Improved measurement of the rotor temperature in analytical ultracentrifugation.

Sedimentation velocity is a classical method for measuring the hydrodynamic, translational friction coefficient of biological macromolecules. In a recent study comparing various analytical ultracentrifuges, we showed that external calibration of the scan time, radial magnification, and temperature is critically important for accurate measurements (Anal. Biochem. 440 (2013) 81-95). To achieve accurate temperature calibration, we introduced the use of an autonomous miniature temperature logging integrated circuit (Maxim Thermochron iButton) that can be inserted into an ultracentrifugation cell assembly and spun at low rotor speeds. In the current work, we developed an improved holder for the temperature sensor located in the rotor handle. This has the advantage of not reducing the rotor capacity and allowing for a direct temperature measurement of the spinning rotor during high-speed sedimentation velocity experiments up to 60,000rpm. We demonstrated the sensitivity of this approach by monitoring the adiabatic cooling due to rotor stretching during rotor acceleration and the reverse process on rotor deceleration. Based on this, we developed a procedure to approximate isothermal rotor acceleration for better temperature control.

Vortex Counter-Current Chromatography: Performance of a New Preparative Column.

A New preparative column for the vortex counter-current chromatograph was fabricated by making many (966) cylindrical separation units to a high-dendity polyethylene disk and thenthreading them with 6-40 taps. The resulting column had a total capacity of 364 mL. The performance of this vortex column was examined with three different two-phase solvent systems each using a set of suitable test samples: hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-0.1 M hydrochloric acid (1:1:1:1, v/v) for separation of DNP-amino acids; 1-butanol-acetic acid-water (4:1:5, v/v) for separation of dipeptides; and hexane-acetonitrile-water (20:15:2, v/v) for separation of Sudan dyes. Most of the separations show high partition efficiency of over a thousand theoretical plates, as expected based on the results previously obtained in preliminary separations with a small column. Overall, the results of the present study suggest that further improvement of the partition efficiency can be obtained by the modifying column configuration.

Mixer-settler counter-current chromatography with multiple spiral disk assembly.

A novel system for performing high-speed counter-current chromatography has been developed for separation of biopolymers using polymer phase systems. The spiral disk assembly consisting of eight units, each equipped with over 300 mixer-settler sets, was constructed and performance evaluated in terms of retention of the stationary phase and separation efficiency. A series of experiments was performed with a polymer phase system composed of polyethylene glycol 1000 (12.5%, w/w) and dibasic potassium phosphate (12.5%, w/w) using two stable protein samples of myoglobin and lysozyme at various experimental conditions of flow rates and revolution speeds. The best results were obtained with revolution speeds of 800-1000rpm at flow rates of 0.25-0.5ml/min where the partition efficiency of several 100 theoretical plates was achieved with over 50% stationary phase retention.

Comparison in partition efficiency of protein separation between four different tubing modifications in spiral high-speed countercurrent chromatography.

High-speed countercurrent chromatography with a spiral tube assembly can retain a satisfactory amount of stationary phase of polymer phase systems used for protein separation. In order to improve the partition efficiency a simple tool to modify the tubing shapes was fabricated, and the following four different tubing modifications were made: intermittently pressed at 10 mm width, flat, flat-wave, and flat-twist. Partition efficiencies of the separation column made from these modified tubing were examined in protein separation with an aqueous-aqueous polymer phase system at flow rates of 1-2 ml/min under 800 rpm. The results indicated that the column with all modified tubing improved the partition efficiency at a flow rate of 1 ml/min, but at a higher flow rate of 2 ml/min the columns made of flattened tubing showed lowered partition efficiency apparently due to the loss of the retained stationary phase. Among all the modified columns, the column with intermittently pressed tubing gave the best peak resolution. It may be concluded that the intermittently pressed and flat-twist improve the partition efficiency in a semi-preparative separation while other modified tubing of flat and flat-wave configurations may be used for analytical separations with a low flow rate.

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.

Vortex counter-current chromatography.

A novel counter-current chromatographic system is developed by mounting a vortex column on a type-I coil planet centrifuge. The column is fabricated from a high-density polyethylene disk (16 cm diameter and 5 cm thick) by making multiple holes of various diameters (3-12.5 mm) each arranged in a circle and connected with narrow transfer ducts. The performance of this vortex column is tested with three different two-phase solvent systems with a broad range in hydrophobicity. The results indicated that the smallest diameter column (3mm diameter, 120 units with 42.8 ml capacity) yielded the best separation with the height equivalent to a theoretical plate of 2 cm compared with 20 cm required by the conventional multilayer coil column of high-speed CCC. By avoiding the use of an Archimedean Screw Force, the system shows a low column pressure which would permit safe operation of a large preparative column without a risk of leakage of solvent and column damage.

Improved partition efficiency with threaded cylindrical column in vortex counter-current chromatography.

Type-I coil planet centrifuge produces a uniformly circulating centrifugal force field to produce vortex motion of two immiscible solvent phases in a cylindrical cavity of the separation column to perform efficient countercurrent chromatography. The partition efficiency obtained from the original vortex column was substantially improved by threading the cylindrical cavity to increase the area of mass transfer between the two phases. Partition efficiency of the threaded column was evaluated by three different two-phase solvent systems with a broad range of hydrophobicity each with a set of suitable test samples. Overall results of the present studies indicated that the threaded cylindrical column substantially improves the partition efficiency in terms of theoretical plate number, peak resolution, and height equivalent of one theoretical plate. The results also indicated that higher peak resolution is produced by eluting either the upper phase in the head to tail direction or the lower phase in the reversed direction. When there is a choice in the mobile phase, a better separation is achieved by using the less viscous phase as the mobile phase. Since the present system gives extremely low column pressure, it may be a potential alternative to the conventional type-J HSCCC system for a large-scale preparative separation.