Ligand-exchange chromatography of nucleases

The synthesis of chelating sorbents for ligand-exchange chromatography of enzymes is described. An inorganic support "Silochrom" and organic "Spheron", TSK-Gel HW 55 and cellulose were used as initial supports. The chelating sorbents contained iminodiacetic acid and iminodimethylphosphonic acid as stationary ligands. In order to obtain monofunctional sorbents, iminodiacetic acid was added in the form of its dimethyl ester. The concentration of stationary ligands on the sorbents varied from 10 to 100 mumol per ml sorbent. A chelating sorbent (in nickel form) was shown to be effective in the purification of exonuclease A5 from actinomyces. Electrophoretically homogeneous exonuclease A5 was obtained with a 25% yield. A chelating sorbent with iminodiacetic groups (in copper form) was applied to the isolation of endonuclease from Serratia marcescens directly from the culture medium. The capacity of the chelating sorbents for the endonuclease was studied as a function of the stationary ligand concentration. After one stage of purification, more than 70% pure enzyme was obtained with a yield exceeding 80%.