Isolation, separation and purification of various types of proteins and peptides, as well as of other specific molecules, is used in almost all branches of biosciences and biotechnologies. Separation science and technology is thus very important area necessary for further developments in bio-oriented research and technology. New separation techniques, capable of treating dilute solutions or solutions containing only minute amounts of target molecules in the presence of vast amounts of accompanying compounds in both small and large-scale processes, even in the presence of particulate matter, are necessary.

In the area of biosciences and biotechnology the isolation of proteins and peptides is usually performed using variety of chromatography, electrophoretic, ultrafiltration, precipitation and other procedures, affinity chromatography being one of the most important techniques. Affinity ligand techniques represent currently the most powerful tool available to the downstream processing both in term of their selectivity and recovery. The strength of column affinity chromatography has been shown in thousands of successful applications, especially in the laboratory scale. However, the disadvantage of all standard column liquid chromatography procedures is the impossibility of the standard column systems to cope with the samples containing particulate material so they are not suitable for work in early stages of the isolation/purification process where suspended solid and fouling components are present in the sample. In this case magnetic affinity, ion-exchange, hydrophobic or adsorption batch separation processes, applications of magnetically stabilized fluidized beds or magnetically modified two-phase systems have shown their usefulness.

The basic principle of batch magnetic separation is very simple. Magnetic carriers bearing an immobilized affinity or hydrophobic ligand or ion-exchange groups, or magnetic biopolymer particles having affinity to the isolated structure, are mixed with a sample containing target compound(s). Samples may be crude cell lysates, whole blood, plasma, ascites fluid, milk, whey, urine, cultivation media, wastes from food and fermentation industry and many others. Following an incubation period when the target compound(s) bind to the magnetic particles the whole magnetic complex is easily and rapidly removed from the sample using an appropriate magnetic separator. After washing out the contaminants, the isolated target compound(s) can be eluted and used for further work.

Magnetic separation techniques have several advantages in comparison with standard separation procedures. This process is usually very simple, with only a few handling steps. All the steps of the purification procedure can take place in one single test tube or another vessel. There is no need for expensive liquid chromatography systems, centrifuges, filters or other equipment. The separation process can be performed directly in crude samples containing suspended solid material. In some cases (e.g., isolation of intracellular proteins) it is even possible to integrate the disintegration and separation steps and thus shorten the total separation time 1. Due to the magnetic properties of magnetic adsorbents (and diamagnetic properties of majority of the contaminating molecules and particles present in the treated sample), they can be relatively easily and selectively removed from the sample. In fact, magnetic separation is the only feasible method for recovery of small magnetic particles (diameter ca 0.1 – 1 μm) in the presence of biological debris and other fouling material of similar size. Moreover, the power and efficiency of magnetic separation procedures is especially useful at large-scale operations. The magnetic separation techniques are also the basis of various automated procedures, especially magnetic-particle based immunoassay systems for the determination of a variety of analytes, among them proteins and peptides. Several automated systems for the separation of proteins or nucleic acids have become available recently.

Magnetic separation is usually very gentle to the target proteins or peptides. Even large protein complexes that tend to be broken up by traditional column chromatography techniques may remain intact when using the very gentle magnetic separation procedure 2. Both the reduced shearing forces and the higher protein concentration throughout the isolation process positively influence the separation process.

Separation of target proteins using standard chromatography techniques often leads to the large volume of diluted protein solution. In this case appropriate magnetic particles can be used for their concentration instead of ultrafiltration, precipitation etc. 3.

The purpose of this review is to summarize various methodologies and strategies which can be employed for the isolation and purification of target proteins and peptides with the help of magnetic materials. An extensive list of realised purification procedures documents the efficiency of magnetic separation techniques. All these information will help the scientists to select the optimal magnetic material and the purification procedure.

The basic equipment for laboratory experiments is very simple. Magnetic carriers with immobilized affinity or hydrophobic ligands, magnetic particles prepared from a biopolymer exhibiting affinity for the target compound(s) or magnetic ion-exchangers are usually used to perform the isolation procedure. Magnetic separators of different types can be used for magnetic separations, but many times cheap strong permanent magnets are equally efficient, especially in preliminary experiments.

Magnetic carriers and adsorbents can be either prepared in the laboratory, or commercially available ones can be used. Such carriers are usually available in the form of magnetic particles prepared from various synthetic polymers, biopolymers or porous glass, or magnetic particles based on the inorganic magnetic materials such as surface modified magnetite can be used. Many of the particles behave like superparamagnetic ones responding to an external magnetic field, but not interacting themselves in the absence of magnetic field. This is important due to the fact that magnetic particles can be easily resuspended and remain in suspension for a long time. In most cases, the diameter of the particles differs from ca 50 nm to approx. 10 μm. However, also larger magnetic affinity particles, with the diameters up to millimetre range, have been successfully used 4. Magnetic particles having the diameter larger than ca 1 μm can be easily separated using simple magnetic separators, while separation of smaller particles (magnetic colloids with the particle size ranging between tens and hundreds of nanometers) may require the usage of high gradient magnetic separators.

