A method for purifying a complement receptor protein

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This invention relates to the field of protein purification. More specifically, this invention relates to the application of combination chromatography to the purification of complement receptor proteins.

In particular, this invention relates to the application of various combinations of ion exchange, optional precipitation, HIC and size exclusion chromatography to the purification of complement receptor-like molecules.

Historically, protein purification schemes have been predicated on differences in the molecular properties of size, charge and solubility between the protein to be purified and undesired protein contaminants. Protocols based on these parameters include size exclusion chromatography, ion exchange chromatography, differential precipitation and the like.

Size exclusion chromatography, otherwise known as gel filtration or gel permeation chromatography, relies on the penetration of macromolecules in a mobile phase into the pores of stationary phase particles. Differential penetration is a function of the hydrodynamic volume of the particles.

Accordingly, under ideal conditions the larger molecules are excluded from the interior of the particles while the smaller molecules are accessible to this volume and the order of elusion can be predicted by the size of the protein because a linear relationship exists between elusion volume and the log of the molecular weight. Size exclusion chromatographic supports based on cross-linked dextrans e.g. SEPHADEX®, spherical agarose beads e.g. SEPHAROSE® (both commercially available from Pharmacia AB. Uppsala, Sweden), based on cross-linked polyacrylamides e.g. BIO-GEL® (commercially available from BioRad Laboratories, Richmond, California) or based on ethylene glycol-methacrylate copolymer e.g. TOYOPEARL HW65S (commercially available from ToyoSoda Co., Tokyo, Japan) are useful in the practice of this invention.

Precipitation methods are predicated on the fact that in crude mixtures of proteins the solubilities of individual proteins are likely to vary widely. Although the solubility of a protein in an aqueous medium depends on a variety of factors, for purposes of this discussion it can be said generally that a protein will be soluble if its interaction with the solvent is stronger than its interaction with protein molecules of the same or similar kind. Without wishing to be bound by any particular mechanistic theory describing precipitation phenomena, it is nonetheless believed that the interaction between a protein and water molecules occurs by hydrogen bonding with several types of uncharged groups and electrostatically as dipoles, with charged groups and that precipitants such as salts of monovalent cations (e.g. ammonium sulfate) compete with proteins for water molecules, thus at high salt concentrations, the proteins become "dehydrated" reducing their interaction with the aqueous environment and increasing the aggregation with like or similar proteins resulting in precipitation from the medium.

Ion exchange chromatography involves the interaction of charged functional groups in the sample with ionic functional groups of opposite charge on an adsorbent surface. Two general types of interaction are known. Anionic exchange chromatography mediated by negatively charged amino acid side chains (e.g. aspartic acid and glutamic acid) interacting with positively charged surfaces and cationic exchange chromatography mediated by positively charged amino acid residues (e.g. lysine and arginine) interacting with negatively charged surfaces.

More recently affinity chromatography and hydrophobic interaction chromatography techniques have been developed to supplement the more traditional size exclusion and ion exchange chromatographic protocols. Affinity chromatography relies on the interaction of the protein with an immobilized ligand. The ligand can be specific for the particular protein of interest in which case the ligand is a substrate, substrate analog, inhibitor or antibody. Alternatively, the ligand may be able to react with a number of proteins. Such general ligands as adenosine monophosphate, adenosine diphosphate, nicotine adenine dinucleotide or certain dyes may be employed to recover a particular class of proteins.