Protein C separation from human blood plasma derivatives using low cost chromatography

Protein C (PC) deficiency can cause thrombosis, inhibiting oxygen transport to tissue thus resulting in many complications, including death. Present treatment can cause catastrophic bleeding and other major medical problems. PC treatment has no bleeding or skin necrosis problems because it circulates in the blood as a zymogen and is only activated when and where it is needed. The vitamin K dependent (VKD) proteins are homologous proteins, making the separation of PC from plasma extremely difficult. Immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) is investigated to separate the VKD proteins to replace immunoaffinity chromatography, because of the high cost of monoclonal antibodies. An IDA-Cu column was found effective for the separation of PC from prothrombin, the most harmful contaminant. For Cohn fraction IV-1 separation, a DEAE column was found an efficient initial step, with about 25-fold PC purity increase. Following this step, an IDA-Cu column could remove many contaminants including prothrombin. The combination of DEAE and IDA-Cu resulted in PC purity increase of about 100-fold.