Protein separation with surfactant-coated polystyrene involving Cibacron Blue 3GA-conjugated Triton X-100

Through mixing of porous polystyrene particles (Amberlite XAD-4), non-ionic surfactants, and surfactant-conjugated substrates (affinity ligand) in an aqueous solution led to the formation of a novel medium (affinity admicelle) for protein separation. The ligand (CB–Triton) was synthesized by mixing a triazine dye (Cibacron Blue 3GA (CB)) and a polyoxyethylene-type non-ionic surfactant (Triton X-100) in weakly alkaline solutions. Triton X-100 and CB–Triton were competitively sorbed onto XAD-4. Albumin (bovine serum), alcohol dehydrogenase (yeast), and lysozyme (chicken egg) having specific interaction to CB were collected onto the affinity admicelle. On the other hand, the collection of ovalubmin (chicken egg white), having no binding ability to CB, was negligibly small. Lysozyme in 100 μl of chicken egg white, diluted with 900 μl of 10 mM Tris–HCl (pH 7.4), was successfully collected on 18 mg of CB–Triton admicelles and, then, it was eluted with 1 ml of aqueous solution of 100 mM phosphate (pH 7.4). The recovery based on the activity for the lysis of micrococcus and the concentration factor were 60% and 40 (n=3), respectively.