Refining the description of protein chromatography

Preparation of macroporous methacrylate-based monoliths for chromatographic applications by the Reactive Gelation Process

Polymeric monoliths are a relatively new separation medium for chromatographic applications. The innovative approach to produce such monoliths, the Reactive Gelation Process, presented by Marti et al. [1] for polystyrene macroporous materials is applied to a methacrylate-based material. It is shown that it is possible to create a macroporous structure by Reactive Gelation also with this polymer even if the properties of the material are different. Besides the analysis of the material by SEM and BET, several chromatographic methods are used to analyze the material properties. The ISEC experiments showed a much smaller size exclusion effect than in conventional packed beds. The permeability of the material is comparable to a packed bed with 4.13 μm particles. The column efficiency is not changing for increasing flow rates. Because of the high efficiency of the material, shorter columns are needed and therefore the comparatively low permeability is compensated. The monolith also exhibits a significant adsorption capacity for hydrophobic interaction, which makes it suitable for chromatographic purification processes.

Effect of bioparticle size on dispersion and retention in monolithic and perfusive beds

Single-component pulse response studies were used to compare the retention and transport behavior of small molecules, proteins, and a virus on commercially available monolithic and perfusive ion-exchangers. Temporal distortion and extra-column effects were corrected for using a simple algorithm based on the method of moments. It was found that temporal distortion is inversely related to the number of theoretical plates. With increasing bioparticle size, retention increased and the transition from a non-eluting to a non-adsorbing state with increasing ionic strength became more abrupt. Both of these observations are qualitatively explained by calculations of particle-surface electrostatic attractive energy. Calculations also suggest that, for sufficiently large bioparticles, such as viruses or cells, hydrodynamic drag can promote elution. Under non-adsorbing conditions, plate height increased only weakly with flow rate and the skew remained unchanged. With increasing retention, plate height increased dramatically for proteins. Plate height was scaled by permeability rather than bead diameter to enable comparison among different stationary phases.

Evaluating and monitoring the packing behavior of process-scale chromatography columns

The packing characteristics of process-scale chromatography columns were evaluated using the responses to conductivity-based pulse and step inputs derived from tracer experiments and in-process transitions (i.e. column equilibration and regeneration steps). Characteristics of the measured residence time distributions (RTDs) were quantified by statistical moments and using the equations derived from the Gaussian model. The first and second moments calculated from in-process step transitions for multiple runs were in good agreement with those moments calculated from the pulse-input experiments conducted immediately after column packing. This indicates that most of the time the bed behavior at the time of packing is consistent with that at the time of operation. Due to the significant resistance to protein mass transfer inside the particles, estimated plate heights for protein solutes are expected to be much greater than those observed from the experiments using saltbased tracers. Thus, the column efficiency derived from salt-based experiments can be a useful measure of packing consistency rather than a significant parameter influencing the outcome of protein separations.

Mass transfer characteristics of plasmids in monoliths

The hydrodynamic properties and pore-structure of monoliths based on functionalized poly(glycidyl methacrylate-ethylene dimethacrylate) were characterised by pulse response experiments using different probes representing a wide range of molecular mass. On a small scale, band spreading was found to be caused to the extent of more than 90% by extra-column effects. These monoliths have large channel diameters, providing a suitable chromatography adsorbent for processing of large molecules. Dynamic and static binding capacity for plasmid DNA was investigated. For our model plasmid, consisting of 4.9 kbp, a capacity of 7 mg/mL was observed in comparison to 0.3 mg/mL for a conventional medium designed for protein separation. When plasmids were loaded on the monolith a gradual increase in pressure drop was observed. The channels filled up and the cross-sectional area available for liquid flow decreased. Therefore, a higher pressure drop was observed during elution. This is caused by (i) shrinking of the channels as effect of the high salt concentration, (ii) high viscosity of the mobile phase due to high concentration of plasmids, and (iii) an increase of the hydrodynamic radius of the plasmid with salt concentration from 45 nm at 150 mM to 70 nm at 2 M NaCl, as measured by dynamic light scattering. These types of monoliths are considered to be the preferred adsorbents for plasmid separation.

Protein separation using membrane chromatography: opportunities and challenges

Some of the problems associated with packed bed chromatography can be overcome by using synthetic macroporous and microporous membranes as chromatographic media. This paper reviews the current state of development in the area of membrane chromatographic separation of proteins. The transport phenomenon of membrane chromatography is briefly discussed and work done in this area is reviewed. The various separation chemistries which have been utilised for protein separation, along with different applications, are also reviewed. The technical challenges facing membrane chromatography are highlighted and the scope for future work is discussed.

