Publications
2013
A. Ghanem, R. Healey, F. G. Adly
Analytica Chimica Acta 760 (2013) 1-15
Abstract
Plasmid DNA (pDNA)-based vaccines offer more rapid avenues for development and production if compared to those of conventional virus-based vaccines. They do not rely on time- or labour-intensive cell culture processes and allow greater flexibility in shipping and storage. Stimulating antibodies and cellmediated components of the immune system are considered as some of the major advantages associated with the use of pDNA vaccines. This review summarizes the current trends in the purification of pDNA vaccines for practical and analytical applications. Special attention is paid to chromatographic techniques aimed at reducing the steps of final purification, post primary isolation and intermediate recovery, in order to reduce the number of steps necessary to reach a purified end product from the crude plasmid.
A. Romanovskaya, L. P. Sarina, D. H. Bamford, M. M. Poranen
Journal of Chromatography A (2013)
Recent advances in the field of RNA interference and new cost-effective approaches for large-scale double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) synthesis have fuelled the demand for robust high-performance purification techniques suitable for dsRNA molecules of various lengths. To address this issue, we developed an improved dsRNA purification method based on anion exchange chromatography utilizing convective interaction media (CIM) monolithic columns. To evaluate column performance we synthesized a selection of dsRNA molecules (58–1810 bp) in a one-step enzymatic reaction involving bacteriophage T7 DNA-dependent RNA polymerase and phi6 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. In addition, small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) of 25–27 bp were generated by Dicer digestion of the genomic dsRNA of bacteriophage phi6. We demonstrated that linearly scalable CIM monolithic quaternary amine (QA) columns can be used as a fast and superior alternative to standard purification methods (e.g. LiCl precipitation) to obtain highly pure dsRNA preparations. The impurities following Dicer treatment were quickly and efficiently removed with the QA CIM monolithic column, yielding siRNA molecules of high purity suitable for potential therapeutic applications. Moreover, baseline separation of dsRNA molecules up to 1 kb in non-denaturing conditions was achieved.
2012
J. Ruščić, I. Gutierrez-Aguirre, L. Urbas, P. Kramberger, N. Mehle, D. Škorić, M. Barut, M. Ravnikar, M. Krajačić
Journal of Chromatography A, 1274 (2013) 129-136
Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) is the causal agent of a number of agriculturally important diseases. It is a single-stranded, circular and unencapsidated RNA molecule with only 356–360 nucleotides and no coding capacity. Because of its peculiar structural features, it is very stable ex vivo and it is easily transmitted mechanically by contaminated hands, tools, machinery, etc. In this work, we describe the development and optimization of a method for concentrating PSTVd using Convective Interaction Media (CIM) monolithic columns. The ion-exchange chromatography on diethylamine (DEAE) monolithic analytical column (CIMac DEAE-0.1 mL) resulted in up to 30% PSTVd recovery whilst the hydrophobic interaction chromatography on C4 monolithic analytical column (CIMac C4-0.1 mL) improved it up to 60%. This was due to the fact that the binding of the viroid to the C4 matrix was less strong than to the highly charged anion-exchange matrix and could be easier and more completely eluted under the applied chromatographic conditions. Based on these preliminary results, a C4 HLD-1 (High Ligand Density) 1 mL monolithic tube column was selected for further experiments. One-litre-water samples were mixed with different viroid quantities and loaded onto the column. By using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), the viroid RNA was quantified in the elution fraction (≈5 mL) indicating that 70% of the viroid was recovered and concentrated by at least two orders of magnitude. This approach will be helpful in screening irrigation waters and/or hydroponic systems’ nutrient solutions for the presence of even extremely low concentrations of PSTVd.
2011
M. J. Shin, L. Tan, M. H. Jeong, J.-H. Kim, W.-S. Choe
Journal of Chromatography A, 1218 (2011) 5273-5278
Immobilized metal affinity monolith column as a new class of chromatographic support is shown to be superior to conventional particle-based column as plasmid DNA (pDNA) purification platform. By harnessing the affinity of endotoxin to copper ions in the solution, a majority of endotoxin (90%) was removed from the alkaline cell lysate using CuCl2-induced precipitation. RNA and remaining endotoxin were subsequently removed to below detection limit with minimal loss of pDNA using either monolith or particle-based column. Monolith column has the additional advantage of feed concentration and flowrate-independent dynamic binding capacity for RNA molecules, enabling purification process to be conducted at high feed RNA concentration and flowrate. The use of monolith column gives three fold increased productivity of pDNA as compared to particle-based column, providing a more rapid and economical platform for pDNA purification.
