Competitive protein adsorption in isocratic anion exchange chromatography

Protein chromatography is the dominant method of purification of biopharmaceuticals. Although all practical chromatography involves competitive absorption and separation of M. species, competitive protein absorption has remained inadequately understood. We previously introduced the measurement of equilibrium protein adsorption isotherms with all intensive variables held constant, including competitor concentration. In this work, we introduce isocratic chromatographic retention measurements of dynamic protein adsorption in the presence of a constant concentration of a competitor protein. These measurements are achieved by establishing a dynamic equilibrium with a constant concentration of competitor (insulin) in the mobile phase flowing through an ion exchange adsorbent column and following the behavior of a test protein (α-lactalbumin) injected into this environment. We observed decreased retention times for α-lactalbumin in presence of the competitor. The presence of competitor also reduces the heterogeneity of the sites available for adsorption of the test protein. This investigation provides an approach to fundamental understanding of competitive dynamics of multicomponent protein chromatography.