Supercritical fluid processing of proteins. I: lysozyme precipitation from organic solution.

The solution enhanced dispersion by supercritical fluid (SEDS) process was used to evaluate the effect of the processing variables on the biological and physicochemical characteristics of lysozyme protein particles produced from an organic solution of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) using an experimental design procedure. The processing variables were temperature, pressure, solution concentration and the flow-rates of supercritical carbon dioxide and a protein solution. Solutions of hen egg lysozyme (0.5-1%, w/v) in DMSO were dispersed using supercritical carbon dioxide as the antisolvent, and particles precipitated in a particle formation vessel. The morphology, particle size and size distribution and biological activity of the protein were determined. The precipitates were also examined with high sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry (HSDSC) and high-performance cation-exchange chromatography. The amount of residual DMSO was determined using headspace gas chromatography. Particle size measurements showed the precipitates to be agglomerates with primary particles of size 1-5 microm, containing <20 ppm of residual solvent. The activity of the precipitates varied between 44 and 100% depending on the experimental conditions. The similarity of HSDSC data for unprocessed and processed samples indicated that the SEDS process does not cause major denaturation of lysozyme when prepared from DMSO solutions. By optimising of working conditions, the SEDS process can produce micron-sized particles of lysozyme with minimal loss of biological activity.