Optimisation of penicillin acylase extraction by AOT/isooctane reversed micellar systems

His-tagged protein purification by metal-chelate affinity extraction with nickel-chelate reverse micelles

Di(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (HDEHP) was used as a transition metal ion chelator and introduced to the nonionic reverse micellar system composed of equimolar Triton X-45 and Span 80 at a total concentration of 30 mmol/L. Ni(II) ions were chelated to the HDEHP dimers in the reverse micelles, forming a complex denoted as Ni(II)R(2). The Ni(II)-chelate reverse micelles were characterized for the purification of recombinant hexahistidine-tagged enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) expressed in Escherichia coli. The affinity binding of EGFP to Ni(II)R(2) was proved by investigation of the forward and back extraction behaviors of purified EGFP. Then, EGFP was purified with the affinity reverse micelles. It was found that the impurities in the feedstock impeded EGFP transfer to the reverse micelles, though they were little solubilized in the organic phase. The high specificity of the chelated Ni(2+) ions toward the histidine tag led to the production of electrophoretically pure EGFP, which was similar to that purified by immobilized metal affinity chromatography. A two-stage purification by the metal-chelate affinity extraction gave rise to 87% recovery of EGFP. Fluorescence spectrum analysis suggests the preservation of native protein structure after the separation process, indicating the system was promising for protein purification.

A metal-chelate affinity reverse micellar system for protein extraction

A new nonionic reverse micellar system is developed by blending two nonionic surfactants, Triton X-45 and Span 80. At total surfactant concentrations lower than 60 mmol/L and molar fractions of Triton X-45 less than 0.6, thermodynamically stable reverse micelles of water content (W(0)) up to 30 are formed. Di(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (HDEHP; 1-2 mmol/L) is introduced into the system for chelating transition metal ions that have binding affinity for histidine-rich proteins. HDEHP exists in a dimeric form in organic solvents and a dimer associated with one transition metal ion, including copper, zinc, and nickel. The copper-chelate reverse micelles (Cu-RM) are characterized for their W(0), hydrodynamic radius (R(h)), and aggregation number (N(ag)). Similar with reverse micelles of bis-2-ethylhexyl sodium sulfosuccinate (AOT), R(h) of the Cu-RM is also linearly related to W(0). However, N(ag) is determined to be 30-90 at W(0) of 5-30, only quarter to half of the AOT reverse micelles. Then, selective metal-chelate extraction of histidine-rich protein (myoglobin) by the Cu-RM is successfully performed with pure and mixed protein systems (myoglobin and lysozyme). The solubilized protein can be recovered by stripping with imidazole or ethylinediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) solution. Because various transition metal ions can be chelated to the reverse micelles, it is convinced that the system would be useful for application in protein purification as well as simultaneous isolation and refolding of recombinant histidine-tagged proteins expressed as inclusion bodies.

Effect of hexanol on the reversed micelles of Span 85 modified with Cibacron Blue F-3GA for protein solubilization

Sorbitan trioleate (Span 85) modified with Cibacron Blue F-3GA (CB) was used as an affinity surfactant (CB-Span 85) to form affinity-based reversed micelles in n-hexane. It was found that the addition of hexanol to the reversed micellar system resulted in a significant increase in water content and hydrodynamic radius of the affinity-based reversed micelles. Moreover, the reversed micelles with hexanol revealed broader aggregation number distribution and larger average aggregation number than the reversed micelles without hexanol addition. This is considered to be due to the decreases in the micellar curvature and rigidity of the micellar interfacial layer and the increase in the micellar interfacial fluidity. Consequently, the solubilization capacity of lysozyme increased about 70% in the reversed micellar solution with 3 vol% hexanol. On the other hand, the capacity of BSA was only 30% increased under the same conditions due to its larger molecular size than lysozyme. Kinetic analysis revealed that the increase in the micellar interfacial fluidity in the presence of hexanol resulted in faster release of lysozyme from the micelles, thus leading to an increase of the overall volumetric mass transfer coefficient in the back extraction.

Characterization of reversed micelles of Cibacron Blue F-3GA modified Span 85 for protein solubilization

The nonionic surfactant of sorbitan trioleate (Span 85) was modified with Cibacron Blue F-3GA (CB) as an affinity surfactant (CB-Span 85) to form affinity-based reversed micelles in n-hexane. The reversed micelles formed by the mixture of Span 85 and CB-Span 85 conjugate were extensively characterized in water content, hydrodynamic radius, and aggregation number. The results show that the water content and hydrodynamic radius of the reversed micelles were significantly increased by the introduction of CB ligands (CB-Span 85 conjugate), and the reversed micelles with CB-Span 85 conjugate had a wider aggregation number distribution than the Span 85 reversed micelles. Using lysozyme as a model protein, protein solubilization by the reversed micelles was investigated. Lysozyme solubilization increased significantly with the coupled CB concentration, indicating that the extraction was based upon the affinity interactions between lysozyme molecules and the CB ligand. High solubilization of lysozyme was obtained by the affinity-based reversed micelles of 62.7 mmol/L Span 85 with coupled CB higher than 0.25 mmol/L. Lysozyme recovery was carried out using a stripping solution of high ionic strength. The recovered lysozyme exhibited an activity equivalent to the native lysozyme and its secondary structure was also unchanged. The results indicate that the reversed micellar system would find potential application in protein separation.