Nucleic acid affinity of clustered-charge anion exchange adsorbents: effects of ionic strength and ligand density

In previous work we demonstrated the improved protein-binding capacity and selectivity of ion-exchange adsorbents displaying a "clustered" rather than random, distribution of surface charges. For example, anion-exchange adsorbents displaying 5 mM of positive charge in the form of 1 mM penta-argininamide show much higher affinity and capacity for alpha-lactalbumin than do adsorbents displaying the same 5 mM total charge in the form of single dispersed argininamide charges. We also found that clustered adsorbents selectively favor proteins with inherent charge clustering. In the present work, "clustered" penta-argininamide adsorbents showed DNA binding capacity comparable to that of conventional dispersed adsorbents with 10-100-fold higher ligand density. We also observed that at moderate ionic strength the DNA affinity of all adsorbents tested increased with salt while RNA affinity decreased, so that selectivity for DNA over RNA was enhanced as salt concentration increased.