Screening of suitable immobilized metal chelates for adsorption of monoclonal antibodies against mutant amidase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The chromatographic behaviour of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) of IgM class against mutant (T103I) amidase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa was investigated. The effect of ligand concentration, the length of spacer arm and the nature of metal ion were investigated on immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC). MAbs against mutant amidase adsorbed to Cu (II), Ni (II), Zn (II), Co (II) and Ca (II)-IDA agarose columns. The adsorption of MAbs onto immobilized metal chelates was pH dependent because an increase in the binding of MAbs was observed as the pH was raised from 6.0 to 8.0. The adsorption of MAbs to metal chelates was due to coordination of histidine residues which are available in the 3rd constant domain of heavy chain (CH3) of immunoglobulins since the presence of imidazole in the equilibration buffer abolished the adsorption of MAbs to the column packed with commercial IDA-Zn(II) agarose at pH 8.0. The combination of tailor-made stationary phases for IMAC and a correct choice of the adsorption conditions permitted to design a one-step purification procedure for MAbs of IgM class. Culture supernatants containing MAbs of IgM class against mutant amidase (T103I) were chromatographed by IMAC Co (II) column at pH 8.0. The results strongly suggest that one-step purification of MAbs of IgM class by IMAC is a cost-effective and process-compatible alternative to the other purification procedures. Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.