Protein adsorption on DEAE ion-exchange resins with different ligand densities and pore sizes

Ion exchange chromatography (IEC) is a common and powerful technique for the purification of proteins. The ligand density and pore properties of ion-exchange resins have significant effects on the separation behaviors of protein, however, the understandings are quite limited. In the present work, the adsorption isotherms of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and human serum albumin (HSA) were investigated systematically with series of diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) ion-exchange resins, which have different ligand densities and pore sizes. The Langmuir equation was used to fit the experimental data and the influences of ligand density and pore size on the saturated adsorption capacity and the dissociation constant were discussed. The zeta potentials and hydrodynamic diameters of proteins at different pHs were also measured, and the surface charge characteristics of proteins and the adsorption mechanism were discussed. The results demonstrated that the ligand density, pore size, and protein properties affect the protein adsorption capacities in an integrative way. An integrative parameter was introduced to describe the complicated effects of ligand density and pore size on the protein adsorption. For a given protein, the ligand density and pore size should be optimized for improving the protein adsorption.