Development of a Strategy of Influenza Virus Separation Based on Pseudoaffinity Chromatography on Short Monolithic Columns

Affinity monolith chromatography: A review of general principles and recent developments

Affinity monolith chromatography (AMC) is a liquid chromatographic technique that utilizes a monolithic support with a biological ligand or related binding agent to isolate, enrich, or detect a target analyte in a complex matrix. The target-specific interaction exhibited by the binding agents makes AMC attractive for the separation or detection of a wide range of compounds. This article will review the basic principles of AMC and recent developments in this field. The supports used in AMC will be discussed, including organic, inorganic, hybrid, carbohydrate, and cryogel monoliths. Schemes for attaching binding agents to these monoliths will be examined as well, such as covalent immobilization, biospecific adsorption, entrapment, molecular imprinting, and coordination methods. An overview will then be given of binding agents that have recently been used in AMC, along with their applications. These applications will include bioaffinity chromatography, immunoaffinity chromatography, immobilized metal-ion affinity chromatography, and dye-ligand or biomimetic affinity chromatography. The use of AMC in chiral separations and biointeraction studies will also be discussed.

Towards the Development of a 3-D Biochip for the Detection of Hepatitis C Virus

The early diagnostics of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections is currently one of the most highly demanded medical tasks. This study is devoted to the development of biochips (microarrays) that can be applied for the detection of HCV. The analytical platforms of suggested devices were based on macroporous poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-di(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate) monolithic material. The biochips were obtained by the covalent immobilization of specific probes spotted onto the surface of macroporous monolithic platforms. Using the developed biochips, different variants of bioassay were investigated. This study was carried out using hepatitis C virus-mimetic particles (VMPs) representing polymer nanoparticles with a size close to HCV and bearing surface virus antigen (E2 protein). At the first step, the main parameters of bioassay were optimized. Additionally, the dissociation constants were calculated for the pairs “ligand–receptor” and “antigen–antibody” formed at the surface of biochips. As a result of this study, the analysis of VMPs in model buffer solution and human blood plasma was carried out in a format of direct and “sandwich” approaches. It was found that bioassay efficacy appeared to be similar for both the model medium and real biological fluid. Finally, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), spot-to-spot and biochip-to-biochip reproducibility for the developed systems were evaluated.

Affinity monolith chromatography: A review of general principles and applications

Affinity monolith chromatography, or AMC, is a liquid chromatographic method in which the support is a monolith and the stationary phase is a biological-binding agent or related mimic. AMC has become popular for the isolation of biochemicals, for the measurement of various analytes, and for studying biological interactions. This review will examine the principles and applications of AMC. The materials that have been used to prepare AMC columns will be discussed, which have included various organic polymers, silica, agarose, and cryogels. Immobilization schemes that have been used in AMC will also be considered. Various binding agents and applications that have been reported for AMC will then be described. These applications will include the use of AMC for bioaffinity chromatography, immunoaffinity chromatography, dye-ligand affinity chromatography, and immobilized metal-ion affinity chromatography. The use of AMC with chiral stationary phases and as a tool to characterize biological interactions will also be examined.

Receptor-ligand interactions: Advanced biomedical applications

Receptor-ligand interactions (RLIs) are at the base of all biological events occurring in living cells. The understanding of interactions between complementary macromolecules in biological systems represents a high-priority research area in bionanotechnology to design the artificial systems mimicking natural processes. This review summarizes and analyzes RLIs in some cutting-edge biomedical fields, in particular, for the preparation of novel stationary phases to separate complex biological mixtures in medical diagnostics, for the design of ultrasensitive biosensors for identification of biomarkers of various diseases at early stages, as well as in the development of innovative biomaterials and approaches for regenerative medicine. All these biotechnological fields are closely related, because their success depends on a proper choice, combination and spatial disposition of the single components of ligand-receptor pairs on the surface of appropriately designed support.

