Preparation of a novel dual-function strong cation exchange/hydrophobic interaction chromatography stationary phase for protein separation.

We have explored a novel dual-function stationary phase which combines both strong cation exchange (SCX) and hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) characteristics. The novel dual-function stationary phase is based on porous and spherical silica gel functionalized with ligand containing sulfonic and benzyl groups capable of electrostatic and hydrophobic interaction functionalities, which displays HIC character in a high salt concentration, and IEC character in a low salt concentration in mobile phase employed. As a result, it can be employed to separate proteins with SCX and HIC modes, respectively. The resolution and selectivity of the dual-function stationary phase were evaluated under both HIC and SCX modes with standard proteins and can be comparable to that of conventional IEC and HIC columns. More than 96% of mass and bioactivity recoveries of proteins can be achieved in both HIC and SCX modes, respectively. The results indicated that the novel dual-function column could replace two individual SCX and HIC columns for protein separation. Mixed retention mechanism of proteins on this dual-function column based on stoichiometric displacement theory (SDT) in LC was investigated to find the optimal balance of the magnitude of electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions between protein and the ligand on the silica surface in order to obtain high resolution and selectivity for protein separation. In addition, the effects of the hydrophobicity of the ligand of the dual-function packings and pH of the mobile phase used on protein separation were also investigated in detail. The results show that the ligand with suitable hydrophobicity to match the electrostatic interaction is very important to prepare the dual-function stationary phase, and a better resolution and selectivity can be obtained at pH 6.5 in SCX mode. Therefore, the dual-function column can replace two individual SCX and HIC columns for protein separation and be used to set up two-dimensional liquid chromatography with a single column (2DLC-1C), which can also be employed to separate three kinds of active proteins completely, such as lysozyme, ovotransferrin and ovalbumin from egg white. The result is very important not only to the development of new 2DLC technology with a single column for proteomics, but also to recombinant protein drug production for saving column expense and simplifying the process in biotechnology.