Affinity precipitation of proteins: design criteria for an efficient polymer

Affinity precipitation is fast emerging as a successful technique for the purification of proteins which can be introduced at an early stage of downstream processing. The technique applies the use of reversibly soluble-insoluble polymers which have either natural or synthetic origin. Apart from the successful use of some natural polymers, such as chitosan and alginate, the vast application of the technique depends upon the design of efficient synthetic polymers. In this laboratory, N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) copolymers have been developed for metal chelate affinity precipitation of proteins. The copolymers of 1-vinylimidazole (VI) and iminodiacetic acid (IDA) with NIPAM were synthesized. The copolymers were thoroughly characterized with a view to designing an efficient soluble-insoluble polymer for metal chelate affinity precipitation of proteins.