Concentration and purification of enterovirus 71 using a weak anion-exchange monolithic column

BACKGROUND

Enterovirus 71 (EV-71) is a neurotropic virus causing Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) in infants and children under the age of five. It is a major concern for public health issues across Asia-Pacific region. The most effective way to control the disease caused by EV-71 is by vaccination thus a novel vaccine is urgently needed. Inactivated EV-71 induces a strong, virus-neutralizing antibody response in animal models, protecting them against a lethal EV-71 challenge and it has been shown to elicit cross-neutralizing antibodies in human trials. Hence, the large-scale production of purified EV-71 is required for vaccine development, diagnosis and clinical trials.

METHODS

CIM® Monolith columns are single-piece columns made up of poly(glycidyl methacrylate co-ethylene dimethacrylate) as support matrix. They are designed as porous channels rather than beads with different chemistries for different requirements. As monolithic columns have a high binding capacity, flow rate and resolution, a CIM® DEAE-8f tube monolithic column was selected for purification in this study. The EV-71 infected Rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) cell supernatant was concentrated using 8% PEG 8000 in the presence of 400 mM sodium chloride. The concentrated virus was purified by weak anion exchange column using 50 mM HEPES + 1 M sodium chloride as elution buffer.

RESULTS

Highly pure viral particles were obtained at a concentration of 350 mM sodium chloride as confirmed by SDS-PAGE and electron microscopy. Presence of viral proteins VP1, VP2 and VP3 was validated by western blotting. The overall process achieved a recovery of 55%.

CONCLUSIONS

EV-71 viral particles of up to 95% purity can be recovered by a single step ion-exchange chromatography using CIM-DEAE monolithic columns and 1 M sodium chloride as elution buffer. Moreover, this method is scalable to purify several litres of virus-containing supernatant, using industrial monolithic columns with a capacity of up to 8 L such as CIM® cGMP tube monolithic columns.

Lectin-carbohydrate interactions on nanoporous gold monoliths

Monoliths of nanoporous gold (np-Au) were modified with self-assembled monolayers of octadecanethiol (C18-SH), 8-mercaptooctyl α-D-mannopyranoside (αMan-C8-SH), and 8-mercapto-3,6-dioxaoctanol (HO-PEG2-SH), and the loading was assessed using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Modification with mixed SAMs containing αMan-C8-SH (at a 0.20 mole fraction in the SAM forming solution) with either octanethiol or HO-PEG2-SH was also investigated. The np-Au monoliths modified with αMan-C8-SH bind the lectin Concanavalin A (Con A), and the additional mass due to bound protein was assessed using TGA analysis. A comparison of TGA traces measured before and after exposure of HO-PEG2-SH modified np-Au to Con A showed that the non-specific binding of Con A was minimal. In contrast, np-Au modified with octanethiol showed a significant mass loss due to non-specifically adsorbed Con A. A significant mass loss was also attributed to binding of Con A to bare np-Au monoliths. TGA revealed a mass loss due to the binding of Con A to np-Au monoliths modified with pure αMan-C8-SH. The use of mass losses determined by TGA to compare the binding of Con A to np-Au monoliths modified by mixed SAMs of αMan-C8-SH and either octanethiol or HO-PEG2-SH revealed that binding to mixed SAM modified surfaces is specific for the mixed SAMs with HO-PEG2-SH but shows a significant contribution from non-specific adsorption for the mixed SAMs with octanethiol. Minimal adsorption of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and peanut agglutinin (PNA) towards the mannoside modified np-Au monoliths was demonstrated. A greater mass loss was found for Con A bound onto the monolith than for either IgG or PNA, signifying that the mannose presenting SAMs in np-Au retain selectivity for Con A. TGA data also provide evidence that Con A bound to the αMan-C8-SH modified np-Au can be eluted by flowing a solution of methyl α-D-mannopyranoside through the structure. The presence of Con A proteins on the modified np-Au surface was also confirmed using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results highlight the potential for application of carbohydrate modified np-Au monoliths to glycoscience and glycotechnology and demonstrate that they can be used for capture and release of carbohydrate binding proteins in significant quantities.

