Protein adsorption and transport in dextran-modified ion-exchange media. II. Intraparticle uptake and column breakthrough

Separation of the heme protein cytochrome C using a 3D structured graphene oxide bionanocomposite as an adsorbent

Proteins are of great importance for medicine and the pharmaceutical and food industries. However, proteins need to be purified prior to their application. This work investigated the application of a hydrogel bionanocomposite based on agar and graphene oxide (GO) for capturing cytochrome C (Cyto C) heme protein by adsorption from aqueous solutions with other proteins. Although applications of GO-based materials in adsorption are widely studied, the focus on semi-continuous processes remains limited. Adsorption experiments were carried out in batch and fixed bed columns. The effect of pH and ionic strength on adsorption was investigated, and there is evidence that electrostatic interactions between Cyto C and the nanocomposite were favoured at pH = 7; the adsorption capacity decreased as NaCl and KCl concentrations increased, ascribed to the weak electrostatic interaction between the protein and GO active sites in the bionanocomposite. All adsorption isotherm models (Langmuir, Freundlich, Sips) used gave suitable adjustments to the equilibrium experimental data and the kinetic models applied. The maximum adsorption capacity predicted by the Langmuir isotherm was ∼400 mgCytoC gadsorbent,dry-1, and the adsorption thermodynamics indicated a physisorption process. Tests were performed to evaluate the co-adsorption in batch, and the composite was effective in adsorbing Cyto C in solution with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and L-phenylalanine. Fixed bed tests were performed, and although protein adsorption onto nanoparticles can be challenging, the Cyto C adsorbed could be successfully recovered after desorption. Overall, the GO-based hydrogel was an effective method for cytochrome C adsorption, exhibiting a notorious potential for applications in protein separation processes.

Resin structure impacts two-component protein adsorption and separation in anion exchange chromatography

The influence of the resin structure, on the competitive binding and separation of a two-component protein mixture with anion exchange resins is evaluated using conalbumin and green fluorescent protein as a model system. Two macroporous resins, one with large open pores and one with smaller pores, are compared to a resin with grafted polymers. Investigations include measurements of single and two-component isotherms, batch uptake kinetics and two-component column breakthrough. On both macroporous resins, the weaker binding protein, conalbumin, is displaced by the stronger binding green fluorescent protein. For the large pore resin, this results in a pronounced overshoot and efficient separation by frontal chromatography. The polymer-grafted resin exhibits superior capacity and kinetics for one-component adsorption, but is unable to achieve separation due to strongly hindered counter-diffusion. Intermediate separation efficiency is obtained with the smaller pore resin. Confocal laser scanning microscopy provides a mechanistic explanation of the underlying intra-particle diffusional phenomena revealing whether unhindered counter-diffusion of the displaced protein can occur or not. This study demonstrates that the resin's intra-particle structure and its effects on diffusional transport are crucial for an efficient separation process. The novelty of this work lies in its comprehensive nature which includes examples of the three most commonly used resin structures: a small pore agarose matrix, a large-pore polymeric matrix, and a polymer grafted resin. Comparison of the protein adsorption properties of these materials provides valuable clues about advantages and disadvantages of each for anion exchange chromatography applications.

Mass transfer of proteins in chromatographic media: Comparison of pure and crude feed solutions

Elucidation of intraparticle mass transfer mechanisms in protein chromatography is essential for process design. This study investigates the differences of adsorption and diffusion parameters of basic human fibroblast factor 2 (hFGF2) in a simple (purified) and a complex (clarified homogenate) feed solution on the grafted agarose-based strong cation exchanger Capto S. Microscopic investigations using confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed slower intraparticle diffusion of hFGF2 in the clarified homogenate compared to purified hFGF2. Diffusive adsorption fronts indicated a strong contribution of solid diffusion to the overall mass transfer flux. Protein adsorption methods such as batch uptake and shallow bed as well as breakthrough curve experiments confirmed a 40-fold reduction of the mass transfer flux for hFGF2 in the homogenate compared to pure hFGF2. The slower mass transfer was induced by components of the clarified homogenate. Essentially, the increased dynamic viscosity caused by a higher concentration of dsDNA and membrane lipids in the clarified homogenate contributed to this decrease in mass transfer. Moreover, binding capacity for hFGF2 was much lower in the clarified homogenate and substantially decreased the adsorbed phase driving force for mass transfer.