Commercially available magnetic particles can be obtained from a variety of companies. In most cases polystyrene is used as a polymer matrix, but carriers based on cellulose, agarose, silica, porous glass or silanized magnetic particles are also available. Examples of magnetic particles used (or usable) for proteins and peptides separation can be found elsewhere 567.

Particles with immobilised affinity ligands are available for magnetic affinity adsorption. Streptavidin, antibodies, protein A and Protein G are used most often in the course of protein and peptides isolation. Magnetic particles with above mentioned immobilised ligands can also serve as generic solid phases to which native or modified affinity ligands can be immobilised (e.g., antibodies in the case of immobilised protein A, protein G or secondary antibodies, biotinylated molecules in the case of immobilised streptavidin).

Also some other affinity ligands (e.g., nitrilotriacetic acid, glutathione, trypsin, trypsin inhibitor, gelatine etc.) are already immobilised to commercially available carriers. To immobilise other ligands of interest to both commercial and laboratory made magnetic particles standard procedures used in affinity chromatography can be employed. Usually functional groups available on the surface of magnetic particles such as -COOH, -OH or -NH₂ are used for immobilisation, in some cases magnetic particles are available already in the activated form (e.g., tosylactivated, epoxyactivated etc).

In the laboratory magnetite (or similar magnetic materials such as maghemite or ferrites) particles can be surface modified by silanization. This process modifies the surface of the inorganic particles so that appropriate functional groups become available, which enable easy immobilisation of affinity ligands 8. In exceptional cases enzyme activity can be decreased as a result of usage of magnetic particles with exposed iron oxides. In this case encapsulated microspheres, having an outer layer of pure polymer, will be safer.

Biopolymers such as agarose, chitosan, kappa carrageenan and alginate can be easily prepared in a magnetic form. In the simplest way the biopolymer solution is mixed with magnetic particles and after bulk gel formation the magnetic gel formed is mechanically broken into fine particles 9. Alternatively biopolymer solution containing dispersed magnetite is dropped into a mixed hardening solution 4 or water-in-oil suspension technique is used to prepare spherical particles 10.

Basically the same procedures can be used to prepare magnetic particles from synthetic polymers such as polyacrylamide, poly(vinylalcohol) and many others 11.

In another approach used standard affinity or ion-exchange chromatography material was post-magnetised by interaction of the sorbent with water-based ferrofluid. Magnetic particles accumulated within the pores of chromatography adsorbent thus modifying this material into magnetic form 1213. Alternatively magnetic Sepharose or other agarose gels were prepared by simple contact with freshly precipitated or finely powdered magnetite 1214.

Magnetoliposomes (magnetic derivatives of standard liposomes), either in the original form or after immobilization of specific proteins, have the potential for the separation of antiphospholipid antibodies 15, IgG antibodies 16 and other proteins of interest 17.

Recently also non-spherical magnetic structures, such as magnetic nanorods have been tested as possible adsorbent material for specific separation of target proteins 18.

Magnetic separators are necessary to separate the magnetic particles from the system. In the simplest approach, a small permanent magnet can be used, but various magnetic separators employing strong rare-earth magnets can be obtained at reasonable prices. Commercial laboratory scale batch magnetic separators are usually made from magnets embedded in disinfectant-proof material. The racks are constructed for separations in Eppendorf micro-tubes, standard test tubes or centrifugation cuvettes, some of them have a removable magnetic plate to facilitate easy washing of separated magnetic particles. Other types of separators enable separations from the wells of microtitration plates and the flat magnetic separators are useful for separation from larger volumes of suspensions (up to approx. 500 – 1000 ml). Examples of typical batch magnetic separators are shown in Fig. 1.

Flow-through magnetic separators are usually more expensive, and high gradient magnetic separators (HGMS) are the typical examples. Laboratory scale HGMS is composed from a column packed with fine magnetic grade stainless steel wool or small steel balls which is placed between the poles of an appropriate magnet. The suspension is pumped through the column, and magnetic particles are retained within the matrix. After removal the column from the magnetic field, the particles are retrieved by flow and usually by gentle vibration of the column.

For work in dense suspensions, open gradient magnetic separators may be useful. A very simple experimental set-up for the separation of magnetic affinity adsorbents from litre volumes of suspensions was described 19.

Currently many projects require the analysis of a high number of individual proteins or variants. Therefore, methods are required that allows multiparallel processing of different proteins. There are several multiple systems for high throughput nucleic acid and proteins preparation commercially available. The most often used approach for proteins isolation is based on the isolation and assay of 6xHis-tagged recombinant proteins using magnetic beads with Ni-nitriloacetic acid ligand 20. The commercially available platforms can be obtained from several companies such as Qiagen, USA (BioRobot and BioSprint series), Tecan, Japan (Te-MagS) or Thermo Electron Corporation, USA (KingFisher).