Downstream processing of cell culture-derived virus particles

Manufacturing of cell culture-derived virus particles for vaccination and gene therapy is a rapidly growing field in the biopharmaceutical industry. The process involves a number of complex tasks and unit operations ranging from selection of host cells and virus strains for the cultivation in bioreactors to the purification and formulation of the final product. For the majority of cell culture-derived products, efforts focused on maximization of bioreactor yields, whereas design and optimization of downstream processes were often neglected. Owing to this biased focus, downstream procedures today often constitute a bottleneck in various manufacturing processes and account for the majority of the overall production costs. For efficient production methods, particularly in sight of constantly increasing economic pressure within human healthcare systems, highly productive downstream schemes have to be developed. Here, we discuss unit operations and downstream trains to purify virus particles for use as vaccines and vectors for gene therapy.

Bioaffinity chromatography on monolithic supports

Affinity chromatography on monolithic supports is a powerful analytical chemical platform because it allows for fast analyses, small sample volumes, strong enrichment of trace biomarkers and applications in microchips. In this review, the recent research using monolithic materials in the field of bioaffinity chromatography (including immunochromatography) is summarized and discussed. After giving an introduction into affinity chromatography, information on different biomolecules (antibodies, enzymes, lectins, aptamers) that can act as ligands in bioaffinity chromatography is presented. Subsequently, the history of monoliths, their advantages, preparation and formats (disks, capillaries and microchips) as well as ligand immobilization techniques are mentioned. Finally, analytical and preparative applications of bioaffinity chromatography on monoliths are presented. During the last four years 37 papers appeared. Protein A and G are still most often used as ligands for the enrichment of immunoglobulins. Antibodies and lectins remain popular for the analysis of mainly smaller molecules and saccharides, respectively. The highly porous cryogels modified with ligands are applied for the sorting of different cells or bacteria. New is the application of aptamers and phages as ligands on monoliths. Convective interaction media (epoxy CIM disks) are currently the most used format in monolithic bioaffinity chromatography.

Synthetic polycation: polynucleotide interactions determined using liquid chromatography with short monolithic columns

LC on short monolithic columns (Convective Interaction Medium Disks) was applied to investigate several specially synthesized water soluble polycations of different charge type (primary, tertiary, quaternary amine), as well as a copolymer of neutral saccharide and cationic monomers, regarding their ability to form reversible complexes with DNA. For this purpose, two separation modes were used, namely, pseudo-affinity and cation-exchange chromatography. Synthetic polynucleotides, namely, polyriboadenylic acid (poly(rA)) and polyribocytidylic acid (poly(rC)), were used as approximate structural analogues of DNA. In first case, the hypothetical specific binding between dissolved polymers and polynucleotide (poly(rA) or poly(rC)), covalently attached to epoxy-bearing monolithic sorbent, has been studied and compared to the results obtained using cation exchange chromatography. Quantitative parameters of interactions between macromolecules were established using frontal elution method.

Sulfated membrane adsorbers for economic pseudo-affinity capture of influenza virus particles

Strategies to control outbreaks of influenza, a contagious respiratory tract disease, are focused mainly on prophylactic vaccinations in conjunction with antiviral medications. Currently, several mammalian cell culture-based influenza vaccine production processes are being established, such as the technologies introduced by Novartis Behring (Optaflu) or Baxter International Inc. (Celvapan). Downstream processing of influenza virus vaccines from cell culture supernatant can be performed by adsorbing virions onto sulfated column chromatography beads, such as Cellufine sulfate. This study focused on the development of a sulfated cellulose membrane (SCM) chromatography unit operation to capture cell culture-derived influenza viruses. The advantages of the novel method were demonstrated for the Madin Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cell-derived influenza virus A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (H1N1). Furthermore, the SCM-adsorbers were compared directly to column-based Cellufine sulfate and commercially available cation-exchange membrane adsorbers. Sulfated cellulose membrane adsorbers showed high viral product recoveries. In addition, the SCM-capture step resulted in a higher reduction of dsDNA compared to the tested cation-exchange membrane adsorbers. The productivity of the SCM-based unit operation could be significantly improved by a 30-fold increase in volumetric flow rate during adsorption compared to the bead-based capture method. The higher flow rate even further reduced the level of contaminating dsDNA by about twofold. The reproducibility and general applicability of the developed unit operation were demonstrated for two further MDCK cell-derived influenza virus strains: A/Wisconsin/67/2005 (H3N2) and B/Malaysia/2506/2004. Overall, SCM-adsorbers represent a powerful and economically favorable alternative for influenza virus capture over conventional methods using Cellufine sulfate.