2010
F. Mancini, V. Andrisano
Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis 52 (2010) 355-361
A novel liquid chromatographic method has been developed for use in throughput screening of new inhibitors of human recombinant β-amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme (hrBACE1). The approach is based on the use of an immobilized enzyme reactor (IMER) containing the target enzyme (hrBACE1–IMER) and uses fluorescence detection. The bioreactor was prepared by immobilizing hrBACE1 on an ethylendiamine (EDA) monolithic disk (CIM) and a fluorogenic peptide (M-2420) containing the β-secretase site of the Swedish mutation of amyloid precursor protein (APP) was used as substrate. After injection into the hrBACE1–IMER system, M-2420 was enzymatically cleaved, giving rise to a fluorescent methoxycoumaryl-fragment (Rt = 1.6 min), which was separated from the substrate and selectively detected at λexc = 320 and λem = 420 nm. Product and substrate were characterized by using a post monolithic C18 stationary phase coupled to an ion trap mass analyser. A calibration curve was constructed to determine the immobilized hrBACE1–IMER rate of catalysis and kinetic constants. Specificity of the enzymatic cleavage was confirmed by injecting the substrate on a blank CIM-EDA.
The proposed method was validated by the determination of the inhibitory potency of five reference compounds with activities ranked over four order of magnitude (four peptidic inhibitors and a green tea polyphenol, (−)gallocatechin gallate). The obtained results were found in agreement with the data reported in literature, confirming the validity and the applicability of the hrBACE1–IMER as a tool for the fast screening of unknown inhibitors (more than 6 compounds per hour). Moreover, the hrBACE1–IMER showed high stability during the analysis, permitting its use for more than three months without affecting enzyme activity.
F. Smrekar, A. Podgornik, M. Ciringer, S. Kontrec, P. Raspor, A. Štrancar, M. Peterka
Vaccine 28 (2010) 2039–2045
Plasmid DNA (pDNA) used in vaccination and gene therapy has to be highly pure and homogenous, which point out necessity to develop efficient, reproducible and scalable downstream process. Convective Interaction Media (CIM) monolithic chromatographic supports being designed for purification of large molecules and nanoparticles seem to be a matrix of choice for pDNA purification. In present work we describe a pDNA purification process designed on two different CIM monolithic columns, based on anion-exchange (AEX) chromatography and hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) chemistry. HIC monolith enabled separation of supercoiled (sc) pDNA from open circular (oc) pDNA, genomic DNA (gDNA) and endotoxins regardless to flow rates in the range at least up to 380 cm/h. Dynamic binding capacity of new HIC monolith is up to 4 mg of pDNA per milliliter of support. Combination of both chromatographic steps using optimized CaCl2 precipitation enabled production of pure pDNA, satisfying all regulatory requirements. Process was found to be reproducible, scalable, and exhibits high productivity. In addition, in-line monitoring of pDNA purification process is shown, using CIM DEAE disk monolithic columns.
N. Lendero Krajnc, F. Smrekar, A. Štrancar, A. Podgornik
Journal of Chromatography A, 1218 (2011) 2413-2424
The objective of this study was to investigate the behavior of large plasmids on the monolithic columns under binding and nonbinding conditions. The pressure drop measurements under nonbinding conditions demonstrated that the flow velocities under which plasmid passing monolith became hindered by the monolithic pore structure depended on the plasmid size as well as on the average monolith pore size; however, they were all very high exceeding the values encountered when applying CIM monolithic columns at their maximal flow rate. The impact of the ligand density and the salt concentration in loading buffer on binding capacity of the monolith for different sized plasmids was examined. For all plasmids the increase of dynamic binding capacity with the increase of salt concentration in the loading solution was observed reaching maximum of 7.1 mg/mL at 0.4 M NaCl for 21 kbp, 12.0 mg/mL at 0.4 M NaCl for 39.4 kbp and 8.4 mg/mL at 0.5 M NaCl for 62.1 kbp. Analysis of the pressure drop data measured on the monolithic column during plasmid loading revealed different patterns of plasmid binding to the surface, showing “car-parking problem” phenomena under certain conditions. In addition, layer thickness of adsorbed plasmid was estimated and at maximal dynamic binding capacity it matched calculated plasmid radius of gyration. Finally, it was found that the adsorbed plasmid layer acts similarly as the grafted layer responding to changes in solution's ionic strength as well as mobile phase flow rate and that the density of plasmid layer depends on the plasmid size and also loading conditions.
