(342b) Biomagnetic Nanomaterials for High Gradient Magnetic Affinity Separation

The growth of  biopharmaceutical and biomedical industries has created a demand for new technologies for purification of genetically engineered proteins. High gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) is a technology that has the potential to increase the speed of traditional affinity chromatography due to its use of an expanded bed of superparamagnetic microparticles (SPM). The efficiency of large-scale HGMS is greatly improved if SPMs offering high binding capacity, high magnetic susceptibility, and high magnetization are employed. In this communication, we will describe strategies for synthesizing SPMs that are composed of biomolecules and viruses assembled on a superparamagnetic core. Separation of specific proteins and antibodies from high-protein concentration solutions was performed in a rapid and single step. The dense SPM core of these particles makes them highly responsive to magnetic fields and the biomolecular coating produces a high binding capacity. These new biomaterials and the described technology appear to be well suited to large-scale HGMS separation and promise to be cost effective.