Fast separation of native proteins using sub‐2 µm nonporous silica particles in a chromatographic cake

A novel method for the fast separation of native proteins was investigated using sub‐2 µm nonporous silica packing inside a chromatographic cake having a diameter much larger than its thickness. Various silica‐based particles ranging from 630 nm to 1.2 µm were synthesized and chemically modified with polyethylene glycol 600. The packing material was laterally packed into a series of chromatographic cakes containing the same diameter (10 mm) and different thicknesses, ranging from 2 to 10 mm, and tested by hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The results showed that the sub‐2 µm NPS particles in a small chromatographic cake were found to have a high efficiency at a flow rate of 10 mL/min and a backpressure of <20 MPa. The effect of the thickness of the chromatographic cake on the resolution of the proteins was also investigated and it was found that too short a column length could dramatically decrease the protein resolution; the minimum column length was also qualitatively evaluated. The presented method is expected to be useful for routine analysis of native and/or intact proteins in hospitals and as a tool for the fast screening protein drugs and optimization of experimental laboratory conditions. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.