Elaboration, characterization and study of a new hybrid chitosan/ceramic membrane for affinity membrane chromatography

An all-aqueous route to polymer brush-modified membranes with remarkable permeabilites and protein capture rates

Microporous membranes are attractive for protein purification because convection rapidly brings proteins to binding sites. However, the low binding capacity of such membranes limits their applications. This work reports a rapid, aqueous procedure to create highly permeable, polymer brush-modified membranes that bind large amounts of protein. The synthetic method includes a 10-min adsorption of a macroinitiator in a hydroxylated nylon membrane and a subsequent 5-min aqueous atom transfer radical polymerization of 2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl succinate from the immobilized initiator to form poly(acid) brushes. This procedure likely leads to more swollen, less dense brushes than polymerization from silane initiators, and thus requires less polymer to achieve the same binding capacity. The hydraulic permeability of the poly(acid) membranes is 4-fold higher than that of similar membranes prepared by growing brushes from immobilized silane initiators. These brush-containing nylon membranes bind 120 mg/cm(3) of lysozyme using solution residence times as short as 35 ms, and when functionalized with nitrilotriacetate (NTA)-Ni(2+) complexes, they capture 85 mg/cm(3) of histidine(6)-tagged (His-tagged) Ubiquitin. Additionally the NTA-Ni(2+)-functionalized membranes isolate His-tagged myo-inositol-1-phosphate synthase directly from cell extracts and show >90% recovery of His-tagged proteins.

Fabrication of highly porous poly (ɛ-caprolactone) fibers for novel tissue scaffold via water-bath electrospinning

Highly porous fibers were prepared by water-bath electrospinning from pure poly(ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL), and its blends with methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (MPEG). These fibers were further analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and gravimetric as well as contact angle measurement. SEM images showed that the fibers diameters as well as pores diameter on the fibers were affected by the weight ratio of MPEG/PCL. DSC and XRD not only revealed suppression of crystallinity of PCL but also indicated the presence of trace amount of MPEG in PCL water-bath collected fibers. The potential use of these hydrophilic porous electrospun fibrous mats as scaffolding materials was evaluated in vitro using mouse osteoblasts (MC3T3-E1) as reference cell lines. Cytotoxicity assessment of the fiber mats indicated that the porous electrospun mat containing trace amount of MPEG was nontoxic to the cell. Cell culture results showed that porous fibrous mats were good in promoting the cell attachment and proliferation. This novel electrospun matrix could be used as potential tissue scaffold material.

Protein purification with polymeric affinity membranes containing functionalized poly(acid) brushes

Porous nylon membranes modified with poly(acid) brushes and their derivatives can rapidly purify proteins via ion-exchange and metal-ion affinity interactions. Membranes containing poly(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl succinate) (poly(MES)) brushes bind 118 +/- 8 mg of lysozyme per cm(3) of membrane and facilitate purification of lysozyme from chicken egg white. Moreover, functionalization of the poly(MES) brushes with nitrilotriacetate (NTA)-Ni(2+) complexes yields membranes that bind poly(histidine)-tagged (His-tagged) ubiquitin with a capacity of 85 +/- 2 mg of protein per cm(3) of membrane. Most importantly, the membranes modified with poly(MES)-NTA-Ni(2+) allow isolation of His-tagged cellular retinaldehyde-binding protein directly from a cell extract in <10 min, and the protein purity is comparable to that achieved with commercial affinity columns. Therefore, porous nylon membranes containing functionalized poly(MES) brushes are attractive candidates for rapid, high-capacity purification of His-tagged proteins from cell extracts.