Precipitation Step (precipitation + step)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Optimization of Isopropanol and Ammonium Sulfate Precipitation Steps in the Purification of Plasmid DNA

BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 4 2006
S. S. Freitas
Large-scale processes used to manufacture grams of plasmid DNA (pDNA) should be cGMP compliant, economically feasible, and environmentally friendly. Alcohol and salt precipitation techniques are frequently used in plasmid DNA (pDNA) downstream processing, as concentration and prepurification steps, respectively. This work describes a study of a standard 2-propanol (IsopOH; 0.7 v/v) and ammonium sulfate (AS; 2.5 M) precipitation. When inserted in a full process, this tandem precipitation scheme represents a high economic and environmental impact due to the large amounts of the two precipitant agents and their environmental relevance. Thus, major goals of the study were the minimization of precipitants and the selection of the best operating conditions for high pDNA recovery and purity. The pDNA concentration in the starting Escherichia coli alkaline lysate strongly affected the efficiency of IsopOH precipitation as a concentration step. The results showed that although an IsopOH concentration of at least 0.6 (v/v) was required to maximize recovery when using lysates with less than 80 ,g pDNA/mL, concentrations as low as 0.4 v/v could be used with more concentrated lysates (170 ,g pDNA/mL). Following resuspension of pDNA pellets generated by 0.6 v/v IsopOH, precipitation at 4 °C with 2.4 M AS consistently resulted in recoveries higher than 80% and in removal of more than 90% of the impurities (essentially RNA). An experimental design further indicated that AS concentrations could be reduced down to 2.0 M, resulting in an acceptable purity (21,23%) without compromising recovery (84,86%). Plasmid recovery and purity after the sequential IsopOH/AS precipitation could be further improved by increasing the concentration factor (CF) upon IsopOH precipitation from 2 up to 25. Under these conditions, IsopOH and AS concentrations of 0.60 v/v and 1.6 M resulted in high recovery (,100%) and purity (32%). In conclusion, it is possible to reduce substantially the mass of precipitation agents used without affecting recovery, if a small concession is made regarding purity. This directly translates into an improvement of the process economics and in a reduction of the environmental impact of the process. [source]


Thiol redox status evaluation in red blood cells by capillary electrophoresis-laser induced fluorescence detection

ELECTROPHORESIS, Issue 10 2005
Angelo Zinellu
Abstract Thiols and in particular glutathione (GSH) play a central role in human metabolism, including the detoxification of xenobiotics, cell homeostasis, radioprotection, and antioxidant defence. Here, a new method is provided for the measurement of reduced and total forms of thiols in red blood cells. In order to minimize oxidation of reduced thiols, a water erythrocyte lysis (15 min at 4°C) was performed followed by a protein precipitation step with acetonitrile. The supernatant was rapidly derivatized with 5-iodoacetoamidefluorescein that trapped thiol groups, thus minimizing auto-oxidation. Derivatized samples were separated in a 57 cm × 75 ,m ID capillary by using 5 mmol/L sodium phosphate, 4 mmol/L boric acid as electrolyte solution with 75 mmol/L N -methyl- D -glucamine at pH 11.0. Under these conditions, cysteinylglycine (CysGly), cysteine (Cys), glutathione, and ,-glutamylcysteine (GluCys) were baseline-resolved in , 4 min. Precision tests showed a good repeatability of our method both for migration times (coefficient of variation CV < 0.8%) and areas (CV < 3.3%). Furthermore, a good reproducibility of intrassay and interassay tests was obtained (CV < 5% and CV < 8%, respectively). The method was employed to investigate the effect of acidic precipitation on intracellular thiol concentration. Our data suggest that sample acidification causes a modification of the measured redox thiol status due to the development of a pro-oxidant environment; moreover, the thiol redox status of red blood cells was evaluated in 22 healthy volunteers. [source]


Selective precipitation-assisted recovery of immunoglobulins from bovine serum using controlled-fouling crossflow membrane microfiltration

BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOENGINEERING, Issue 5 2008
Adith Venkiteshwaran
Abstract Efficient and economic recovery of immunoglobulins (Igs) from complex biological fluids such as serum, cell culture supernatant or fermentation cell lysate or supernatant, represents a substantial challenge in biotechnology. Methods such as protein A affinity chromatography and anion exchange chromatography are limited by cost and selectivity, respectively, while membrane chromatography is limited by low adsorptive area, flow distribution problems and scale-up difficulties. By combining the traditional salt-assisted precipitation process for selective removal of Igs from serum followed by constant-permeate flux membrane microfiltration for low fouling, we demonstrate an exciting new, efficient and economic hybrid method. The high selectivity of an ammonium sulfate-induced precipitation step was used to precipitate the Igs leaving the major undesirable impurity, the bovine serum albumin (BSA), in solution. Crossflow membrane microfiltration in diafiltration mode was then employed to retain the precipitate, while using axial flow rates to optimize removal of residual soluble BSA to the permeate. The selectivity between immunoglobulin G (IgG) and BSA obtained from the precipitation step was ,36, with 97% removal of the BSA with diafiltration in 5 diavolumes with resulting purity of the IgG of ,93% after the membrane microfiltration step. Complete resolubilization of the IgG was obtained without any aggregation at the concentrations of ammonium sulfate employed in this work. Further, membrane pore size and axial Reynolds number (recirculation rate) were shown to be important for minimizing fouling and loss of protein precipitate. Biotechnol. Bioeng. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]


DNA Depletion by Precipitation in the Purification of Cell Culture-Derived Influenza Vaccines

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY (CET), Issue 6 2010
T. Kröber
Abstract A pilot study for the purification of cell culture-derived human influenza virus is presented, which focuses on the early removal of DNA by precipitation. Strains of influenza virus were propagated using Madin Darby canine kidney cells as a host. A harvesting time of about 72 h postinfection was chosen to minimize the level of impurities (host cell DNA and protein). Cell culture supernatant was clarified by centrifugation and the performance of this operation was characterized on the basis of Sigma theory. An average clarification efficiency of 93,% (based on turbidity) and a product yield of 85,% (based on hemagglutination activity) were obtained at a load of 1.6,·,10,8 m s,1. Furthermore, the applicability of Sigma theory for scale-up studies using two different laboratory centrifuges was verified. Selective precipitation of DNA was achieved by the addition of polyethyleneimine (PEI). Full factorial design was applied to optimize selectivity considering pH, ionic strength, and the concentration and molecular weight of PEI. Under optimized conditions, treatment with PEI resulted in a reduction of DNA to 15,% of the initial amount, while 86,% of virions (based on neuraminidase activity) were recovered. The subsequent concentration of virions was realized by tangential-flow ultrafiltration. Recovery based on hemagglutination activity was determined to 63,% on average. Including the previous precipitation step, overall reduction in DNA after tangential-flow ultrafiltration was 500-fold. These results indicate that the suggested unit operations are suited for the early depletion of DNA in cell culture-derived influenza vaccine production. [source]