Aqueous Two-phase Systems For Purification Research Articles

Salt-containing aqueous two-phase system shows predictable partition of proteins with surface amino acids residues

Aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) containing salts has been used for protein purification and enrichment. However, it is unclear how proteins are partitioned in the top or bottom phases of the system. In this study, we demonstrate that the partition of proteins in salt-containing ATPS (SATPS) depends only on the relation between the protein-surface amino acids and the type of salt using SATPS. The partition coefficients of four proteins changed depending on the kind of salt, according to the Hofmeister series. Interestingly, the partition coefficients of the proteins correlated to those of the combination of the amino acids in the surface of the protein with the correlation coefficients of >0.9. The results suggest that the interaction between the protein surface and aqueous ions plays an indispensable role for the partition of proteins in SATPS that can help in the design of protein partition in ATPS for purification and enrichment.

Response Surface Methodology Modelling of an Aqueous Two-Phase System for Purification of Protease from Penicillium candidum (PCA 1/TT031) under Solid State Fermentation and Its Biochemical Characterization.

Penicillium candidum (PCA 1/TT031) synthesizes different types of extracellular proteases. The objective of this study is to optimize polyethylene glycol (PEG)/citrate based on an aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to purify protease from Penicillium candidum (PCA 1/TT031). The effects of different PEG molecular weights (1500–10,000 g/mol), PEG concentration (9%–20%), concentrations of NaCl (0%–10%) and the citrate buffer (8%–16%) on protease were also studied. The best protease purification could be achieved under the conditions of 9.0% (w/w) PEG 8000, 5.2% NaCl, and 15.9% sodium citrate concentration, which resulted in a one-sided protease partitioning for the bottom phase with a partition coefficient of 0.2, a 6.8-fold protease purification factor, and a yield of 93%. The response surface models displayed a significant (p ≤ 0.05) response which was fit for the variables that were studied as well as a high coefficient of determination (R2). Similarly, the predicted and observed values displayed no significant (p > 0.05) differences. In addition, our enzyme characterization study revealed that Penicillium candidum (PCA 1/TT031) produced a slight neutral protease with a molecular weight between 100 and 140 kDa. The optimal activity of the purified enzyme occurred at a pH of 6.0 and at a temperature of 50 °C. The stability between different pH and temperature ranges along with the effect of chemical metal ions and inhibitors were also studied. Our results reveal that the purified enzyme could be used in the dairy industry such as in accelerated cheese ripening.

Design of aqueous two-phase systems for purification of hyaluronic acid produced by metabolically engineered Lactococcus lactis.

Hyaluronic acid has a wide range of biomedical applications and its commercial value is highly dependent on its purity and molecular weight. This study highlights the utility of aqueous two-phase separation as a primary recovery step for hyaluronic acid and for removal of major protein impurities from fermentation broths. Metabolically engineered cultures of a lactate dehydrogenase mutant strain of Lactococcus lactis (L. lactis NZ9020) were used to produce high-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid. The cell-free fermentation broth was partially purified using a polyethylene glycol/potassium phosphate system, resulting in nearly 100% recovery of hyaluronic acid in the salt-rich bottom phase in all the aqueous two-phase separation experiments. These experiments were optimized for maximum removal of protein impurities in the polyethylene glycol rich top phase. The removal of protein impurities resulted in substantial reduction of membrane fouling in the subsequent diafiltration process, carried out with a 300 kDa polyether sulfone membrane. This step resulted in considerable purification of hyaluronic acid, without any loss in recovery and molecular weight. Diafiltration was followed by an adsorption step to remove minor impurities and achieve nearly 100% purity. The final hyaluronic acid product was characterized by Fourier-transform IR and NMR spectroscopy, confirming its purity.

Response surface methodology and artificial neural network modelling of an aqueous two-phase system for purification of a recombinant alkaline active xylanase

A two-stage polyethylene glycol (PEG)-phosphate aqueous two-phase system was used for purification of a highly thermostable and alkaline active recombinant xylanase. Response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) have been used to develop predictive models for simulation and optimization of purification process. Effects of pH, PEG molecular weight, concentrations of phosphate, PEG and NaCl on the partitioning of the target enzyme and the contaminants were studied using a central composite design of experiments. The best first stage purification was achieved using 6% PEG 6000, 20% phosphate and pH 6. The optimum back extraction stage system consist of 10% phosphate, 10% NaCl, pH 10 and the first stage separation top phase. After the two stage phase separations, about 78% of the original enzyme activity was recovered and the specific activity of the purified enzyme was increased by a factor of 6.7. Also, the aqueous two-phase system was scaled-up 100 times. After back-extraction, the specific activity increased 6.56 times with 72% total yield. A similar design was also used to obtain a training set for ANN. A comparison between the model results and experimental data gave high correlation coefficient (R2) and showed that both models were able to predict the partitioning behavior. The results demonstrated a higher prediction accuracy of ANN compared to RSM. This superiority of ANN over other multi factorial approaches could make this estimation technique a very helpful tool for purification process.

Microwave-assisted preparation of affinity medium

Microwave assistance was used for preparing polyethylene glycol (PEG)–Cibacron blue 3GA and Sepharose CL-4B–Cibacron blue 3GA affinity materials. The former was used as the affinity macroligand in a PEG–dextran aqueous two-phase system for purification of alcohol dehydrogenase and EcoRI. The Sepharose CL-4B–Cibacron blue 3GA was used for affinity chromatography of the above two enzymes. It was found that microwave assistance could reduce the time of PEG–dye preparation to 5 min (from 7 h). Similarly, Sepharose CL-4B–Cibacron blue 3GA preparation time could be reduced to 21 min (from 3.5 h). The performances of affinity macroligand PEG–dye and the affinity medium Sepharose–dye prepared by conventional methods and with microwave assistance were similar during purification of these enzymes.

Mechanisms of phase behaviour and protein partitioning in detergent/polymer aqueous two-phase systems for purification of integral membrane proteins

Detergent/polymer aqueous two-phase systems are studied as a fast, mild and efficient general separation method for isolation of labile integral membrane proteins. Mechanisms for phase behaviour and protein partitioning of both membrane-bound and hydrophilic proteins have been examined in a large number of detergent/polymer aqueous two-phase systems. Non-ionic detergents such as the Triton series (polyoxyethylene alkyl phenols), alkyl polyoxyethylene ethers (C m EO n ), Tween series (polyoxyethylene sorbitol esters) and alkylglucosides form aqueous two-phase systems in mixtures with hydrophilic polymers, such as PEG or dextran, at low and moderate temperatures. Phase diagrams for these mixtures are shown and phase behaviour is discussed from a thermodynamic model. Membrane proteins, such as bacteriorhodopsin and cholesterol oxidase, were partitioned strongly to the micelle phase, while hydrophilic proteins, BSA and lysozyme, were partitioned to the polymer phase. The partitioning of membrane protein is mainly determined by non-specific hydrophobic interactions between detergent and membrane protein. An increased partitioning of membrane proteins to the micelle phase was found with an increased detergent concentration difference between the phases, lower polymer molecular weight and increased micelle size. Partitioning of hydrophilic proteins is mainly related to excluded volume effects, i.e. increased phase component size made the hydrophilic proteins partition more to the opposite phase. Addition of ionic detergent to the system changed the partitioning of membrane proteins slightly, but had a strong effect on hydrophilic proteins, and can be used for enhanced separation between hydrophilic proteins and membrane protein.