Polyethylene glycol increases purification and recovery, alters retention behavior in flow-through chromatography of hemoglobin

Enhanced Stability of Detergent-Free Human Native STEAP1 Protein from Neoplastic Prostate Cancer Cells upon an Innovative Isolation Procedure

BACKGROUND

The STEAP1 is a cell-surface antigen over-expressed in prostate cancer, which contributes to tumor progression and aggressiveness. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying STEAP1 and its structural determinants remain elusive.

METHODS

The fraction capacity of Butyl- and Octyl-Sepharose matrices on LNCaP lysates was evaluated by manipulating the ionic strength of binding and elution phases, followed by a Co-Immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) polishing. Several potential stabilizing additives were assessed, and the melting temperature (Tm) values ranked the best/worst compounds. The secondary structure of STEAP1 was identified by circular dichroism.

RESULTS

The STEAP1 was not fully captured with 1.375 M (Butyl), in contrast with interfering heterologous proteins, which were strongly retained and mostly eluted with water. This single step demonstrated higher selectivity of Butyl-Sepharose for host impurities removal from injected crude samples. Co-IP allowed recovering a purified fraction of STEAP1 and contributed to unveil potential physiologically interacting counterparts with the target. A Tm of ~55 °C was determined, confirming STEAP1 stability in the purification buffer. A predominant α-helical structure was identified, ensuring the protein's structural stability.

CONCLUSIONS

A method for successfully isolating human STEAP1 from LNCaP cells was provided, avoiding the use of detergents to achieve stability, even outside a membrane-mimicking environment.

Identification of monoclonal antibody variants involved in aggregate formation - Part 2: Hydrophobicity variants

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are valuable tools both in therapy and in diagnostic. Their tendency to aggregate is a serious concern. Since a mAb drug substance (DS) is composed of different variants, it is important for manufacturers to know the behavior and stability not only of the mAb as a whole, but also of the variants contained in the product. We present a method to separate hydrophobicity variants of a mAb and subsequently analyzed these variants for stability and aggregation propensity. We identified a potentially aggregation prone hydrophilic variant which is interrelated with another previously identified aggregation prone acidic charge variant. Additionally, we assessed the risk posed by the aggregation prone variant to the DS by spiking hydrophobicity variants into DS and did not observe an enhanced aggregation propensity. Thus we present an approach to separate, characterize and analyze the criticality of aggregation prone variants in protein DS which is a step forward to further assure drug safety.

Retention Behavior of Polyethylene Glycol and Its Influence on Protein Elution on Hydrophobic Interaction Chromatography Media

The retention behavior of polyethylene glycol (PEG) on different types of hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) resins containing butyl, octyl, and phenyl ligands was analyzed. An incomplete elution or splitting of the polymer peak into two parts was observed, where the first one was eluted at the dead time of the column, whereas the second one was strongly retained. The phenomenon was attributed to conformation changes of the polymer upon its adsorption on hydrophobic surface. The effect enhanced with increasing molecular weight of the polymer and hydrophobicity of the HIC media. Addition of PEG to the mobile phase reduced binding of proteins to HIC resins, which was demonstrated with two model systems: lysozyme (LYZ) and immunoglobulin G (IgG), and their mixtures. In case of LYZ, the presence of PEG caused reduction in the protein retention, whereas for IgG—a decrease in efficiency of the protein capture. The effect depended on the adsorption pattern of PEG; it was pronounced in the systems in which conformational changes of the polymer were suggested to occur.

