Analysis of membrane proteins by ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography

Analysis and separation of synaptosomal membrane proteins

Synaptosomal membrane proteins solubilized with 8% CHAPS-8 M urea were analyzed with two-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE). The membrane proteins were resolved up to 250 spots on a 2DE map, ranging in isoelectric points (pI) from 3.5 to 10.0 and molecular weights (MW) from 10 kDa to 200 kDa. Comparison of the mapped proteins of synaptosomal membranes with those of myelin and mitochondrial membranes revealed that synaptosomal membrane proteins were characteristic in the area of pI from 4.0 to 7.5 and MW from 20 kDa to 130 kDa, and that at least 30 spots were synaptosomal membrane-specific proteins. Most of these 30 proteins have not been previously described, named, and characterized. Serial numbers (from SY1 to SY30) were assigned to the proteins on the map in order to investigate them systematically. A preliminary attempt to separate synaptosomal membrane proteins was carried out using a reversed-phase HPLC system. Several proteins could either be isolated or enriched. SY10 (pI 4.6; MW 56 kDa) was one of these proteins, and was of particular interest for its unusual behavior on the reversed-phase column, and for its binding to an immobilized protein A-gel.

Comparison of non-ionic detergents for extraction and ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography of Sendai virus integral membrane proteins

The integral membrane proteins of Sendai virus haemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) and fusion protein (F) were extracted from purified virions with 2% of a non-ionic detergent, i.e., polyoxyethylene alkyl ethers varying by 8-14 hydrocarbon units in the alkyl chain and by 4-8 ethylene glycol units in the oxyethylene chain. Triton X-100 and octyl glucoside were included as reference detergents. The hydrophile-lipophile balance (HLB) and the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the detergents were determined. A decrease in length of the oxyethylate by 8-5 ethylene glycol units and an increase in the alkylate by 8-12 hydrocarbon units resulted in higher yields of extracted proteins. The highest yields were obtained for C12E5 with an HLB of 11.7. Yields of extracted protein could be correlated with the HLB values of the polyoxyethylene alkyl ethers. The structural integrity of HN and F was not affected during extraction by either detergent as measured by their reactivity with monoclonal antibodies directed against native HN and F. Extracts were subjected to anion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a Mono Q column in the presence of 0.1% of the detergent used for extraction. Eluate fractions were analysed by sodium dodecyl polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and recoveries of HN and F protein were determined by size-exclusion HPLC. The immunological activity of HN and F was tested in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The highest recoveries of HN and F (80%) were obtained with C10E5 in the elution buffer. HN and F were partially purified and the immunological activity was well preserved.

Comparison of ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography columns for purification of Sendai virus integral membrane proteins

The recovery and separation of the integral membrane proteins, the haemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) and the fusion protein (F), from a Sendai virus detergent extract were compared on three different ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography (IE-HPLC) columns: Mono Q, TSK DEAE-NPR and Zorbax BioSeries SAX. The detergent, either 1-O-n-octyl-beta-glucopyranoside (octylglucoside) or decyl polyethylene glycol-300 (decyl PEG-300), used for extraction of HN and F proteins from the virions, was also present in the elution buffers at a concentration of 0.1%. Recovery of HN and F proteins was primarily dependent on the detergent present in the eluent, resulting in yields of HN varying from 18 to 28 and 56 to 67%, when octylglucoside and decyl PEG-300, respectively, were used. The highest yield for HN protein was obtained by separation on either a Mono Q or a TSK DEAE-NPR column with decyl PEG-300 as the additive. Yields of F protein were lower, and the highest recovery of 46% was found in the presence of decyl PEG-300 by separation on the Mono Q column. Analysis of the fractions by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and by size-exclusion HPLC indicated that the HN protein eluted in the presence of decyl PEG-300 from the Mono Q and the TSK DEAE-NPR columns was obtained in pure form, while the F protein was slightly contaminated with HN. Analysis of the fractions with monoclonal antibodies directed against conformational epitopes of HN and F proteins indicated that after IE-HPLC the conformation of the proteins is largely retained.

