Abstract
The application of functionalised magnetic adsorbent particles in
combination with magnetic separation techniques has received
considerable attention in recent years. The magnetically responsive
nature of such adsorbent particles permits their selective manipulation
and separation in the presence of other suspended solids. Thus, it
becomes possible to magnetically separate selected target species
directly out of crude biological process liquors (e.g. fermentation
broths, cell disruptates, plasma, milk, whey and plant extracts) simply
by binding them on magnetic adsorbents before application of a magnetic
field. By using magnetic separation in this way, the several stages of
sample pretreatment (especially centrifugation, filtration and membrane
separation) that are normally necessary to condition an extract before
its application on packed bed chromatography columns, may be eliminated.
Magnetic separations are fast, gentle, scaleable, easily automated, can
achieve separations that would be impossible or impractical to achieve
by other techniques, and have demonstrated credibility in a wide range
of disciplines, including minerals processing, wastewater treatment,
molecular biology, cell sorting and clinical diagnostics. However,
despite the highly attractive qualities of magnetic methods on a process
scale, with the exception of wastewater treatment, few attempts to scale
up magnetic operations in biotechnology have been reported thus far. The
purpose of this review is to summarise the current state of development
of protein separation using magnetic adsorbent particles and identify
the obstacles that must be overcome if protein purification with
magnetic adsorbent particles is to find its way into industrial
practice.
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