Kinetic investigation of protein adsorption into polyelectrolyte brushes by quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation: The implication of the chromatographic mechanism

With the growing concerns of polymer-grafted ion-exchange chromatography, the importance of protein adsorption on charged polymer-grafted surfaces cannot be stressed enough. However, a full understanding in adsorption in polymer brushes is still a great challenge due to the lack of in situ characterization technique. In this work, we use quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation to in situ investigate adsorption kinetics of γ-globulin and recombinant human lactoferrin on poly(3-sulfopropyl methacrylate) (pSPM) sensors prepared via atom transfer radical polymerization. With an increase of chain length and grafting density, great increasing amounts of proteins on pSPM-grafted sensors revealed that protein underwent a transition from monolayer to multilayer adsorption. It was attributed to direct protein binding into charged brushes, in which more binding sites involved and more coupled water lost. However, such a strong binding and rigid structure of proteins limited the protein transport in pSPM brushes and "chain delivery" effect. With an increase in grafting density, moreover, denser brushes hindered adjustment in protein conformation in pSPM brushes and further exacerbated protein transport in pSPM brushes. Furthermore, the influence of buffer pH and salt concentration further validated the ion exchange characteristics of protein adsorption into pSPM brushes. The research provided a variety of in situ evidence of protein binding and conformation evolution in pSPM brushes and elucidated mechanism of protein adsorption in pSPM brushes.

Patterns of protein adsorption in ion-exchange particles and columns: Evolution of protein concentration profiles during load, hold, and wash steps predicted for pore and solid diffusion mechanisms

Elucidation of protein transport mechanism in ion exchanges is essential to model separation performance. In this work we simulate intraparticle adsorption profiles during batch adsorption assuming typical process conditions for pore, solid and parallel diffusion. Artificial confocal laser scanning microscopy images are created to identify apparent differences between the different transport mechanisms. Typical sharp fronts for pore diffusion are characteristic for Langmuir equilibrium constants of K_L ≥1. Only at K_L = 0.1 and lower, the profiles are smooth and practically indistinguishable from a solid diffusion mechanism. During hold and wash steps, at which the interstitial buffer is removed or exchanged, continuation of diffusion of protein molecules is significant for solid diffusion due to the adsorbed phase concentration driving force. For pore diffusion, protein mobility is considerable at low and moderate binding strength. Only when pore diffusion if completely dominant, and the binding strength is very high, protein mobility is low enough to restrict diffusion out of the particles. Simulation of column operation reveals substantial protein loss when operating conditions are not adjusted appropriately.

Effect of pore structure on protein adsorption mechanism on ion exchange media: A preliminary study using low field nuclear magnetic resonance

The adsorption process of bovine serum albumin (BSA), ovalbumin (OVA) and human immunoglobulin G (IgG) on agarose ion-exchange media Q Sepharose FF and two dextran-grafted agarose media including Q Sepharose XL and Capto Q were studied using low field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The T₂ relaxation time was found directly proportional to the pore size and diminished after protein adsorbed, therefore, a theoretical model describing the relationship between protein binding amount and T₂ relaxation signals was established. The model parameters, a, which reflects the contact area between the adsorbed protein and media surface, and the δ, which defined as the ratio of the protein volume to the pore volume after adsorption, were found to describe the pore occupation states of proteins in media with different pore structures very well. For small proteins, such as BSA and OVA, monolayer adsorption occurred on Q Sepharose FF, which has no dextran chains. Therefore, the adsorbed protein only occupied 49.05% of the pore volume for BSA and 25.51% for OVA, and contact area of each protein on the media were also low, suggesting mostly monolayer adsorption occurred. In the contrast, their adsorption to Q Sepharose XL and Capto Q with dextran chains tended to form multilayer adsorption, thus higher contact area was obtained and the pore volumes were almost 100% occupied. For large protein, such as IgG, the adsorption to all these three media was similar and about 30% of the pore volume were occupied, probably due to the similar restriction for IgG to entering the media pore. Results of this study will help to elucidate the relationship between protein adsorption and pore size variation, which present the significance of low field NMR in understanding protein adsorption mechanism.