Magnetic separations of proteins and peptides are usually convenient and rapid. Nevertheless, several hints may be helpful to obtain good results.

Proteins and peptides in the free form can be directly isolated from different sources. Membrane bound proteins have to be usually solubilized using appropriate detergents. When nuclei are broken during sample preparation, DNA released into the lysate make the sample very viscous. This DNA may be sheared by repeated passage up and down through a 21 gauge hypodermic syringe needle before isolation of a target protein. Alternatively, DNase can be added to enzymatically digest the DNA.

Magnetic beads in many cases exhibit low non-specific binding of non-target molecules present in different samples. Certain samples may still require preclearing to remove molecules which have high non-specific binding activity. If preclearing is needed, the sample can be mixed with magnetic beads not coated with the affinity ligand. In the case of immunomagnetic separation, magnetic beads coated with secondary antibody or with irrelevant antibodies have been used. The non-specific binding can also be minimised by adding a non-ionic detergent both in the sample and in the washing buffers after isolation of the target.

In general, magnetic affinity separations can be performed in two different modes. In the direct method, an appropriate affinity ligand is directly coupled to the magnetic particles or biopolymer exhibiting the affinity towards target compound(s) is used in the course of preparation of magnetic affinity particles. These particles are added to the sample and target compounds then bind to them. In the indirect method the free affinity ligand (in most cases an appropriate antibody) is added to the solution or suspension to enable the interaction with the target compound. The resulting complex is then captured by appropriate magnetic particles. In case antibodies are used as free affinity ligands, magnetic particles with immobilised secondary antibodies, protein A or protein G are used for capturing of the complex. Alternatively the free affinity ligands can be biotinylated and magnetic particles with immobilised streptavidin or avidin are used to capture the complexes formed. In both methods, magnetic particles with isolated target compound(s) are magnetically separated and then a series of washing steps is performed to remove majority of contaminating compounds and particles. The target compounds are then usually eluted, but for specific applications (especially in molecular biology, bioanalytical chemistry or environmental chemistry) they can be used still attached to the particles, such as in the case of polymerase chain reaction, magnetic ELISA etc.

The two methods perform equally well, but, in general, the direct technique is more controllable. The indirect procedure may perform better if affinity ligands have poor affinity for the target compound.

In most cases, magnetic batch adsorption is used to perform the separation step. This approach represents the simplest procedure available, enabling to perform the whole separation in one test-tube or flask. If larger magnetic particles (with diameters above ca 1 μm) are used, simple magnetic separators can be employed. In case magnetic colloids (diameters ranging between tens and hundreds of nanometres) are used as affinity adsorbents, high-gradient magnetic separators have usually to be used to remove the magnetic particles from the system.

Alternatively magnetically stabilised fluidised beds (MSFB), which enable a continuous separation process, can be used. The use of MSFB is an alternative to conventional column operation, such as packed-bed or fluidised bed, especially for large-scale purification of biological products. Magnetic stabilisation enables the expansion of a packed bed without mixing of solid particles. High column efficiency, low pressure drop and elimination of clogging can be reached 2122.

Also non-magnetic chromatographic adsorbents can be stabilized in magnetically stabilized fluidized beds if sufficient amount of magnetically susceptible particles is also present. The minimum amount of magnetic particles necessary to stabilize the bed is a function of various parameters including the size and density of both particles, the magnetic field strength, and the fluidization velocity. A variety of commercially available affinity, ion-exchange, and adsorptive supports can be used in the bed for continuous separations 23.

Biocompatible two phase systems, composed for example from dextran and polyethylene glycol, are often used for isolation of biologically active compounds, subcellular organelles and cells. One of the disadvantages of this system is the slow separation of the phases when large amounts of proteins and cellular components are present. The separation of the phases can be accelerated by the addition of fine magnetic particles or ferrofluids to the system followed by the application of a magnetic field. This method seems to be useful when the two phases have very similar densities, the volumetric ratio between the phases is very high or low, or the systems are viscous. Magnetically enhanced phase separation usually increases the speed of phase separation by a factor of about 10 in well-behaved systems, but it may increase by a factor of many thousands in difficult systems. The addition of ferrofluids and/or iron oxide particles was shown to have usually no influence on enzyme partioning or enzyme activity 2425.

Proteins and peptides isolated using magnetic techniques have to be usually eluted from the magnetic separation materials. In most cases bound proteins and peptides can be submitted to standard elution methods such as the change of pH, change of ionic strength, use of polarity reducing agents (e.g., dioxane or ethyleneglycol) or the use of deforming eluents containing chaotropic salts. Affinity elution (e.g., elution of glycoproteins from lectin coated magnetic beads by the addition of free sugar) may be both a very efficient and gentle procedure.

Magnetic affinity and ion-exchange separations have been successfully used in various areas, such as molecular biology, biochemistry, immunochemistry, enzymology, analytical chemistry, environmental chemistry etc 26272829. Tables 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 show some selected applications of these techniques for proteins and peptides isolation.