Receptor-specific large-scale purification of cholera toxin on silica beads derivatized with lysoGM1 ganglioside

1. A receptor-specific affinity chromatographic method for large-scale purification of cholera toxin is described. The receptor ganglioside for cholera toxin, GM1, is hydrolysed to lysoGM1 which is then covalently coupled, via stabilized Schiff's bases, to porous silica beads (Spherosil) onto which a layer of DEAE-dextran has been adsorbed and cross-linked before coupling. Columns of these Spherosil-DEAE-dextran-lysoGM1 beads, in contrast to particles derivatized with lysoGA1, bound the cholera toxin of Vibrio cholerae culture filtrates, after which the toxin could be eluted with the aid of an acid citrate buffer (pH 2.8). 2. The toxin-binding capacity was directly proportional to the amount of lysoGM1 in the column: 2.3 mg/mu mol lysoGM1. The yield of purified toxin after acid elution and pH neutralization was essentially quantitative (83-107%). 3. The affinity-purified toxin contained less than 5% impurities, but consisted of a mixture of predominantly intact holotoxin and B subunit protomer which could readily be separated by gel filtration on Sephadex G-100. 4. Scaling up of the technique was possible: a 1 kg column enabled us to treat 1000-1 cultures of V. cholerae and thus to isolate 20 g of cholera toxin per cycle.