Recent advances in protein chromatography with polymer-grafted media

The strategy of using polymer-grafted media is effective to create protein chromatography of high capacity and uptake rate, giving rise to an excellent performance in high-throughput protein separation due to its high dynamic binding capacity. Taking the scientific development and technological innovation of protein chromatography as the objective, this review is devoted to an overview of polymer-grafted media reported in the last five years, including their fabrication routes, protein adsorption and chromatography, mechanisms behind the adsorption behaviors, limitations of polymer-grafted media and chromatographic operation strategies. Particular emphasis is placed on the elaboration and discussion on the behaviors of ion-exchange chromatography (IEC) with polymer-grafted media because IEC is the most suitable chromatographic mode for this kind of media. Recent advances in both the theoretical and experimental investigations on polymer-grafted media are discussed by focusing on their implications to the rational design of novel chromatographic media and mobile phase conditions for the development of high-performance protein chromatography. It is concluded that polymer-grafted media are suitable for development of IEC and mixed-mode chromatography with charged and low hydrophobic ligands, but not for hydrophobic interaction chromatography with high hydrophobic ligands and affinity chromatography with ligands that have single binding site on the protein.

Protein adsorption to poly(2-aminoethyl methacrylate)-grafted Sepharose gel: Effects of chain length and charge density

Grafting functional polymer chains onto porous resins has been found to drastically increase both adsorption capacity and uptake rate in protein chromatography. In this work, 2-aminoethyl methacrylate (AEM) was used for grafting onto Sepharose FF gel, and six anion-exchangers of different polyAEM (pAEM) chain lengths (ionic capacities, ICs), FF-pAEM, were obtained for protein adsorption and chromatography. It was found that protein adsorption capacity (q_m) increased with increasing pAEM chain length, but the uptake rate, represented by the ratio of effective pore diffusivity to the free solution diffusivity (D_e/D₀), showed an up-down trend, reaching a peak value (D_e/D₀=0.55) at an IC of 313 mmol/L. Partial charge neutralization of the AEM-grafted resin of the highest IC (513 mmol/L) by reaction with sodium acetate produced three charge-reduced resins, FF-pAEM513-R. With reducing the charge density, the adsorption capacity kept unchanged and then decreased, but the uptake rate monotonically increased, reaching a maximum (about 2-fold increase) at a residual IC of 263 mmol/L. It is notable that, at the same IC, the charge-reduced resin (FF-pAEM513-R) presented similar or even higher values of q_m and D_e/D₀ than its FF-pAEM counterpart. Particularly, at the same IC of 263 mmol/L, a ~50% enhancement of D_e/D₀ was observed. Both adsorption capacity and uptake rate in the charge-reduced resin with a residual IC of 339 mmo/L (FF-pAEM513-R339) decreased more sharply with increasing NaCl concentration by comparison with FF-pAEM513, indicating its increased salt-sensitivity than FF-pAEM513. That is, charge reduction on the AEM-grafted resin could accelerate protein uptake at 0 mmol/L NaCl but decrease salt tolerance. Column breakthrough experiments showed that FF-pAEM513-R339 was favorable for high flow rate protein chromatography at low NaCl concentration (0 mmol/L), whereas FF-pAEM513 was a good choice in a wide range of salt concentrations at low flow rate. This research proved the excellent protein chromatography performance of the AEM-based anion-exchangers.

Chromatography bioseparation technologies and in-silico modelings for continuous production of biotherapeutics

The potential of continuous bioprocessing is hindered by the bottlenecks of chromatography processing, which continues to be executed in batch mode. Highlighting the critical drawbacks of batch chromatography, this review underscores the transition that the industry has made by implementing continuous upstream process without devising a working model for downstream chromatography operations. Even though multitude of process development initiatives have commenced, the review emphasizes the first principle models of chromatography on which these initiatives are built. Various models of continuous chromatography, which are essential, but not limited to multi-column systems, employed to congeal a unified process are reviewed. Advancements made by several mechanistic models and simulations to maximize productivity and performance are described, in an attempt to provide the integral tools. The modeling tools can be used for development of a strong model based control strategy and can be embedded into the continuous chromatography framework. The review addresses the limitations and challenges of the current modeling methods for development of robust mechanistic modeling and efficient unit operation platform in continuous chromatography.