M. Peterka, P. Kramberger, A. Štrancar
Wang, Perry G. (ur.). Monolithic chromatography and its modern applications. St Albans: ILM publications, 2010, pg. 489-508
Downstream processing (DSP) for purification can become a significant bottleneck in the production of novel biotherapeutics, such as viral vectors and vaccines (viral or DNA). Although different techniques can be used for the purification of large molecules and particles, liquid chromatography is the preferred method as it achieves the purity required by regulatory agencies. Despite the popularity of conventional chromatographic media, the diffusional mass transfer of large molecules and relatively small pore size remain limiting factors for the efficient separation of large biomolecules and particles.
2009
S. Yamamoto, M. Nakamura, C. Tarmann, A. Jungbauer
Journal of Chromatography A 1216 (2009) 2616-2620
Our previous study has shown that there is a good correlation between the number of charges of DNA (from trimer to 50-mer) and the number of binding sites B in electrostatic interaction chromatography (ion-exchange chromatography, IEC). It was also found that high salt (NaCl) concentration is needed to elute large DNAs (>0.6 M). In this paper we further performed experiments with large DNAs (up to 95-mer polyT and polyA) and charged liposome particles of different sizes (ca. 30, 50 and 100 nm) with a monolithic anion-exchange disk in order to understand the binding and elution mechanism of very large charged biomolecules or particles. The peak salt (NaCl) concentration increased with increasing DNA length. However, above 50-mer DNAs the value did not increase significantly with DNA length (ca. 0.65–0.70 M). For liposome particles of different sizes the peak salt concentration (ca. 0.62 M) was similar and slightly lower than that for large DNAs (ca. 0.65–0.70 M). The binding site values (ca. 25–30) are smaller than those for large DNAs. When arginine was used as a mobile phase modulator, the elution position of polyA and polyT became very close whereas in NaCl gradient elution polyT appeared after polyA eluted. This was mainly due to suppression of hydrophobic interaction by arginine.
2008
M. Ćurković Perica, I. Šola, L. Urbas, F. Smrekar, M. Krajačić
Journal of Chromatography A 1216 (2009) 2712-2716
A procedure based on Sartorius BIA Separations CIM DEAE anion-exchange chromatography was developed to separate double-stranded (ds) RNA of hypovirus infecting phytopathogenic fungus Cryphonectria parasitica. Using a linear gradient of 25 mM 4-morpholinepropanesulfonic acid (MOPS), pH 7.0 as a binding buffer, and 25 mM MOPS, 1.5 M NaCl, 0.1 mM EDTA, 15% isopropanol (v/v), pH 7.0 as an elution buffer, hypoviral dsRNA was additionally purified from nucleic acid species present in preparations partially purified by standard CF-11 cellulose chromatography. Moreover, crude phenol/chloroform extracts of the fungal tissue were also applied to monolithic supports and CIM DEAE chromatograms revealed clear evidence for hypoviral presence without CF-11 chromatography, nucleic acid precipitation, and electrophoresis.
J. Ivancic-Jelecki, M. Brgles, M. Šantak, D. Forčić
Journal of Chromatography A 1216 (2009) 2717-2724
Human plasma is an important medical substance and a raw material for production of various therapeutics. During blood sampling, storage and processing, genomic DNA is released into plasma from nucleated blood cells that are damaged in the course of the procedure. In order to determine the concentration of contaminating DNA in plasma, we developed a method for DNA isolation by using anion-exchange chromatography on a Sartorius BIA Separations CIM (convective interaction media) diethylaminoethyl column. DNA was quantified by SYBR Green based real-time polymerase chain reaction. The concentration of cell-free, non-apoptotic DNA in plasma ranged between 0.06 and 22.5 ng/ml. As substantial volumes of plasma or whole blood are administered directly into the vascular system, a recipient is exposed to high amounts of cell-free DNA, several orders of magnitude higher than the amount found in other biologicals.
