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2022

Robust and precise chromatographic analytical methods are key for efficient development of mRNA production process. Three different analytical methods, which utilize three different column chemistries, are embedded in a ready-to-use PATfix™ mRNA analytical platform to support mRNA process development and product quantification and characterization.

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First chromatographic step in industrial platform using monoliths is a capture step, where rAAV is selectively bound to strong cation exchanger (SO3) in acidic pH conditions (1,2). In this step majority of host cell contaminants are removed and rAAV is strongly bound to the matrix. Productivity of the step is therefore strongly influenced by the dynamic binding capacity (DBC). DBC is dependent on the sample preparation prior to chromatography and the availability of the binding sites at the chromatographic matrix.

Due to increasing demand for rAAV quantity and quality for clinical manufacturing, large volumes of upstream produced material are being purified on industrial scale. At this point, rAAV capture is a first chromatographic step to be optimized for optimal selection of the chromatographic parameters. Doing this, SO3 monolithic columns can be used with their full potential. To reduce the development time using multi-factor screening and increase comparability during downstream process development, CIM® SO3 monolithic 96-well plates were introduced to Sartorius BIA Separations portfolio. Obtained results on small scale can be applied to the CIMmultus™ line, which is scalable to large industrial volume.

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CIMac™ pDNA Analytical Column is powerful tool for pDNA quantification for in-process control or in a QC laboratory. The column can separate pDNA isoforms from each-other and from RNA impurities. Monitoring of pDNA production leads to a controlled and robust process, and can result in consistent high quality of the final product.

Optimised methods are a key component of a well-functioning analytical system, sometimes requiring time-consuming method development and steep learning curves. The following two methods described in this quick start guide can provide a starting point for pDNA purity and isoform analysis.

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2021

Optimized analytical methods are key components of a well-functioning analytical system, while method development usually comes with a time-consuming learning curve and optimization.

PATfix pDNA analytics platform, designed for in-process control of linear pDNA production, enables monitoring of pDNA linearization progression, as shown in Figure 1. Fully optimized and validated analytical methods, as well as guidelines for buffer and sample preparation come as part of the PATfix system, allowing users to focus on their specific application. In addition, the PATfix pDNA analytical package includes a pDNA calibration standard, which enables accurate quantification of the pDNA species of interest.

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2020

Miniaturised immobilised enzymatic reactors can be used for small scale digestion of proteins. There is need for such devices; small scale devices are used either for processing of analytical sample quantities, or as proof of concept before protein digestion at larger scale. This application note compares the performance of a flow through miniaturised immobilised enzymatic reactor (μIMER) with in-solution batch digestion of simple proteins and complex matrices. Automation of peptide analysis by coupled LC-MS is explored as an option to increase throughput. In the cases evaluated, the miniaturised immobilised enzymatic reactor offered comparative results to overnight in-solution digestion, within less than 10 minutes.


Pre-activated CIMmic™ monolithic columns with 100 μL bed volume were immobilised with trypsin from bovine pancreas. This small format allows coupling to HPLC for on-line protein digestion, as well as syringe (manual) operation of the IMER. Pre-treated samples (denatured, alkylated and ultra-filtered) are injected into the column, and the eluate (tryptic digests) are subjected to LC-ESI-MS-MS analysis for protein identification and post-translational modification (PTM) determination.

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2018

Coupling trypsin enzyme onto chromatographic supports provides a platform to reuse the enzyme and automate the hydrolysis process. A monolithic chromatographic support, such as Convective Interaction Media (CIM®), enables mass transfer of molecules within its channels exclusively by convective flow. This results in enzymatic conversion which is not limited by diffusion, making CIM® monoliths ideal for the preparation of immobilised monolith enzymatic reactors (IMERs). Sartorius BIA Separations offers CIMac™ trypsin IMER with a bed volume of 0.1 mL as analytical platform for mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics. Larger volume IMERs (up to 80 mL) are available for industrial scale production of protein hydrolysates. The following example describes the enzymatic production of β-Lactoglobulin (β-Lg) hydrolysates using monoliths with 2 μm (N1) or 6 μm (N2) average channel diameter.

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2017

Human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) is a frequent cause of respiratory tract illness, ranging from common cold to severe disease. The research on coronaviruses and medical application of coronaviral vectors/vaccines requires a quality material of high purity. Unfortunately, virus preparations are highly contaminated with cell debris and purification requires laborious, cost-ineffective procedures.
Here, we report a simple and efficient method for coronavirus concentration and purification by the example of HCoV-OC43. To achieve this, virus chromatography was performed on CIM QA monolithic columns (Sartorius BIA Separations), with immobilized positively charged quaternary amines. The quality of the obtained virus stock was assessed with SDS Page electrophoresis, followed by Western blot analysis. Finally, infectivity of recovered virus was evaluated by titration.

