GE Healthcare - Laboratory Scale Protein Purification

GE Healthcare products include chromatography purification systems, membrane separation and filtration products, and media used in the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals, cell separation products and laboratory scale protein separation products for research and drug development.

The laboratory scale product range covers media for all common chromatographic techniques such as ion exchange, affinity, hydrophobic interaction, reversed phase, gel filtration and are available in a wide range of formats for different scales and conveniences. ÄKTAdesign™ is our platform of chromatography systems that all run under a common UNICORN™ software. The platform covers all major purification techniques from laboratory to process development and manufacturing. It gives speed, ease, and flexibility, whatever the purification application or scale.

SIMPLE PROTEIN PURIFICATION

Prepacked His GraviTrap™ columns offer fast and simple purification of clarified or un-clarified histidine-tagged proteins. The high protein binding capacity of the medium enables purification of 40mg per column of histidine-tagged protein. When less protein is required, e.g. for screening purposes, the pre-packed His SpinTrap™ can be used. The column uses the same high binding capacity medium as the His GraviTrap column.

When the volume of protein purification work in the lab has reached a certain level, the step towards automation is logical and does not have to be large in terms of costs or learning time. Our ÄKTAprime plus™ systems feature:

• Easy, push-button control
• All the components needed for simple and rapid one-step purification
• Pre-programmed methods for the most typical applications, including purification of histidine-tagged proteins, MAbs, and sample clean up
• Prepacked columns that match the pre-programmed application protocols in the system

The compact system takes care of all liquid handling and fraction collection, while the incorporated UV-monitor enables tracking of the protein and continuous monitoring in real time.

AUTOMATED MULTI-STEP PURIFICATION OF TAGGED PROTEINS AND MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES

When a large number of target proteins need purification, an extensive amount of protein expression optimization is the first step. His MultiTrap™ is designed to enable high throughput expression screening of unclarified samples by offering:

• A high binding capacity Ni Sepharose™ medium, prepacked in 96-well plate format with up to 1 mg of sample purified per well
• Very high reproducibility, both well-to-well and plate-to-plate
• Robotic or manual control of centrifugation or vacuum

With high demands on output and purity, automation of the process is typically employed. ÄKTAxpress™ is a robust solution for parallel, multi-dimensional purification of tagged proteins or MAbs. Optimized, multi-step protocols deliver up to 50mg of proteins with 95% purity, of two to 48 samples at a time, dependent on configuration and protocol. Convenient pre-packed columns are available for the initial affinity purification steps, as well as for the subsequent intermediate and polishing steps for both tagged proteins and MAbs.

OPTIMIZING PROTEIN PURIFICATION FOR UN-TAGGED PROTEINS

GE Healthcare offers a wide range of media, systems, as well as lab-scale, prepacked columns for purifying untagged proteins. These products cover all major chromatographic techniques and steps. If nothing is known about the target protein, an effective general approach is: ion exchange (capture), hydrophobic interaction (intermediate purification), and gel filtration (polishing). Support and help to identify suitable products and purification strategies are available as handbooks and selection guides. Our ÄKTAexplorer™ systems are the industry standard, offering:

• Fast method development and automated multi-step protein purification
• UNICORN method wizard and optimized system configurations
• Fast and easy media screening, method scouting, method optimization, and scale-up

ÄKTApurifier™ has a more basic configuration but can easily be expanded into advanced setups to meet individual purification needs. ÄKTAcrossflow™ systems are fully automated filtration systems designed for use with hollow fiber cartridges and Kvick™ cassettes. They can be seamlessly integrated with ÄKTAdesign chromatography systems as both are controlled by UNICORN software.

See also Pharmaceutical Technology - GE Healthcare - Protein Separation from Research to Manufacturing