Unstable proteins: how to subject them to chromatographic separations for purification procedures

The chromatographic separation of an unstable protein is often a challenge to the scientist working in the field of life sciences. Especially for the purification of sensitive enzymes, making use of conventional chromatographic techniques is difficult and frequently results in a complete loss of biological activity of the target protein. This report summarizes some general strategies that may help to keep unstable proteins in their native conformation during the rather harsh conditions of a purification procedure. In this context, a recently developed hollow fiber membrane module, suitable for performing on-line dialysis, is introduced and examples of its application to liquid column chromatography are given. Many innovative separation techniques, characterized by dramatic improvements in both performance and separation time, have recently been developed. Since the chromatographic separation of unstable proteins requires the use of modern state-of-the-art equipment and technology, emphasis is given to newly developed separation techniques such as expanded bed adsorption, perfusion chromatography, protein free flow electrophoresis and the use of tentacle gels. In addition, examples of recently published purifications of unstable proteins are discussed with respect to strategies ensuring the preservation of the native protein structure during chromatographic separation.