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Sample displacement chromatography exploits the different relative binding affinities of components in a sample mixture to achieve accummulation of a desired substance on the column before elution. In pharmaceutical applications, requirements for purity and efficacy of plasmid DNA (pDNA) as a therapeutic product are stringent. The separation of linear, supercoiled (sc) and open-circular (oc) pDNA isoforms has already been established on CIM® butyl (C4 HLD) monolithic columns at preprative scale. This process requires high concentration of ammonium sulphate for loading which increases the overall production requirements. Competing adsorption in sample displacement chromatography utilises the binding capacity of the chromatographic resin more efficiently and increases productivity of the chromatographic step.
This application note investigates three monolithic chromatographic supports with different hydrophobicities regarding their applicability for sample displacement of pDNA. CIMac™ C4 HLD (butyl, high ligand density) as a commercial product and pyridine and histamine as custom immobilised columns are compared.

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2016

Influenza vaccines are still predominantly produced in embryonated chicken eggs and the purification processes barely have changed during the years. There is a growing need for fast, efficient and economical vaccine production.
So far, monolithic supports have been used successfully in virus purification and concentration, as well as in the purification of virus-like particles (VLP) propagated in cell cultures.
Therefore, our aim was to prove the applicability of monoliths in purification of influenza virus A propagated in embryonated chicken eggs.

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Plasmid DNA (pDNA) as a pharmaceutical product has stringent requirements of purity and efficacy and often one or more chromatographic steps are used in the downstream process. High ligand density butyl-modified chromatographic monolith (CIMmultus™ C4 HLD, part of CIMmultus™ HiP² Plasmid Process Pack™ 1-1, product number 100.0011-2) is currently used in a polishing step of a pDNA purification process (1), is mainly used for separation of supercoiled (sc) pDNA separation from open circular (oc) and linear pDNA isoforms as well as for removal of remaining gDNA and RNA.
This application note presents a comparison of two different polishing processes employing monoliths, namely bind-elute (BE) and the more recently described (2) sample displacement purification (SDP).

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Downstream processing of viruses in virus vaccine or virus vector production accounts for up to 70% of the overall production costs. Immunoaffinity chromatography is a powerful purification technique due to its high specificity but is disadvantageous by the fact that the elution conditions are often detrimental for both the immobilized proteins and target antigens, especially viruses.
This application note describes the mumps virus purification using monolith-based immunoaffinity stationary phase and recently invented native elution of the bound viruses using amino acid solutions under physiological pH.
 

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2015

Determining the concentration of viruses is a crucial step in any production process. The most commonly used methods for virus quantification are either based on the infectivity of the virus (plaque assay, TCID50) determination of their genomic material (qPCR), or protein content (SRID, ELISA) and are very cumbersome and time consuming. HPLC analytical methods represent a fast alternative to these assays since they provide information on the virus content and purity in a matter of minutes. In addition to that, the data obtained is very reproducible and accurate.


For any kind of quantification, a calibration curve obtained with a virus standard is needed. The work presented in this application note shows the excellent performance of the CIMac™ Adeno Analytical Column – a monolith based anion exchange column, designed for fast and reproducible analyses of adenoviruses.

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Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV)-based vectors of various serotypes are considered to have high potential in human gene therapy and genetic vaccination applications. During manufacturing of AAV vectors undesired, incomplete particles are co-produced. They lack recombinant viral genomes and consist of empty capsid proteins only. Empty capsids increase the required dose of AAV virus for medical applications and are thought to cause immunological reactions against the vector capsid, leading to unwanted side effects. Removal of empty capsids during manufacturing, as well as the ability to quantify the amount of empty AAV particle content in a formulation is hence a critical requirement for any AAV production process.


Current methods for preparative separation of empty capsids (CsCl or iodixanol gradients) are challenging to scale-up and are not suitable for large-scale production. Furthermore, analytical methods for detection of empty capsids and determination of full to empty particle ratio (electron microscope (EM) assay, total particle assay [ELISA] combined with genome copy titration [qPCR]) are time- and labour consuming, influenced by operator technique or do not provide readily available reagents for different serotypes of AAV.


A new approach for separation of full and empty AAV8 particles by exploiting minor charge differences is presented in this application note. By using linear gradient elution on a CIM QA Disk Monolithic Column, a simple, rapid and reproducible assay for analysis of AAV particles is introduced. The method was successfully applied to AAV8 particles prepared by two different manufacturing processes.

