Affinity chromatography on immobilized “biomimetic” ligands: Synthesis, immobilization and chromatographic assessment of an immunoglobulin G-binding ligand

A synthetic bifunctional ligand (22/8) comprising a triazine scaffold substituted with 3-aminophenol (22) and 4-amino-1-naphthol (8) has been designed, synthesised, characterised and immobilized on agarose beads to create a robust, highly selective affinity adsorbent for human immunoglobulin G (IgG). Scatchard analysis of the binding isotherm for IgG on immobilized 22/8 (90 μmol 22/8/g moist weight gel) indicated an affinity constant (Ka) of 1.4·105 M−1 and a theoretical maximum capacity of 151.9 mg IgG/g moist weight gel. The adsorbent shows similar selectivity to immobilized protein A and binds IgG from a number of species. An apparent capacity of 51.9 mg human IgG/g moist weight gel was observed under the experimental conditions selected for adsorption. Human IgG was eluted with glycine–HCl buffer with a recovery of 67–69% and a purity of 97.3–99.2%, depending on the pH value of the buffer used for elution. Preparative chromatography of IgG from human plasma showed that under the specified conditions, 94.4% of plasma IgG was adsorbed and 60% subsequently eluted with a purity of 92.5%. The immobilized ligand was able to withstand incubation in 1 M NaOH for 7 days without loss of binding capacity for IgG.