Polyvinyl alcohol-coated perfluorocarbon supports for metal chelating affinity separation of a monoclonal antibody

Pilot-scale process for magnetic bead purification of antibodies directly from non-clarified CHO cell culture

High capacity magnetic protein A agarose beads, LOABeads PrtA, were used in the development of a new process for affinity purification of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) from non‐clarified CHO cell broth using a pilot‐scale magnetic separator. The LOABeads had a maximum binding capacity of 65 mg/mL and an adsorption capacity of 25–42 mg IgG/mL bead in suspension for an IgG concentration of 1 to 8 g/L. Pilot‐scale separation was initially tested in a mAb capture step from 26 L clarified harvest. Small‐scale experiments showed that similar mAb adsorptions were obtained in cell broth containing 40 × 10⁶ cells/mL as in clarified supernatant. Two pilot‐scale purification runs were then performed on non‐clarified cell broth from fed‐batch runs of 16 L, where a rapid mAb adsorption ≥96.6% was observed after 1 h. This process using 1 L of magnetic beads had an overall mAb yield of 86% and 16 times concentration factor. After this single protein A capture step, the mAb purity was similar to the one obtained by column chromatography, while the host cell protein content was very low, <10 ppm. Our results showed that this magnetic bead mAb purification process, using a dedicated pilot‐scale separation device, was a highly efficient single step, which directly connected the culture to the downstream process without cell clarification. Purification of mAb directly from non‐clarified cell broth without cell separation can provide significant savings in terms of resources, operation time, and equipment, compared to legacy procedure of cell separation followed by column chromatography step. © 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 35: e2775, 2019.

In situ magnetic separation of antibody fragments from Escherichia coli in complex media

Background

In situ magnetic separation (ISMS) has emerged as a powerful tool to overcome process constraints such as product degradation or inhibition of target production. In the present work, an integrated ISMS process was established for the production of his-tagged single chain fragment variable (scFv) D1.3 antibodies (“D1.3”) produced by E. coli in complex media. This study investigates the impact of ISMS on the overall product yield as well as its biocompatibility with the bioprocess when metal-chelate and triazine-functionalized magnetic beads were used.

Results

Both particle systems are well suited for separation of D1.3 during cultivation. While the triazine beads did not negatively impact the bioprocess, the application of metal-chelate particles caused leakage of divalent copper ions in the medium. After the ISMS step, elevated copper concentrations above 120 mg/L in the medium negatively influenced D1.3 production. Due to the stable nature of the model protein scFv D1.3 in the biosuspension, the application of ISMS could not increase the overall D1.3 yield as was shown by simulation and experiments.

Conclusions

We could demonstrate that triazine-functionalized beads are a suitable low-cost alternative to selectively adsorb D1.3 fragments, and measured maximum loads of 0.08 g D1.3 per g of beads. Although copper-loaded metal-chelate beads did adsorb his-tagged D1.3 well during cultivation, this particle system must be optimized by minimizing metal leakage from the beads in order to avoid negative inhibitory effects on growth of the microorganisms and target production. Hereby, other types of metal chelate complexes should be tested to demonstrate biocompatibility. Such optimized particle systems can be regarded as ISMS platform technology, especially for the production of antibodies and their fragments with low stability in the medium. The proposed model can be applied to design future ISMS experiments in order to maximize the overall product yield while the amount of particles being used is minimized as well as the number of required ISMS steps.

Nickel and copper complexes of a chelating methacrylate sorbent in the purification of chitinases and specific immunoglobulin G1 by immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography

The isolation of the isoforms of endo- and exochitinases of Clostridium aminovalericum T1 and of the horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-specific immunoglobulin G1 from natural sources by immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography was studied. The effect of Cu2+ and Ni2+ complexes of iminodiacetic acid incorporated in porous glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate and in agarose (Sepharose Fast Flow) beads on separation of the target polypeptides was analyzed. It was found that the Cu2+ complexes bound both the HRP-specific IgG1 and some isoforms of chitinases more strongly than the Ni2+ complexes. From the former complexes, both target polypeptides were eluted by a stepwise imidazole concentration gradient of 5-100 mM. The lower strength of Ni2+ complex binding with the HRP-specific IgG1 resulted in its easy elution with a pH gradient of 5.5-5 while some isoforms of chitinases required imidazole for their elution. The "fraction elution degree" of a target polypeptide (i.e., the ratio of its amounts in each eluate fraction and in the combined fractions) was used for the evaluation of the sorption selectivity and binding affinity of the separating components to the studied metal complexes.

