Biomedical subjects

Frank Hilbrig

Publications and source records attributed to Frank Hilbrig.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Proposal for a better integration of bacterial lysis into the production of plasmid DNA at large scale.

The paper addresses the question of how to achieve bacterial lysis in large-scale plasmid DNA production processes, where conventional alkaline lysis may become awkward to handle. Bacteria were grown in shaker flasks and a bioreactor. Suboptimal growth conditions were found advantageous for stable plasmid production at high copy numbers (up to 25mg/L could be achieved). Cells were harvested by filtration in the presence of a filter aid. A linear relationship between the biomass and the optimal filter aid concentration in terms of back pressure could be established. Bacteria-containing filter cakes were washed with isotonic buffer and lysis was achieved in situ by a two-step protocol calling for fragilisation of the cells followed by heat lysis in a suitable buffer. RNA and other soluble cell components where washed out of the cake during this step, while the plasmid DNA was retained. Afterwards a clear lysate containing relatively pure plasmid DNA could be eluted from the cake mostly as the desired supercoiled topoisomer, while cell debris and genomic DNA were retained. Lysis is, thus, integrated not only with cell capture but also with a significant degree of isolation/purification, as most impurities were considerably reduced during the procedure.

Bacteriolysis↗

PubMed2003

Protein purification by affinity precipitation.

Developing the most efficient strategy for the purification of a (recombinant) protein especially at large scale remains a challenge. A typical problem of the downstream process of mammalian cell products is, for instance, the early capture of the highly diluted product from the complex process stream. Affinity precipitation has been suggested in this context. The technique is known for over 20 years, but has recently received more attention due to the development of new materials for its implementation, but also because it seems ideally suited to specific product capture at large scale. The present review gives a comprehensive overview over this technique. Besides an introduction to the basic principle and a brief summary of the historical development, the main focus is on the current state-of-art of the technique, the available materials, important recent applications, as well as process design strategies and operating procedures. Special consideration is given to affinity precipitation for product recovery at large scale.

Chromatography, Affinity↗

PubMed2003

Continuous annular chromatography.

The principle of continuous annular chromatography (CAC) has been known for several decades. CAC is a continuous chromatographic mode, which lends itself to the separation of multi-component mixtures as well as of bi-component ones. In CAC, the mobile and stationary phases move in a crosscurrent fashion, which allows transformation of the typical one-dimensional batch column separation into a continuous two-dimensional one. With the exception of linear gradient elution, all chromatographic modes have at present been applied in CAC. This review focuses on the capacity of CAC for preparative bioseparation. The historical developments and the predecessors of modern CAC are briefly summarized. The state-of-the-art in the theoretical prediction and simulation of CAC separations is discussed, followed by an overview of current CAC instrumentation and example applications, especially for the isolation of proteins and other bio(macro)molecules. In this context, issues of scale up as well as method development and transfer from batch to continuous CAC columns are discussed using recent bioseparation efforts as pertinent examples.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

DNA purification by triple-helix affinity precipitation.

Recent advances in DNA-based medicine (gene therapy, genetic vaccination) have intensified the necessity for pharmaceutical-grade plasmid DNA purification at comparatively large scales. In this contribution triple-helix affinity precipitation is introduced for this purpose. A short, single-stranded oligonucleotide sequence (namely (CTT)(7)), which is capable of recognizing a complementary sequence in the double-stranded target (plasmid) DNA, is linked to a thermoresponsive N-isopropylacrylamide oligomer to form a so-called affinity macroligand (AML). At 4 degrees C, i.e., below its critical solution temperature, the AML binds specifically to the target molecule in solution; by raising the temperature to 40 degrees C, i.e., beyond the critical solution temperature of the AML, the complex can be precipitated quantitatively. After redissolution of the complex at lower temperature, the target DNA can be released by a pH shift to slightly alkaline conditions (pH 9.0). Yields of highly pure (plasmid) DNA were routinely between 70% and 90%. Non-specific co- precipitation of either the target molecule by the non-activated AML precursor or of contaminants by the AML were below 7% and presumably due to physical entrapment of these molecules in the wet precipitate. Ligand efficiencies were at least 1 order of magnitude higher than in triple-helix affinity chromatography.

Affinity Labels↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Capture of bacteria from fermentation broth by body feed filtration: a solved problem?

