protein onto an ion-exchange medium, elution was carried out in combination with a gentle decrease in urea concentration and elevation of pH. Protein would gradually refold along the column with high activity yield. Denatured and reduced lysozyme at 40 mg/ml was loaded into a column filled with SP Sepharose Fast Flow, resulting in 95% activity recovery and 98% mass yield within a short period of time.