Method of purification of hydrophobic proteins

1. A method for purifying recombinant synthetic Lyme antigen (rSLA) comprising the steps of:

(i) subjecting a homogenate of cells containing the rSLA to microdiafiltration comprising the steps of:

(a) concentrating said homogenate by microfiltration;

(b) washing the biomass by microdiafiltration, thereby obtaining a microdiafiltrate-1 and a microdiaretentate-1;

(c) extracting the rSLA from said microdiaretentate-1 by microdiafiltration using a buffer containing a detergent thereby obtaining a microdiafiltrate-2 and a microdiaretentate-2;

(ii) subjecting said microdiafiltrate-2 containing the extracted rSLA to ion exchange chromatography, the eluent thereof containing the purified rSLA;

(iii) subjecting the eluent obtained from the ion exchange chromatography in step (ii) to anion exchange filtration for residual endotoxin removal; and

(iv) subjecting the such obtained protein solution containing the rSLA to hydroxyapatite (HA) column chromatography.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, prior to step (i), the cell homogenate is washed using a suitable buffer selected from the group consisting of: Tris-buffer, HEPES buffer, citrate buffer, and phosphate buffer.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, prior to step (iv), the filtrate obtained from said extraction step (ii) is subjected to ion exchange chromatography.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, prior to step (iv), the filtrate obtained from said extraction step (ii) is subjected to anion exchange filtration using a membrane adsorber.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the cells containing said rSLA are host cells selected from the group consisting of E. coli , yeasts, plant cells, insect cells, avian cells or mammalian cells.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the buffer used in step (i)(c) contains a detergent selected from the group consisting of anionic detergents, cationic detergents, zwitterionic detergents and non-ionic detergents,

wherein the anionic detergents are selected from the group consisting of cholic acids and derivatives thereof, N,N-dimethyldodecylamine N-oxide, sodium 1-alkylsulfonates, N lauroylsarcosine or fatty acid salts;

wherein the cationic detergents are selected from the group consisting of alkyl trimethyl ammonium bromide and derivatives thereof or benzalkonium chloride;

wherein the zwitterionic detergents are selected from the group consisting of dodecyl betaine, alkyl dimethylamine oxide and derivatives thereof or 3-(N,N-dimethylalkyl-ammonio)-propanesulfonates; and

wherein the non-ionic detergents are selected from the group consisting of octylphenol ethoxylates, polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleates, alkyl poly(ethylene oxides) and derivatives thereof, alkyl polyglucosides or fatty alcohols.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the detergent is present in an amount from about 0.5% to about 3.0%.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the detergent is present in an amount from about 1% to about 1.5%.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the buffer used in step (i)(c) is Tris-buffer.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the buffer used in step (i)(c) contains octylphenol ethoxylate as a detergent.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, after step (i)(c), a microfiltration and/or microdiafiltration step is performed using a 0.2 μm pore size microfiltration cassette.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the buffer concentrations are in a range from about 0.1 mM to about 1.0M.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the buffer concentrations are in a range from about 1.0 mM to about 600 mM.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pH of the buffers ranges from about 3.0 to about 10.0.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pH of the buffers ranges from about 6.0 to about 8.0.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is carried out at room temperature.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is carried out at a temperature from about 0° C. to about 15° C.

18. A method for purifying recombinant synthetic Lyme antigen (rSLA) from a cell comprising the steps of:

(i) providing cells containing said rSLA;

(ii) homogenizing said cells;

(iii) subjecting the such obtained homogenate to microdiafiltration comprising the steps of:

(a) concentrating said homogenate by microfiltration;

(b) washing the biomass by microdiafiltration, thereby obtaining a microdiafiltrate-1 and a microdiaretentate-1;

(c) extracting rSLA from said microdiaretentate-1 by microdiafiltration using a buffer containing at least octylphenol ethoxylate, thereby obtaining a microdiafiltrate-2 and a microdiaretentate-2;

(iv) subjecting said microdiafiltrate-2 containing the extracted rSLA to anion exchange chromatography, the eluent thereof containing the purified rSLA;

(v) subjecting the eluent obtained from the anion exchange chromatography in step (iv) to anion exchange filtration for residual endotoxin removal; and

(vi) subjecting the such obtained protein solution containing rSLA to hydroxyapatite (HA) column chromatography.

19. The method according to claim 18 , wherein, prior to step (iii)(c), the cell homogenate is washed using a suitable buffer selected from the group consisting of: Tris-buffer, HEPES buffer, citrate buffer, and phosphate buffer.

20. The method according to claim 18 , wherein, prior to hydroxyapatite column chromatography step (vi), the filtrate obtained from step (iii)(c) is subjected to ion exchange chromatography.

21. The method according to claim 18 , wherein, prior to hydroxyapatite column chromatography step (vi), the filtrate obtained from step (iii)(c) is subjected to anion exchange filtration using a membrane adsorber.

22. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the cells containing said hydrophobic protein are host cells selected from the group consisting of E. coli , yeasts, plant cells, insect cells, avian cells or mammalian cells.

23. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the buffer used in step (iii)(c) contains a detergent selected from the group consisting of anionic detergents, cationic detergents, zwitterionic detergents and non-ionic detergents,

wherein the anionic detergents are selected from the group consisting of cholic acids and derivatives thereof, N,N-dimethyldodecylamine N-oxide, sodium 1-alkylsulfonates, N lauroylsarcosine or fatty acid salts;

wherein the cationic detergents are selected from the group consisting of alkyl trimethyl ammonium bromide and derivatives thereof or benzalkonium chloride;

wherein the zwitterionic detergents are selected from the group consisting of dodecyl betaine, alkyl dimethylamine oxide and derivatives thereof or 3-(N,N-dimethylalkyl-ammonio)-propanesulfonates; and

wherein the non-ionic detergents are selected from the group consisting of octylphenol ethoxylates, polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleates, alkyl poly(ethylene oxides) and derivatives thereof, alkyl polyglucosides or fatty alcohols.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein the detergent is present in an amount from about 0.5% to about 3.0%.

25. The method of claim 23 , wherein the detergent is present in an amount from about 1% to about 1.5%.

26. The method according to claim 17 , wherein the buffer used in step (iii)(c) is Tris-buffer.

27. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the buffer used in step (iii)(c) contains octylphenol ethoxylate as a detergent.

28. The method according to claim 18 , wherein, after step (iii)(c), a microfiltration and/or microdiafiltration step is performed using a 0.2 μm pore size microfiltration cassette.

29. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the buffer concentrations are in a range from about 0.1 mM to about 1.0M.

30. The method of claim 18 , wherein the buffer concentrations are in a range from about 1.0 mM to about 600 mM.

31. The method of claim 18 , wherein the pH of the buffers ranges from about 3.0 to about 10.0.

32. The method of claim 18 , wherein the pH of the buffers ranges from about 6.0 to about 8.0.

33. The method of claim 18 , wherein the method is carried out at room temperature.

34. The method of claim 18 , wherein the method is carried out at a temperature from about 0° C. to about 15° C.

35. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a step of ultrafiltration between step (iii) and step (iv).

36. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a final step of sterile filtration.

37. The method of claim 36 , further comprising a step of ultrafiltration between step (iv) and the final step of sterile filtration.

38. The method of claim 18 , further comprising a step of ultrafiltration between step (v) and step (vi).

39. The method of claim 18 , further comprising a final step of sterile filtration.

40. The method of claim 39 , further comprising a step of ultrafiltration between step (vi) and the final step of sterile filtration.