A simple tool for tubing modification to improve spiral high-speed counter-current chromatography for protein purification.

A simple tool is introduced which can modify the shape of tubing to enhance the partition efficiency in high-speed countercurrent chromatography. It consists of a pair of interlocking identical gears, each coaxially holding a pressing wheel to intermittently compress plastic tubing in 0 - 10 mm length at every 1 cm interval. The performance of the processed tubing is examined in protein separation with 1.6 mm ID PTFE tubing intermittently pressed in 3 mm and 10 mm width both at 10 mm intervals at various flow rates and revolution speeds. A series of experiments was performed with a polymer phase system composed of polyethylene glycol and dibasic potassium phosphate each at 12.5% (w/w) in deionized water using three protein samples. Overall results clearly demonstrate that the compressed tubing can yield substantially higher peak resolution than the non-processed tubing. The simple tubing modifier is very useful for separation of proteins with high-speed countercurrent chromatography.