Emerging biomaterials for downstream manufacturing of therapeutic proteins

Downstream processing is considered one of the most challenging phases of industrial manufacturing of therapeutic proteins, accounting for a large portion of the total production costs. The growing demand for therapeutic proteins in the biopharmaceutical market in addition to a significant rise in upstream titers have placed an increasing burden on the downstream purification process, which is often limited by high cost and insufficient capacities. To achieve efficient production and reduced costs, a variety of biomaterials have been exploited to improve the current techniques and also to develop superior alternatives. In this work, we discuss the significance of utilizing traditional biomaterials in downstream processing and review the recent progress in the development of new biomaterials for use in protein separation and purification. Several representative methods will be highlighted and discussed in detail, including affinity chromatography, non-affinity chromatography, membrane separations, magnetic separations, and precipitation/phase separations. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Nowadays, downstream processing of therapeutic proteins is facing great challenges created by the rapid increase of the market size and upstream titers, starving for significant improvements or innovations in current downstream unit operations. Biomaterials have been widely used in downstream manufacturing of proteins and efforts have been continuously devoted to developing more advanced biomaterials for the implementation of more efficient and economical purification methods. This review covers recent advances in the development and application of biomaterials specifically exploited for various chromatographic and non-chromatographic techniques, highlighting several promising alternative strategies.

Downstream Processing Technologies/Capturing and Final Purification : Opportunities for Innovation, Change, and Improvement. A Review of Downstream Processing Developments in Protein Purification

Increased pressure on upstream processes to maximize productivity has been crowned with great success, although at the cost of shifting the bottleneck to purification. As drivers were economical, focus is on now on debottlenecking downstream processes as the main drivers of high manufacturing cost. Devising a holistically efficient and economical process remains a key challenge. Traditional and emerging protein purification strategies with particular emphasis on methodologies implemented for the production of recombinant proteins of biopharmaceutical importance are reviewed. The breadth of innovation is addressed, as well as the challenges the industry faces today, with an eye to remaining impartial, fair, and balanced. In addition, the scope encompasses both chromatographic and non-chromatographic separations directed at the purification of proteins, with a strong emphasis on antibodies. Complete solutions such as integrated USP/DSP strategies (i.e., continuous processing) are discussed as well as gains in data quantity and quality arising from automation and high-throughput screening (HTS). Best practices and advantages through design of experiments (DOE) to access a complex design space such as multi-modal chromatography are reviewed with an outlook on potential future trends. A discussion of single-use technology, its impact and opportunities for further growth, and the exciting developments in modeling and simulation of DSP rounds out the overview. Lastly, emerging trends such as 3D printing and nanotechnology are covered. Graphical Abstract Workflow of high-throughput screening, design of experiments, and high-throughput analytics to understand design space and design space boundaries quickly. (Reproduced with permission from Gregory Barker, Process Development, Bristol-Myers Squibb).

Chemical modification of protein A chromatography ligands with polyethylene glycol. I: Effects on IgG adsorption equilibrium, kinetics, and transport