2007
M. Benčina, J. Babič, A. Podgornik
Journal of Chromatography A, 1144 (2007) 135–142
In gene therapy and DNA vaccination, RNA removal from DNA preparations is vital and is typically achieved by the addition of ribonuclease into the sample. Removal of ribonuclease from DNA samples requires an additional purification step. An alternative is the implementation of immobilized ribonuclease. In our work, ribonuclease was covalently coupled onto the surface of methacrylate monoliths via epoxy or imidazole carbamate groups. Various immobilization conditions were tested by changing immobilization pH. Ribonuclease immobilized on the monolith via imidazole carbamate groups at pH 9 was found to be six times more active than the ribonuclease immobilized on the monolith via epoxy groups. Under optimal immobilization conditions the Michaelis–Menten constant, Km, for cytidine-2,3-cyclic monophosphate, and turnover number, k3 were 0.52 mM and 4.6 s-1, respectively, and mirrored properties of free enzyme. Enzyme reactor was found to efficiently eliminate RNA contaminants from DNA samples. It was active for several weeks of operation and processed 300 column volumes of sample. Required residence time to eliminate RNA was estimated to be around 0.5 min enabling flow rates above 1 column volume per min.
K. Benčina, M. Benčina, A. Podgornik, A. Štrancar
Journal of Chromatography A, 1160 (2007) 176–183
The chromatography of mechanically sensitive macromolecules still represents a challenge. While larger pores can reduce the mechanically induced cleavage of large macromolecules and column clogging, the column performance inevitably decreases. To investigate the effect of pore size on the mechanical degradation of DNA, column permeability and enzyme biological activity, methacrylate monoliths with different pore sizes were tested. Monolith with a 143 nm pore radius mechanically damaged the DNA and was clogged at flow rates above 0.5 ml min−1 (26 cm h−1). For monoliths with a pore radius of 634 nm and 2900 nm, no mechanical degradation of DNA was observed up to 5 ml min−1 (265 cm h−1) above which the HPLC itself became the main source of damage. A decrease of a permeability appeared at flow rate 1.8 ml min−1 (95 cm h−1) and 2.3 ml min−1 (122 cm h−1), respectively. The effect of the pore size on enzyme biological activity was tested with immobilized DNase and trypsin on all three monoliths. Although the highest amount of enzyme was immobilized on the monolith with the smallest pores, monolith with the pore radius 634 nm exhibited the highest DNase biological activity probably due to restricted access for DNA molecules into the small pores. Interestingly, specific biological activity was increasing with a pore size decrease. This was attributed to higher number of contacts between a substrate and immobilized ligand.
S. Yamamoto, M. Nakamura, C. Tarmann, A. Jungbauer
Journal of chromatography 1144 (2007) 155-160
Linear gradient elution experiments were carried out on monolithic anion-exchange chromatography (AEC) with oligo-DNAs of various sizes (4–50mer, molecular weight MW = 1200–15,000) and compositions in order to investigate the retention mechanism. The binding site (B) values as well as the peak salt elution concentration IR values were determined. The B values determined for the monolithic AEC were similar to the values for non-porous AEC and porous AEC. The B value increased linearly with the number of charges (bases) of single-strand DNA when MW is less than ca. 3600 (12mer). When MW is greater than 6000, the slope of B versus MW decreased, and became very small at MW > 30,000. The IR value also increased linearly with MW for MW < 6000, and slightly with MW for MW > 10,000. It was shown that a very difficult separation of a single-strand 50mer poly(T) and a double-strand 50mer poly(A) and poly(T) was accomplished within 10 min by using a very shallow gradient at a high initial salt concentration (0.5 M) and a high flow-velocity (2.7 cm/min).
M. Brgles, B Halassy, J. Tomašić, M. Šantak, D. Forčić, M. Barut, A. Štrancar
Journal of Chromatography A 1144 (2007) 150-154
A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the determination of DNA entrapment efficiency in liposomes has been developed. Plasmid DNA was encapsulated into positively charged liposomes. Non-entrapped DNA was separated by ultracentrifugation from liposomes and supernatant was chromatographed on Convective Interaction Media (CIM) DEAE disk. The elution of DNA was monitored by the absorbance at 260 nm and the quantity of DNA in the tested sample was calculated from the integrated peak areas using the appropriate standard curve. This method is fast, simple, precise and does not require any kind of DNA labelling in contrast with mostly used methods for determination of DNA entrapment efficiency.