High productivity purification of immunoglobulin G monoclonal antibodies on starch-coated magnetic nanoparticles by steric exclusion of polyethylene glycol

We achieved exceptionally high capacity capture of monoclonal IgG by adding 200 nm starch-coated magnetic particles as nucleation centers, adding polyethylene glycol (PEG), then collecting the particle-associated antibody in a magnetic field. Experimental data suggest that accretion of IgG begins on particle surfaces then continues with fusion of particle-centric accretions up to about 1mm in a process that closely parallels PEG precipitation. An embedded nanoparticle mass of 1.3% of the IgG mass is adequate to enable efficient magnetic collection of the associated IgG. Recovery of purified IgG averaged 98% up to loads of 78 mg of IgG per mg of particles. Converted to an equivalent volume of settled particles, this represents about 58 g IgG per mL of nanoparticles, which is roughly 1000 times higher than the average capacity of commercial protein A porous particles packed in columns. When applied to cell culture harvest clarified by centrifugation and microfiltration, performing the nanoparticle technique under physiological conditions permitted only a 10-fold reduction of host cell protein (HCP) contamination and IgG recovery less than 50%. Application of a more capable clarification method and operating the nanoparticle method at 0.5-1.0M NaCl supported more than 99% HCP reduction and 87% IgG recovery. The high salt concentration also dramatically diminished the influence of operating pH on selectivity. The nanoparticle step was followed by sample application without buffer exchange to a column packed with multimodal electropositive-hydrophobic particles that reduced HCP to 2 ppm. Aggregate content was reduced from 4.9 to 3.6% at the nanoparticle step, then to less than 0.05% at the multimodal step. The multimodal step also removed residual PEG. Overall IgG recovery was 69%. The ability of the system to achieve purity similar to protein A, but dramatically higher productivity than packed columns, suggests that the technique could evolve as a credible option for industrial purification of monoclonal antibodies.

Principles and applications of steric exclusion chromatography

We introduce a chromatography method for purification of large proteins and viruses that works by capturing them at a non-reactive hydrophilic surface by their mutual steric exclusion of polyethylene glycol (PEG). No direct chemical interaction between the surface and the target species is required. We refer to the technique as steric exclusion chromatography. Hydroxyl-substituted polymethacrylate monoliths provide a hydrophilic surface and support convective mass transport that is unaffected by the viscosity of the PEG. Elution is achieved by reducing PEG concentration. Selectivity correlates with molecular size, with larger species retained more strongly than smaller species. Retention increases with PEG size and concentration. Salts weaken retention in proportion to their concentration and Hofmeister ranking. Retention is enhanced near the isoelectric point of the target species. Virus binding capacity was measured at 9.9×10(12) plaque forming units per mL of monolith. 99.8% of host cell proteins and 93% of DNA were eliminated. Mass recovery exceeded 90%. IgM capacity was greater than 60 mg/mL. 95% of host cell proteins were eliminated from IgM produced in protein-free media, and mass recovery was up to 90%. Bioactivity was fully conserved by both viruses and antibodies. Process time ranged from less than 30 min to 2 h depending on the product concentration in the feed stream.

A novel and mild isolation procedure of chlorosomes from the green sulfur bacterium Chlorobaculum tepidum

In this article, we developed a new and mild procedure for the isolation of chlorosomes from a green sulfur bacterium Chlorobaculum tepidum. In this procedure, Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) protein was released by long cold treatment (6°C) of cells under the presence of a chaotrope (2 M NaSCN) and 0.6 M sucrose. Chlorosomes were released by an osmotic shock of the cold-treated cells after the formation of spheroplasts without mechanical disruption. Chlorosomes were finally purified by a sucrose step-wise density gradient centrifugation. We obtained two samples with different density (20 and 23% sucrose band, respectively) and compared them by SDS-PAGE, absorption spectroscopy at 80 K, fluorescence and CD spectroscopy at room temperature. Cells whose absorption maximum was longer than 750 nm yielded higher amount of the 20% sucrose fraction than those having an absorption maximum shorter than 750 nm.