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Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors of various serotypes are considered to have high potential for gene therapy applications. Currently, manufacturing of AAV vectors faces the challenge of co-production of incompletely formed particles lacking a recombinant viral genome. Empty capsids increase the dose of total AAV administered for efficient transduction and are thought to cause unwanted immunological reactions against the virus. Removal of empty capsids during manufacturing, as well as analysis of empty/full AAV particle content is therefore a critical requirement for any AAV production process. This Application Note demonstrates how CIMmultus QA monolithic columns can be used to remove empty AAV capsids from the product chromatographically in a single step.

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2014

DNA immunization can potentially induce both, humoral and cellular immune responses, and thus comprises an attractive approach for the development of an effective vaccine against HCV. The pIDKE2 plasmid is the main component of the CIGB's candidate vaccine against Hepatitis C virus (HVC), which is being used in HCV chronically-infected individuals during clinical trials phase 1 and 2.


In order to satisfy the high demanding plasmids consumption for clinical trials, the downstream process was improved to reach the quantities need it for clinical trials.

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Orthoreoviruses are dsRNA, non-enveloped viruses that can cause severe enteric and respiratory infections in humans and other animals. It is speculated that these viruses might be an important zoonotic pathogen. As such, orthoreoviruses can cause infections of undetermined etiology which are difficult to resolve. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a new technology which enables gathering a huge amount of genomic information from a sample in a short period of time. NGS is being increasingly applied in animal screenings for pathogen discovery and has a great potential in clinical microbiological diagnostics. However, the preparation of high-quality and high-quantity nucleic acid samples is a major concern for efficient application of the method.


CIM QA® disk in combination with NGS was used for discovering a novel reovirus in stool samples of a child with gastroenteritis infection of undetermined etiology. Two different starting samples were compared: clarified stool suspension and supernatant from cell culture inoculated with clarified stool suspension.

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2013

One of the most important plant viruses causing great economical losses in potato production is the filamentous Potato virus Y (PVY); virion size is 740 nm × 11 nm. Preparation of the pure virus suspension is essential for in vitro characterisation of the virus and also in many applications (e.g. antibody production). Virus purification usually consists of complicated and time-consuming protocols involving several ultracentrifugation steps, which are needed for isolation of the virus from the complex plant tissue matrix.


Different column chemistries, mobile phases and sample preparation strategies were examined during the method development study. Based on the obtained results, an optimised purification method for PVY from plant tissue on a CIM® QA Disk Monolithic Column was designed. The presence of the virus in the chromatographic fractions was monitored with viral RNA quantitation (RT-qPCR), viral protein detection (SDS-PAGE) and observation of the viral particle integrity (transmission electron microscopy).

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Process Analytical Technology (PAT) is of crucial importance in the process of IgM manufacturing, especially in its optimization where fast and reliable analytical methods capable of quantitation of the corresponding recombinant IgM concentration levels in the upstream processes are required.


Convective Interaction Media CIM® strong anion exchange monolithic columns have a great advantage in comparison to particle related methods due to their separation capability based on the convective flow mechanism that proved to be particularly efficient in the separation of large IgM molecules.

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2012

Environmental water is contaminated with human enteric viruses through the discharge of sewage contaminated water. As a consequence, they are present in various environmental water sources: irrigation water, wastewater, recreational water, ground or subsurface water, and even drinking water. The continuous low level transmission of these viruses can result in the spread of some viral infections. The nature of most enteric virus diseases is such that they elude epidemiological studies. Improved detection of viruses that are present in low concentration could prevent a considerable number of infections. Among the most important human food-borne viruses are Noroviruses (NoVs), members of Caliciviridae family and hepatitis A virus (HAV) which can be the source of serious outbreaks.

CIM® monolithic columns in combination with ultracentrifugation and RT-qPCR were used for the concentration and detection of hepatitis A virus and feline caliciviruse, a norovirus surrogate. At the same time efficiency of newly developed method was compared with reference method, based on membrane filter.

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2011

Virus like particles (VLPs) are particles that structurally resemble viruses, but do not contain any genetic material. They are formed when structural viral proteins spontaneously self-assemble in transfected cells. Extracts from expressing cells contain not only VLPs, but also cellular DNA and proteins. These need to be removed in order to obtain pure VLPs, which are then applied for the production of vaccines, as delivery systems, as well as in other fields of nanotechnology applications (for the application on DSP of Ad3 VLPs check the Application Note A029). The purity of the final VLPs product is evaluated by methods like SDS-PAGE, agarose electrophoresis, PicoGreen analysis, BCA or Bradford assay.

In this work, CIMac™ QA Analytical Column was used for in-process control of the adenovirus serotype 3 dodecahedric virus-like particles (Ad3 VLPs). Samples obtained from different purification steps were injected on the CIMac™ QA Analytical Column and elution profiles were compared.

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