Adsorption behavior in the HyperCel family of cellulosic ion-exchange materials (Pall Corporation) was characterized using methods to assess, quantitatively and qualitatively, the dynamics of protein uptake as well as static adsorption as a function of ionic strength and protein concentration using several model proteins. The three exchangers studied all presented relatively high adsorptive capacities under low ionic strength conditions, comparable to commercially available resins containing polymer functionalization aimed at increasing that particular characteristic. The strong cation- and anion-exchange moieties showed higher sensitivity to increasing salt concentrations, but protein affinity on the salt-tolerant STAR AX HyperCel exchanger remained strong at ionic strengths normally used in downstream processing to elute material fully during ion-exchange chromatography. Very high uptake rates were observed in both batch kinetics experiments and time-series confocal laser scanning microscopy, suggesting low intraparticle transport resistances relative to external film resistance, even at higher bulk protein concentrations where the opposite is typically observed. Electron microscopy imaging of protein adsorbed phases provided additional insight into particle structure that could not be resolved in previous work on the bare resins.
Keywords: Cellulosic materials; Confocal laser scanning microscopy; Electron microscopy; Ion-exchange chromatography; Protein adsorption; Salt-tolerant adsorbents.
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