Axial development and radial non-uniformity of flow in packed columns

Flow inhomogeneity and axial development in low-pressure chromatographic columns have been studied by magnetic resonance imaging velocimetry. The columns studied included (a) an 11.7-mm I.D. column packed with either 50 microm diameter porous polyacrylamide, or 99 or 780 microm diameter impermeable polystyrene beads, and (b) a 5-mm I.D. column commercially packed with 10 microm polymeric beads. The packing methods included gravity settling, slurry packing, ultrasonication, and dry packing with vibration. The magnetic resonance method used averaged apparent fluid velocity over both column cross-sections and fluid displacements greater than one particle diameter and hence permits assessment of macroscopic flow non-uniformities. The results confirm that now non-uniformities induced by the conical distributor of the 11.7-mm I.D. column or the presence of voids at the column entrance relax on a length scale of the column radius. All of the 11.7-mm I.D. columns examined exhibit near wall channeling within a few particle diameters of the wall. The origins of this behavior are demonstrated by imaging of the radial dependence of the local porosity for a column packed with 780 microm beads. Columns packed with the 99-microm beads exhibit reduced flow in a region extending from ten to three-to-five particle diameters from the wall. This velocity reduction is consistent with a reduced porosity of 0.35 in this region as compared to approximately 0.43 in the bulk of the column. Ultrasonicated and dry-packed columns exhibit enhanced flow in a region located between approximately eight and 20 particle diameters from the wall. This enhancement maybe caused by packing density inhomogeneity and/or particle size segregation caused by vibration during the packing process. No significant non-uniformities on length scales of 20 microm or greater were observed in the commercially packed column packed with 10 microm particles.

Performance and scale-up of adsorptive membrane chromatography

Separation efficiency and scalability of Pall Corporation's new Mustang stacked membrane chromatographic devices were investigated, using both the 10-ml and l(-1) models and comparing the responses of tracer pulses obtained for conventional and reverse-flow operation. Tracers included AMP, lysozyme, and thyroglobulin, which vary in relative molecular mass from less than 1000 up to 650000. Both devices showed marked insensitivity to tracer size and flow-rate and gave sharper peaks than would have been expected from conventional 15-microm bead packings. However, reverse-flow peaks were always significantly sharper than those for conventional operation, and the differences were ascribed primarily to non-uniform header residence times. Numerical simulations of the macroscopic flow confirmed that this was indeed the case. This problem was much less pronounced for the l(-1) device so scale-up is conservative.

Characterizing the performance of industrial-scale columns

The performance of a large commercial chromatographic column was investigated using a short pulse of a tracer and an extension of the reverse-flow technique. This technique permits separate determination of the unavoidable irreversible microscopic processes and the reversible effects of flow maldistribution, and allows for the separation of flow maldistribution in the flow distributors from flow maldistribution inside the packed bed. This analysis was performed on a 0.44 m Millipore IsoPak column using Cellufine GC 700, cellulosic-based media with an average particle diameter of 75 microm, for the stationary phase. The column efficiency was quantified by analysis of the effluent curve from a short pulse of a 5% aqueous acetone tracer. The study examined behavior of beds of different lengths (10-24 cm) and beds packed from different slurry concentrations (10-75% v/v). The slurry-packed columns were very uniform, and no significant macroscopic flow maldistribution was observed inside the column. The observed bed plate heights conformed to the predictions of available one-dimensional continuum models. Dispersion in the flow distributors was significant, corresponding to 15-25% of the intracolumn dispersion when the full 24 cm available bed length was used and a proportionally larger increase for shorter bed lengths. Thus, the headers are shown to produce a significant increase in the observed plate height.

Refining the scale-up of chromatographic separations

The use of heavily loaded columns and complex processing conditions makes scale-up of chromatographic separations a non-trivial process. The wide ranges of process conditions that must be investigated demands that a large number of preliminary experiments must usually be made in small columns and laboratory-scale work stations. These preliminary data can be biased by improper column packing, poor distributors and dispersion in auxiliary apparatus, and it is important to understand these disturbing factors in detail. Moreover, it is precisely at this macroscopic level that our understanding of the chromatographic process is weakest, for large columns as well as small. This paper addresses three of these factors: Efficient elimination of peripheral effects and characterization of both header flow distribution and packing non-uniformity. This will be done using a variety of experimental and analytical approaches including nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, computational fluid dynamics and mass transfer, and careful experimentation.