High-gradient magnetic affinity separation of trypsin from porcine pancreatin

We introduce a robust and scale-flexible approach to macromolecule purification employing tailor-made magnetic adsorbents and high-gradient magnetic separation technology adapted from the mineral processing industries. Detailed procedures for the synthesis of large quantities of low-cost defined submicron-sized magnetic supports are presented. These support materials exhibit unique features, which facilitate their large-scale processing using high magnetic field gradients, namely sufficiently high magnetization, a relatively narrow particle size distribution and ideal superparamagnetism. Following systematic optimization with respect to activation chemistry, spacer length and ligand density, conditions for preparation of effective high capacity (Q(max) = 120 mg g(-1)) strongly interacting (Kd < 0.3 microm) trypsin-binding adsorbents based on immobilized benzamidine were established. In small-scale studies approximately 95% of the endogenous trypsin present in a crude porcine pancreatin feedstock was recovered with a purification factor of approximately 4.1 at the expense of only a 4% loss in alpha-amylase activity. Efficient recovery of trypsin from the same feedstock was demonstrated at a vastly increased scale using a high-gradient magnetic separation system to capture loaded benzamidine-linked adsorbents following batch adsorption. With the aid of a simple recycle loop over 80% of the initially adsorbed trypsin was recovered in-line with an overall purification factor of approximately 3.5.

Purification of the specific immunoglobulin G1 by immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography using nickel complexes of chelating porous and nonporous polymeric sorbents based on poly(methacrylic esters). Effect of polymer structure

Ni2+ complexes of the chelating nonporous and porous bead sorbents based on methacrylic esters crosslinked with ethylene dimethacrylate were used in isolation of the horseradish peroxidase-specific immunoglobulin IgG1 from the crude mouse ascitic fluid by immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC). Iminodiacetic and aspartic acids were attached to porous poly(glycidyl methacrylate) beads differing in size, morphology and chemical composition. Ethylenediaminetriacetic acid and quinolin-8-ol chelating groups were attached mainly to the surface hydroxyl groups in nonporous poly(diethylene glycol methacrylate) beads through spacers. The latter sorbents exhibited better kinetic characteristics than the former but a very low IgG1 sorption capacity. In a single-step IMAC procedure, the best efficiency in the specific IgG1 purification was obtained with porous sorbents (recovery 92%, purity 73%). Differences in IMAC separations are discussed from the point of view of morphology of polymer beads as well as of the type and concentration of chelating ligands.

Chromatographic separation of proteins on metal immobilized iminodiacetic acid-bound molded monolithic rods of macroporous poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate)

Continuous rod of macroporous poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) was prepared by a free radical polymerization within the confines of a stainless-steel column. The epoxide groups of the rod were modified by a reaction with iminodiacetic acid (IDA) that affords the active site to form metal IDA chelates used for immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). The efficiency of coupling of IDA to the epoxide-contained matrix was studied as a function of reaction time and temperature. High-performance separation of proteins, based on immobilized different metals on the column, were described. The influence of pH on the adsorption capacity of bovine serum albumin on the Cu2+-IDA continuous rod column was investigated in the range from 5.0 to 9.0. Purification of lysozyme from egg white and human serum albumin (HSA) on the commercially available HSA solution were performed on the naked IDA and Cu2+-IDA continuous rod columns, respectively; and the purity of the obtained fractions was detected by matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Immobilised metal affinity chromatography of beta-galactosidase from unclarified Escherichia coli homogenates using expanded bed adsorption

The development of an expanded bed process for the direct extraction and partial purification of beta-galactosidase from unclarified Escherichia coli homogenates using its natural affinity for metal loaded STREAMLINE Chelating is described. Small packed beds were used to determine the effect of chelated metal ion (Cu2+, Ni2+, Co2+ or Zn2+), loading pH and ionic strength on the selective binding capacity, and recovery of beta-galactosidase from clarified homogenates. An elution protocol was developed using the competitive displacer, imidazole, to recover beta-galactosidase in 87% yield and 3.4-fold purification. These results were then used to develop a separation for the recovery of beta-galactosidase from unclarified homogenates in a 2.5-cm diameter expanded bed. Although Ni2+ loaded STREAMLINE Chelating had a 5% dynamic capacity for beta-galactosidase of just 118 U ml(-1) (0.39 mg ml(-1)), the low capacity was thought to be due to the large size of the target (464,000) relative to the exclusion limit of the macroporous adsorbent. Despite this low capacity, Ni2 STREAMLINE Chelating was used successfully to recover beta-galactosidase from an unclarified homogenate in 86.4% yield and at 5.95-fold purification. The degree of purification relative to a commercial standard, as assessed using the purification factor and sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was high suggesting that this pseudo-affinity procedure compared favourably with alternative methods.