Immobilized cibacron blue--leachables, support stability and toxicity on cultured cells

Although immobilized dyes are widely used on the laboratory scale and have good potential for industrial applications, they are still subject to some reservations. Little information is available about dye leakage and toxicity, which seriously hinders the use of such supports in the production of pure proteins. Investigations of the leakage mechanism and the in vitro toxicity of the native dye and of that leached from the column are reported. The possible presence of traces of dye in the purified biological materials necessitates the availability of sensitive analytical tests. The preparation and preliminary isolation of dye antibodies as a first step in the development of an immunohistochemical assay of leached dyes are also described.