Chemical modification of Protein A (ProA) chromatography ligands with polyethylene glycol (PEGylation) has been proposed as a strategy to increase the process selectivity and resin robustness by providing the ligand with a steric repulsion barrier against non-specific binding. This article comprises a comprehensive study of IgG adsorption and transport in Repligen CaptivA PriMAB resin with PEGylated ProA ligands that are modified using 5.2 and 21.5 kDa PEG chains. We studied the impact of the molecular weight of the PEG as well as the extent of PEGylation for the 5.2 kDa PEG modification. In all cases, PEGylation of ProA ligands decreases the resin average pore size, particle porosity, and static binding capacity for IgG proportional to the volume of conjugated PEG in the resin. Resin batch uptake experiments conducted in bulk via a stirred-tank system and with individual resin particles under confocal laser scanning microscopy suggests that PEGylation introduces heterogeneity into IgG binding kinetics: a fraction of the IgG binding sites are transformed from typical fast association kinetic behavior to slow kinetic behavior. pH gradient elution experiments of an IgG molecule on the modified resins show an increase in IgG elution pH for all modified resins, implying a decrease in IgG-ProA binding affinity on modification. Despite losses in static binding capacity for all resins with PEGylated ligands, the loss of dynamic binding capacity at 10% breakthrough (DBC_10%) ranged more broadly from almost 0-47% depending on the PEG molecular weight and the extent of PEGylation. Minimal losses in DBC_10% were observed with a low extent of PEGylation with a smaller molecular weight PEG, while higher losses were observed at higher extents of PEGylation and with higher molecular weight PEG due to decreased static binding capacity and increased mass transfer resistance. This work provides insight into the practical implications for resin performance if PEGylation is considered as a strategy for selectivity enhancement in affinity chromatography with macromolecular ligands.

Enhanced binding by dextran-grafting to Protein A affinity chromatographic media

Dextran-grafted Protein A affinity chromatographic medium was prepared by grafting dextran to agarose-based matrix, followed by epoxy-activation and Protein A coupling site-directed to sulfhydryl groups of cysteine molecules. An enhancement of both the binding performance and the stability was achieved for this dextran-grafted Protein A chromatographic medium. Its dynamic binding capacity was 61 mg immunoglobulin G/mL suction-dried gel, increased by 24% compared with that of the non-grafted medium. The binding capacity of dextran-grafted medium decreased about 7% after 40 cleaning-in-place cycles, much lower than that of the non-grafted medium as decreased about 15%. Confocal laser scanning microscopy results showed that immunoglobulin G was bound to both the outside and the inside of dextran-grafted medium faster than that of non-grafted one. Atomic force microscopy showed that this dextran-grafted Protein A medium had much rougher surface with a vertical coordinate range of ±80 nm, while that of non-grafted one was ±10 nm. Grafted dextran provided a more stereo surface morphology and immunoglobulin G molecules were more easily to be bound. This high-performance dextran-grafted Protein A affinity chromatographic medium has promising applications in large-scale antibody purification.

Determinants of protein elution rates from preparative ion-exchange adsorbents

The rate processes involved in elution in preparative chromatography can affect both peak resolution and hence selectivity as well as practical factors such as facility fit. These processes depend on the physical structure of the adsorbent particles, the amount of bound solute, the solution conditions for operation or some combination of these factors. Ion-exchange adsorbents modified with covalently attached or grafted polymer layers have become widely used in preparative chromatography. Their often easily accessible microstructures offer substantial binding capacities for biomolecules, but elution has sometimes been observed to be undesirably slow. In order to determine which physicochemical phenomena control elution behavior, commercially available cellulosic, dextran-grafted and unmodified agarose materials were characterized here by their elution profiles at various conditions, including different degrees of loading. Elution data were analyzed under the assumption of purely diffusion-limited control, including the role of pore structure properties such as porosity and tortuosity. In general, effective elution rates decreased with the reduction of accessible pore volume, but differences among different proteins indicated the roles of additional factors. Additional measurements and analysis, including the use of confocal laser scanning microscopy to observe elution within single chromatographic particles, indicated the importance of protein association within the particle during elution. The use of protein stabilizing agents was explored in systems presenting atypical elution behavior, and l-arginine and disaccharide excipients were shown to alleviate the effects for one protein, lysozyme, in the presence of sodium chloride. Incorporation of these excipients into eluent buffer gave rise to faster elution and significantly lower pool volumes in elution from polymer-modified adsorbents.