High-performance liquid chromatographic separation of membrane proteins isolated from erythrocyte ghosts

Membrane proteins extracted from erythrocyte ghosts with sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), 3-(3-cholamidopropyl)-dimethylamminopropane sulfonate (CHAPS) or octylglucoside have been analyzed in various reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic systems. Only SDS was able to solubilize considerable amounts of membrane proteins with mol.wt. greater than 15,000 daltons, but these membrane proteins were recovered in poor yield from a silica-based C4 column eluted with an acetonitrile gradient in trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). A resin-based phenyl column eluted with a similar TFA-acetonitrile gradient was found to be a better choice with respect to the recovery of membrane proteins with mol.wt. greater than 15,000 daltons, and when this column was eluted with an acetic acid gradient with increasing amounts of acetonitrile, erythrocyte ghost membrane proteins solubilized in SDS (mol.wt. 10,000-200,000 daltons) were separated in six major and several minor components with satisfactory recovery.

Column liquid chromatography of integral membrane proteins

Biological membranes have as a major function the compartmentation of biological processes in cells and organelles. They consist of a bilayer of phospholipid molecules in which proteins are embedded. These integral membrane proteins, which cross the bilayer once or several times, generally have a higher than average hydrophobicity and tend to aggregate. Detergents are needed to remove integral membrane proteins from the lipid bilayer and they have to be present during further chromatographic purification. Predominantly, four modes of HPLC have been used alone or in combination for the purification of integral membrane proteins. These are based on differences of proteins in size (size-exclusion chromatography, SEC), electrostatic interaction (ion-exchange chromatography, IEC), bioaffinity (bioaffinity chromatography, BAC) and hydrophobic interaction (reversed-phase chromatography, RPC, and hydrophobic-interaction chromatography, HIC). SEC, IEC, BAC and HIC are used under relatively mild conditions, and buffer systems generally contain a non-ionic detergent. RPC generally has a denaturing effect on the protein and should preferably be used for the purification of integral membrane proteins smaller than 50 kD.

Chromatography of complex protein mixtures

This review has shown that a variety of chromatographic techniques are available for fractionating proteins. Fortunately, high-quality columns of every type described in this review are commercially available. Most water-soluble proteins may be eluted from size-exclusion, hydrophobic-interaction, ion-exchange, metal chelate, and bioaffinity columns with ease. When this is the case, high recovery and retention of biological activity are the norm. The exception is reversed-phase chromatography where the organic solvents and acids used in polypeptide elution denature many proteins. When problems do occur, they are generally the result of unique structural features of the protein. Very hydrophobic proteins have presented the biggest problem in that they are difficult to solubilize, particularly with retention of biological activity. It has been found that zwitterionic and non-ionic detergents are the most suitable solubilizing agents, but urea has also been used in cases where hydrophobic interacts are not as strong. Unfortunately, there is still an element of trial-and-error in selecting the most suitable solubilizing agent. Heterogeneous glycosylation of proteins also presents a problem. Both neutral and charged monosaccharides can be incorporated into proteins through multiple steps at several sites. Thus, there is the potential in a sample for a large number of glycoprotein species which have the same polypeptide backbone and differing amounts of oligosaccharide. A problem arises when size-exclusion, ion-exchange, hydrophobic-interaction, reversed-phase and bioaffinity systems begin to discriminate between these very similar glycoprotein species. Chromatographic peaks can become very broad, due to incomplete fractionation, and the polypeptide chain of interest can be associated with multiple peaks. The separation of glycoproteins requires much more study before logical procedures can be suggested for column selection and operation. Aggregated species are another class of proteins which present occasional problems. Multimeric proteins are adsorbed to sorbents by a series of forces, among which are hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions, and electrostatic forces. These forces are also responsible for the maintenance of quaternary structure in proteins. When the same forces dominate both retention of protein structure and adsorption at the sorbent surface, the quaternary structure of the protein can be disrupted during elution. Very basic proteins also present a problem in some cases. Columns with residual negative charges, such as a silica-based reversed-phase column, adsorb anionic species so strongly that they are difficult to elute.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

High-performance liquid chromatography of membrane proteins

Various modes of high-performance liquid chromatography, gel filtration, ion-exchange chromatography, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, reversed-phase chromatography and metal chelate affinity chromatography, were investigated for the separation of membrane proteins. All were found applicable to membrane proteins, although the usefulness of each mode differed. For satisfactory results it was important to select appropriate elution conditions. The type and concentration of detergent was of special importance. The effects of other conditions, flow-rate, gradient steepness, type of buffer and salt, eluent pH, etc., were similar to those observed for soluble proteins.