Timothy John Hobley

Protein purification using magnetic adsorbent particles.

The application of functionalised magnetic adsorbent particles in combination with magnetic separation techniques has received considerable attention in recent years. The magnetically responsive nature of such adsorbent particles permits their selective manipulation and separation in the presence of other suspended solids. Thus, it becomes possible to magnetically separate selected target species directly out of crude biological process liquors (e.g. fermentation broths, cell disruptates, plasma, milk, whey and plant extracts) simply by binding them on magnetic adsorbents before application of a magnetic field. By using magnetic separation in this way, the several stages of sample pretreatment (especially centrifugation, filtration and membrane separation) that are normally necessary to condition an extract before its application on packed bed chromatography columns, may be eliminated. Magnetic separations are fast, gentle, scaleable, easily automated, can achieve separations that would be impossible or impractical to achieve by other techniques, and have demonstrated credibility in a wide range of disciplines, including minerals processing, wastewater treatment, molecular biology, cell sorting and clinical diagnostics. However, despite the highly attractive qualities of magnetic methods on a process scale, with the exception of wastewater treatment, few attempts to scale up magnetic operations in biotechnology have been reported thus far. The purpose of this review is to summarise the current state of development of protein separation using magnetic adsorbent particles and identify the obstacles that must be overcome if protein purification with magnetic adsorbent particles is to find its way into industrial practice.

High gradient magnetic separation versus expanded bed adsorption: a first principle comparison

A robust new adsorptive separation technique specifically designed for direct product capture from crude bioprocess feedstreams is introduced and compared with the current bench mark technique, expanded bed adsorption. The method employs product adsorption onto sub-micron sized non-porous superparamagnetic supports followed by rapid separation of the ‘loaded’ adsorbents from the feedstock using high gradient magnetic separation technology. For the recovery of Savinase® from a cell-free Bacillus clausii fermentation liquor using bacitracin-linked adsorbents, the integrated magnetic separation system exhibited substantially enhanced productivity over expanded bed adsorption when operated at processing velocities greater than 48 m h−1. Use of the bacitracin-linked magnetic supports for a single cycle of batch adsorption and subsequent capture by high gradient magnetic separation at a processing rate of 12 m h−1 resulted in a 2.2-fold higher productivity relative to expanded bed adsorption, while an increase in adsorbent collection rate to 72 m h−1 raised the productivity to 10.7 times that of expanded bed adsorption. When the number of batch adsorption cycles was then increased to three, significant drops in both magnetic adsorbent consumption (3.6 fold) and filter volume required (1.3 fold) could be achieved at the expense of a reduction in productivity from 10.7 to 4.4 times that of expanded bed adsorption.

Purification of correctly oxidized MHC class I heavy-chain molecules under denaturing conditions: A novel strategy exploiting disulfide assisted protein folding

The aim of this study has been to develop a strategy for purifying correctly oxidized denatured major histocompability complex class I (MHC‐I) heavy‐chain molecules, which on dilution, fold efficiently and become functional. Expression of heavy‐chain molecules in bacteria results in the formation of insoluble cellular inclusion bodies, which must be solubilized under denaturing conditions. Their subsequent purification and refolding is complicated by the fact that (1) correct folding can only take place in combined presence of β2‐microglobulin and a binding peptide; and (2) optimal in vitro conditions for disulfide bond formation (∼pH 8) and peptide binding (∼pH 6.6) are far from complementary. Here we present a two‐step strategy, which relies on uncoupling the events of disulfide bond formation and peptide binding. In the first phase, heavy‐chain molecules with correct disulfide bonding are formed under non‐reducing denaturing conditions and separated from scrambled disulfide bond forms by hydrophobic interaction chromatography. In the second step, rapid refolding of the oxidized heavy chains is afforded by disulfide bond–assisted folding in the presence of β2‐microglobulin and a specific peptide. Under conditions optimized for peptide binding, refolding and simultaneous peptide binding of the correctly oxidized heavy chain was much more efficient than that of the fully reduced molecule.

Superparamagnetic Cation–Exchange Adsorbents for Bioproduct Recovery from Crude Process Liquors by High‐Gradient Magnetic Fishing

ABSTRACT Different routes were screened for the preparation of superparamagnetic cation–exchange adsorbents for the capture of proteins using high-gradient magnetic fishing. Starting from a polyglutaraldehyde-coated base particle, the most successful of these involved attachment of sulphite to oligomers of epichlorohydrin formed on the particle surface. The resultant cation-exchanger had a maximum lysozyme binding capacity of 272 mg g–1 and a dissociation constant of 0.73 µM. Using lysozyme as a model protein in small-scale studies, appropriate conditions were then selected for the capture of lactoperoxidase from sweet bovine whey. Subsequently, a high-gradient magnetic fishing process was constructed for the fractionation of whey, in which lactoperoxidase was purified 36-fold and concentrated 4.7-fold.