2006
M. Krajačić, J. Ivancic-Jelecki, D. Forčić, A. Vrdoljak, D. Škorić
Journal of Chromatography A, 1144 (2007) 111-119
Replicative double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) is useful in preliminary identification of Cucumber mosaic virus and its satellite RNA (satRNA). This plant pathogen complex yields sufficient quantity of the replicative RNA form that can be isolated by chromatography on chemically unmodified graded cellulose powder (CF-11). In this work, much faster and more efficient procedure using DEAE monoliths was developed in which dsRNA was separated from other species in total nucleic acids extract originating from the infected plant tissue. The developed chromatographic method revealed the pathogens’ presence in only 15 min, avoiding nucleic acid precipitation and electrophoretic analysis.
2005
M. Benčina, K. Benčina, A. Štrancar, A. Podgornik
Journal of Chromatography A, 1065 (2005) 83–91(2005) 83–91
A deoxyribonuclease bioreactor was prepared by immobilization of deoxyribonuclease I through epoxy groups inherently present on poly (glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) monoliths. Columns with various levels of DNase activity were prepared varying immobilization temperature, pH, time and method. The apparent Michaelis–Menten constant, Kmapp, and turnover number, k3app, for immobilized DNase determined by on-line frontal analysis method were, respectively, 0.28 g of DNA l-1 and 16 dA260nm min-1 mg-1 of immobilized DNase. The highest activity of immobilized DNase was detected at 1 mM calcium ions concentration and mirrored properties of free enzyme; however, reaction temperature in the range from 25 to 37 °C has no significant effect on activity of immobilized DNase in contrary to free enzyme. The CIM DNase bioreactor was used for elimination of DNA contaminants in RNA samples prior to reverse transcription followed by PCR.
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D. Forčić, K. Branovič Čakanič, J. Ivančič, R. Jug, M. Barut, A. Štrancar, R. Mazuran
Analytical Biochemistry 336 (2005) 273-278
Analysis of crude samples from biotechnological processes is often required to demonstrate that residual host cell impurities are reduced or eliminated during purification. Current knowledge suggests that a continuous-cell-line DNA can be considered a cellular contaminant rather than a significant risk factor requiring removal to extremely low levels. Anion-exchange chromatography is one of the most important methods used in the downstream processing and analysis of different biomolecules. In this article, an application using Convective Interaction Media monolithic columns to improve the detection of residual cellular DNA is described.
S. Jerman, A. Podgornik, K. Cankar, N. Čadež, M. Skrt, J. Žel, P. Raspor
Journal of Chromatography A 1065 (2005) 107-113
The availability of sufficient quantities of DNA of adequate quality is crucial in polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods for genetically modified food detection. In this work, the suitability of anion-exchange CIM (Convective Interaction Media; Sartorius BIA Separations, Ljubljana, Slovenia) monolithic columns for isolation of DNA from food was studied. Maize and its derivates corn meal and thermally pre-treated corn meal were chosen as model food. Two commercially available CIM disk columns were tested: DEAE (diethylaminoethyl) and QA (quaternary amine). Preliminary separations were performed with standard solution of salmon DNA at different pH values and different NaCl concentrations in mobile phase. DEAE groups and pH 8 were chosen for further isolations of DNA from a complex matrix—food extract. The quality and quantity of isolated DNA were tested on agarose gel electrophoresis, with UV-scanning spectrophotometry, and by amplification with real-time PCR. DNA isolated in this way was of suitable quality for further PCR analyses. The described method is also applicable for DNA isolation from processed foods with decreased DNA content. Furthermore, it is more effective and less time-consuming in comparison with the existing proposed methods for isolation of DNA from plant-derived foods.
D. Forčić, K. Branović-Čakanić, J. Ivančić, R. Jug, M. Barut, A. Štrancar
Journal of Chromatography A 1065 (2005) 115-120
The isolation and purification of nucleic acids is essential for many procedures in molecular biology. After showing that bacterial and eukaryotic genomic DNA can be specifically bound to the CIM DEAE monolithic column, this characteristic was exploited in development of a simple and fast chromatographic procedure for isolation and purification of genomic DNA from cell lysates that does not include the usage of toxic organic solutions. The purity and the quality of the isolate as well as the duration of the procedure was similar to other chromatographic methods used today for isolation of genomic DNA, but the initial sample volume was not restricted.