Characterization of cross-linked cellulosic ion-exchange adsorbents: 2. Protein sorption and transport

Adsorption behavior in the HyperCel family of cellulosic ion-exchange materials (Pall Corporation) was characterized using methods to assess, quantitatively and qualitatively, the dynamics of protein uptake as well as static adsorption as a function of ionic strength and protein concentration using several model proteins. The three exchangers studied all presented relatively high adsorptive capacities under low ionic strength conditions, comparable to commercially available resins containing polymer functionalization aimed at increasing that particular characteristic. The strong cation- and anion-exchange moieties showed higher sensitivity to increasing salt concentrations, but protein affinity on the salt-tolerant STAR AX HyperCel exchanger remained strong at ionic strengths normally used in downstream processing to elute material fully during ion-exchange chromatography. Very high uptake rates were observed in both batch kinetics experiments and time-series confocal laser scanning microscopy, suggesting low intraparticle transport resistances relative to external film resistance, even at higher bulk protein concentrations where the opposite is typically observed. Electron microscopy imaging of protein adsorbed phases provided additional insight into particle structure that could not be resolved in previous work on the bare resins.

Effects of polymer graft properties on protein adsorption and transport in ion exchange chromatography: a multiscale modeling study

Multiscale simulation is used to study the adsorption of lysozyme onto ion exchangers obtained by grafting charged polymers into a porous matrix, in systems with various polymer properties and strengths of electrostatic interaction. Molecular dynamics simulations show that protein partitioning into the polymer-filled pore space increases with the overall charge content of the polymers, while the diffusivity in the pore space decreases. However, the combination of greatly increased partitioning and modestly decreased diffusion results in macroscopic transport rates that increase as a function of charge content, as the large concentration driving force due to enhanced pore space partitioning outweighs the reduction in the pore space diffusivity. Matrices having greater charge associated with the grafted polymers also exhibit more diffuse intraparticle concentration profiles during transient adsorption. In systems with a high charge content per polymer and a low protein loading, the polymers preferentially partition toward the surface due to favorable interactions with the surface-bound protein. These results demonstrate the potential of multiscale modeling to illuminate qualitative trends between molecular properties and the adsorption equilibria and kinetic properties observable on macroscopic scales.

Protein adsorption to poly(ethylenimine)-modified Sepharose FF. IV. Dynamic adsorption and elution behaviors

We have previously investigated bovine serum albumin (BSA) uptake to poly(ethylenimine) (PEI)-grafted Sepharose FF. It was found that there was a critical ionic capacity (cIC; 600mmol/L) for BSA, above which the protein adsorption capacity and uptake kinetics increased drastically. In this work, two poly(ethylenimine) (PEI)-grafted resins with IC values of 271mmol/L (FF-PEI-L270) and 683mmol/L (FF-PEI-L680), which were below and above the cIC, respectively, were chosen to investigate the breakthrough and linear gradient elution (LGE) behaviors of BSA. Commercially available anion exchanger, Q Sepharose FF, was used for comparison. The DBC values of FF-PEI-L680 were much higher in the entire residence time range (2-10min) than the other two resins due to its high static adsorption capacity and uptake kinetics. At a residence time of 5.0min, the DBC of FF-PEI-L680 (104mg/mL) was about seven times that of FF-PEI-L270 and three times that of Q Sepharose FF. A rise-fall trend of the DBCs with increasing ionic strength (IS) was found for all the three resins studied, indicating the presence of electrostatic exclusion for protein uptake at low IS. With increasing NaCl concentration from 20 to 200mmol/L, FF-PEI-L680 kept very high DBC values (64-114mg/mL). In addition, FF-PEI-L270 showed more favorable adsorption properties than Q Sepharose FF at 100-300mmol/L NaCl. These results proved that the three-dimensional grafting ion exchange layer on the PEI resins enhanced their tolerance to IS. In the study of LGE, the three resins showed similar elution behaviors and no distinct peak tailings were observed. The salt concentrations at the elution peaks (IR) were in the order of FF-PEI-L680>FF-PEI-L270>Q Sepharose FF, indicating that the elution for the PEI resins needed higher salt concentrations, which was also an appearance of the salt-tolerant feature of the PEI resins. When protein loading amount was increased to the value equivalent to the DBC at 10% breakthrough, the adsorbed BSA could be eluted at lower salt concentrations. The chromatographic study has provided new insights into the practical application of the PEI-based anion exchangers.