Evaluation of silica monoliths in affinity microcolumns for high-throughput analysis of drug-protein interactions

Silica monoliths in affinity microcolumns were tested for the high-throughput analysis of drug-protein interactions. HSA was used as a model protein for this work, while carbamazepine and R-warfarin were used as model analytes. A comparison of HSA silica monoliths of various lengths indicated columns as short as 1 to 3 mm could be used to provide reproducible estimates of retention factors or plate heights. Benefits of using smaller columns for this work included the lower retention times and lower back pressures that could be obtained versus traditional HPLC affinity columns, as well as the smaller amount of protein that is required for column preparation. One disadvantage of decreasing column length was the lower precision that resulted in retention factor and plate height measurements. A comparison was also made between microcolumns containing silica particles versus silica monoliths. It was demonstrated with R-warfarin that supports could be used in HSA microcolumns for the determination of retention factors or plate heights. However, the higher efficiency of the silica monolith made this the preferred support for work at higher flow rates or when a larger number of plates are needed during the rapid analysis of drug-protein interactions.

Binding site and elution behavior of DNA and other large biomolecules in monolithic anion-exchange chromatography

Our previous study has shown that there is a good correlation between the number of charges of DNA (from trimer to 50-mer) and the number of binding sites B in electrostatic interaction chromatography (ion-exchange chromatography, IEC). It was also found that high salt (NaCl) concentration is needed to elute large DNAs (>0.6M). In this paper we further performed experiments with large DNAs (up to 95-mer polyT and polyA) and charged liposome particles of different sizes (ca. 30, 50 and 100 nm) with a monolithic anion-exchange disk in order to understand the binding and elution mechanism of very large charged biomolecules or particles. The peak salt (NaCl) concentration increased with increasing DNA length. However, above 50-mer DNAs the value did not increase significantly with DNA length (ca. 0.65-0.70 M). For liposome particles of different sizes the peak salt concentration (ca. 0.62 M) was similar and slightly lower than that for large DNAs (ca. 0.65-0.70 M). The binding site values (ca. 25-30) are smaller than those for large DNAs. When arginine was used as a mobile phase modulator, the elution position of polyA and polyT became very close whereas in NaCl gradient elution polyT appeared after polyA eluted. This was mainly due to suppression of hydrophobic interaction by arginine.

Concentrating rotaviruses from water samples using monolithic chromatographic supports

Rotaviruses are the leading cause of diarrhoea in infants around the globe and, under certain conditions they can be present in drinking water sources and systems. Ingestion of 10-100 viral particles is enough to cause disease, emphasizing the need for sensitive diagnostic methods. In this study we have optimized the concentration of rotavirus particles using methacrylate monolithic chromatographic supports. Different surface chemistries and mobile phases were tested. A strong anion exchanger and phosphate buffer (pH 7) resulted in the highest recoveries after elution of the bound virus with 1M NaCl. Using this approach, rotavirus particles spiked in 1l volumes of tap or river water were efficiently concentrated. The developed concentration method in combination with a real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay detected rotavirus concentrations as low as 100 rotavirus particles/ml.

Downstream Processing: From Egg to Cell Culture-Derived Influenza Virus Particles

The establishment of cell culture-derived vaccine production requires the development of appropriate downstream processes. Until today, many of the downstream methods applied originate from egg-derived production processes. These methods have often been slightly modified in order to account for the new demands. However, efforts are currently underway to optimize these processes focusing, for example, on ion exchange or affinity based membrane adsorption chromatography. This review covers the main aspects relevant for the downstream processing of egg and mammalian cell culture-derived whole influenza viruses.