Bioreactors and bioseparation

Along with the rapid development of life science, great attention has been increasingly given to the biotechnological products of cell cultivation technology. In the course of industrialization, bioreactor and bioproduct separation techniques are the two essential technical platforms. In this chapter, the current situation and development prospects of bioreactor techniques in China are systematically discussed, starting with the elucidation of bioreactor processes and the principle of process optimization. Separation technology for biological products is also briefly introduced.At present, a series of bioreactors made by Chinese enterprises have been widely used for laboratory microbial cultivation, process optimization studies, and large-scale production. In the course of bioprocess optimization studies, the complicated bioprocesses in a bioreactor could be resolved into different reaction processes on three scales, namely genetic, cellular, and bioreactor scales. The structural varieties and nonlinear features of various scales of bioprocess systems was discussed through considering the mutual effects of different scale events, namely material flux, energy flux, and information flux, and the optimization approach for bioprocesses was proposed by taking the analysis of metabolic flux and multiscale consideration as a core strategy.In order to realize such an optimization approach, a bioreactor system based on association analysis of multiscale parameters was elaborated, and process optimization of many biological products were materialized, which resulted in great improvement in production efficiency. In designing and manufacturing large-scale bioreactors, the principle of scaling up a process incorporated with flow field study and physiological features in a bioreactor was suggested according to the criterion for the scale-up of cellular physiological and metabolic traits. The flow field features of a bioreactor were investigated through computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and the design of a bioreactor configuration was carried out depending on multiscale studies of parameters correlation in a bioprocess. With respect to the development trend of bioreactor studies in China, the significance of the development of microbioreactors for high throughput strain screening and large-scale bioreactors for animal cell cultivation were put forward. Finally, the importance of studies of systems biology for bioprocesses based on bioinformation processing was raised, and the necessity of establishing a bioprocess information database and local area network (LAN) were emphasized as well.Bioseparation engineering plays a key role in biotechnology production. At present, many difficulties need to be resolved in the area. Scientists of China have made considerable progress in bioseparation engineering. This progress includes chromatography media, recycling aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS), affinity precipitation, molecular imprinting, renaturation and modification of proteins, protein fractionation using ultrafiltration (UF), ion liquid separation of bioproducts, reverse micellar extraction, etc. The preparation of bioseparation materials, as well as part of bioseparation process research development in the past 5 years, are introduced here.

Stroma-free hemoglobin from bovine blood

Isolation and purification of bovine hemoglobin (HbBv) was carried out after reaction of whole blood with carbon monoxide. Washing/centrifugation steps were used to eliminate leukocytes, platelets, and plasma proteins. Hypotonic media and ultrasound radiation were used to lyse red blood cells. Lyse by ultrasound was shown to lead to solutions at the highest concentrations in HbBv, and the least concentrations in major phospholipids contaminants. Additional purification procedures were performed to remove membrane proteins and phospholipids. In the first case, proteins were denatured by thermal treatment, and filtered. To eliminate phospholipids, liquid chromatography was used with strong anion exchangers. Purity of HbBv was evaluated by normal phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), electrophoresis, and size-exclusion HPLC.

On-column refolding of consensus interferon at high concentration with guanidine-hydrochloride and polyethylene glycol gradients

Dilution refolding of consensus interferon (C-IFN) had a limit on final concentration not exceeding 0.1 mg ml(-1) in order to achieve specific activity of 2.2x10(8) U mg(-1). Addition of polyethylene glycol (PEG) only gave a marginal improvement on the specific activity. Hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) was tried but a simple step-wise elution could not refold the protein. Successful refolding was achieved by gradient elution with the decreasing of guanidine-hydrochloride (guanidine-HCl) concentration. The column was packed with a commercially available HIC medium that was designed for protein separation. Polyethylene glycol was found to possess better effect on the column than in the dilution for promotion of correct refolding, especially in gradient mode. A novel dual-gradient strategy, consisting of decreasing guanidine-HCl concentration and increasing PEG concentration, was developed to enhance the refolding yield. Denatured C-IFN was allowed to adsorb and elute from the HIC column through a gradually changed solution environment. Compared with dilution refolding, the gradient HIC process, in the presence of PEG, gave about 2.6-folds of increase in specific activity, 30% increase in soluble protein recovery. Partial purification was also achieved simultaneously.