A biochemically structured model for ethanol fermentation by Kluyveromyces marxianus: A batch fermentation and kinetic study

Anaerobic batch fermentations of ricotta cheese whey (i.e. containing lactose) were performed under different operating conditions. Ethanol concentrations of ca. 22g L(-1) were found from whey containing ca. 44g L(-1) lactose, which corresponded to up to 95% of the theoretical ethanol yield within 15h. The experimental data could be explained by means of a simple knowledge-driven biochemically structured model that was built on bioenergetics principles applied to the metabolic pathways through which lactose is converted into major products. Use of the model showed that the observed concentrations of ethanol, lactose, biomass and glycerol during batch fermentation could be described within a ca. 6% deviation, as could the yield coefficients for biomass and ethanol produced on lactose. The model structure confirmed that the thermodynamics considerations on the stoichiometry of the system constrain the metabolic coefficients within a physically meaningful range thereby providing valuable and reliable insight into fermentation processes.

Fluidisation and dispersion behaviour of small high density pellicular expanded bed adsorbents

The fluidisation and dispersion properties of various agarose-based expanded bed matrices--small high density stainless steel cored prototypes and standard commercial types--were studied in 1-cm diameter expanded bed contactors in which fluid entering the column base is locally stirred. In all cases, fluidisation behaviour was poorly predicted from the Richardson-Zaki correlation, with experimentally determined values of the expansion index being considerably higher than the theoretical values. The resons for these discrepancies are discussed in detail and the validity of applying this widely used correlation for characterisation of expanded bed systems is questioned. Residence time distribution studies using acetone tracers, demonstrated that in comparison to existing commercial supports, the small pellicular prototype materials generally possessed far superior hydrodynamic properties, which augurs well for their future employment in expanded bed chromatographic separations.

In situ magnetic separation for extracellular protein production

A new approach for in situ product removal from bioreactors is presented in which high‐gradient magnetic separation is used. This separation process was used for the adsorptive removal of proteases secreted by Bacillus licheniformis. Small, non‐porous bacitracin linked magnetic adsorbents were employed directly in the broth during the fermentation, followed by in situ magnetic separation. Proof of the concept was first demonstrated in shake flask culture, then scaled up and applied during a fed batch cultivation in a 3.7 L bioreactor. It could be demonstrated that growth of B. licheniformis was not influenced by the in situ product removal step. Protease production also remained the same after the separation step. Furthermore, degradation of the protease, which followed first order kinetics, was reduced by using the method. Using a theoretical modeling approach, we could show that protease yield in total was enhanced by using in situ magnetic separation. The process described here is a promising technique to improve overall yield in bio production processes which are often limited due to weak downstream operations. Potential limitations encountered during a bioprocess can be overcome such as product inhibition or degradation. We also discuss the key points where research is needed to implement in situ magnetic separation in industrial production. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2009;102: 535–545.

Filter Capacity Predictions for the Capture of Magnetic Microparticles by High-Gradient Magnetic Separation

We present experimental and theoretical methods to predict maximum and working filter capacities for the capture of superparamagnetic microparticles through high-gradient magnetic separation (HGMS). For this, we employed various combinations of nine different HGMS filter matrices and two types of superparamagnetic microparticles. By calculating the separated particle mass per filter mesh area, we clearly demonstrated the influences of wire diameter and wire mesh spacing on the particle build-up density. Here, we introduce a simple experimental method for estimating average build-up densities in HGMS. Together with known physical parameters of the filter matrix and the background field, such average build-up densities allow good predictions of the operational working filter capacities

A novel system for continuous protein refolding and on‐line capture by expanded bed adsorption

A novel two‐step protein refolding strategy has been developed, where continuous renaturation‐bydilution is followed by direct capture on an expanded bed adsorption (EBA) column. The performance of the overall process was tested on a N‐terminally tagged version of human β2‐microglobulin (HAT‐hβ2m) both at analytical, small, and preparative scale. In a single scalable operation, extracted and denatured inclusion body proteins from Escherichia coli were continuously diluted into refolding buffer, using a short pipe reactor, allowing for a defined retention and refolding time, and then fed directly to an EBA column, where the protein was captured, washed, and finally eluted as soluble folded protein. Not only was the eluted protein in a correctly folded state, the purity of the HAThβ2m was increased from 34% to 94%, and the product was concentrated sevenfold. The yield of the overall process was 45%, and the product loss was primarily a consequence of the refolding reaction rather than the EBA step. Full biological activity of HAT‐hβ2m was demonstrated after removal of the HAT‐tag. In contrast to batch refolding, a continuous refolding strategy allows the conditions to be controlled and maintained throughout the process, irrespective of the batch size; i.e., it is readily scalable. Furthermore, the procedure is fast and tolerant toward aggregate formation, a common complication of in vitro protein refolding. In conclusion, this system represents a novel approach to small and preparative scale protein refolding, which should be applicable to many other proteins.

Structure of Bacillus halmapalus alpha-amylase crystallized with and without the substrate analogue acarbose and maltose.

The structure of an uncomplexed form of α-amylase from B. halmapalus is compared with a form in which maltose, glucose and a nonasaccharide derived from acarbose and maltose are bound.