The direct capture of bacteria produced in high cell density fermentation by filtration is not possible once the milliliter-scale has been surpassed. Filtration in the presence of a filter aid (body feed filtration) constitutes a putative and scalable alternative, but only if conditions proposed by industry for large-scale filtration processes, namely, flow rates (for aqueous solutions) in the range of 500-1,500 L/(m(2) x h) and a filter aid concentration of <or=20 g/L, can be met. To this end several filter aids (grades of cellulose, diatomaceous earth, mixes thereof) were tested, albeit with no success. Capture and retention of bacteria was low (not possible in the case of cellulose), and the produced filter cakes were unstable and of low permeability. In the case of the diatomaceous earth close to 100% bacterial capture was possible, but only with filter aid concentrations that were 1 order of magnitude above the proposed limit. By using flocculating agents (Fe(3+)/Al(3+), PEI) either alone or in combination with diatomaceous earth and also the use of positively charged cellulose, bacteria capture could be achieved from several liters of cell suspension (OD(600) <or= 15) in filtration experiments adhering to the industrial recommendations. However, the bacteria were only weakly retained in such cakes and easily released by sudden pressure pulses. Satisfactory results were only obtained by filtration of the bacteria suspension at slightly alkaline pH (8.0, 50 mM Tris buffer) after treatment with sodium-activated bentonite (5 g/L) and PEI (50 mg/L) in the presence of 250 mM NaCl. In such cases 100% of the bacteria could reproducibly be captured in a filtration using 20 g/L of diatomaceous earth as filter aid. The thus produced filter cakes strongly retained the bacteria and showed good filtration performance. The procedure is at present limited to E. coli culture with biomass contents of OD(600) <or= 15. Cultures with higher OD(600) have to be diluted prior to filtration.

Bentonite↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Design and characterization of stimuli-responsive FLAG-tag analogues and the illumination-induced modulation of their interaction with antibody 4E11.

An azobenzene group containing beta-amino acid N-Fmoc-4-aminomethyl phenylazobenzoic acid was synthesized and with the exception of the C-terminal amino acid residue was substituted by solid-phase peptide synthesis into all positions of the FLAG sequence (DYKDDDDK), an octapeptide capable of specific interaction with the monoclonal antibody 4E11. The trans state of the beta-amino acid was thermodynamically more stable than the cis state. However, the molecule could be switched into the cis conformation by illumination at 340 nm. Peptides containing the artificial amino acid also became photoresponsive. In the absence of light, the spontaneous back-isomerization into the trans conformation of the photoresponsive was extremely slow (>8 h no significant increase in trans content). When illuminated with visible light (440 nm), the back-isomerization from the cis to the trans state was accelerated and occurred with a half-life of approximately 10 min. The cis form of the photopeptides was more hydrophilic than the trans form, as evidenced by differences in the retention time of the two isomeric forms in reversed-phase chromatography. Photopeptides that contained the intact sequences responsible for binding of the FLAG tag to the antibody, namely, the DYK motive at the N-terminus, showed binding to the antibody in both a dot blot immunoassay and in Biacore binding studies, albeit with lower affinity than the unmodified FLAG sequence. Peptides with a substitution in positions 4-6 showed differences in binding strength between the trans and the cis form in the Biacore studies, no such difference could be observed for the peptide with a substitution in position 7.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Purification of RT-PCR competent poly(A) mRNA from crude cell lysate by affinity precipitation.

Stimuli-responsive bioconjugates consisting of avidin covalently linked to poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) were used for the recovery of poly(A) mRNA hybridized to biotinylated poly(dT)-tags from crude cell lysates (Jurkat cells) by affinity precipitation. The bioconjugates are soluble in cold water but precipitate readily once a critical solution temperature (33 degrees C in pure water) is surpassed. The process is fully reversible and shows the expected dependencies on the composition of the aqueous solution and the bioconjugate chemistry. The results of the affinity precipitation were compared to those achieved with an accepted standard purification of poly(A) mRNA using avidin-activated magnetic beads. Both yield and quality/purity of the affinity precipitated poly(A) mRNA were found to be similar or better (especially removal of rRNA) than for poly(A) mRNA prepared by the magnetic particle-based protocol, while both mRNA isolates performed equally well in standard reverse transcriptase amplification (RT-PCR) of a beta actin transcript fragment. Poly(A) mRNA purification schemes based on affinity precipitation require no dedicated equipment and should have advantages in terms of scalability, handling, and costs.

Cell-Free System↗