(61c) Membranes for Bioprocessing Applications: Overview of Research At Penn State

Membrane systems are used extensively for the purification and formulation of a wide range of important biotherapeutic products, including monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, and gene therapy agents.  Recent developments in bioprocessing have created important new opportunities for membrane separations.  This presentation will highlight some of the key work being done within the Zydney group on the development of membrane processes for the purification of high value biological molecules, focusing on the relationship between the underlying membrane properties (e.g., pore size and surface charge) and the membrane performance characteristics.  Several specific applications will be discussed, including the development of membrane systems for the production and purification of PEGylated proteins and the use of ultrafiltration for the purification of plasmid DNA for gene therapy applications.  Highly selective membrane systems can be developed for the purification of pegylated proteins by exploiting the high degree of retention of the large pegylated species arising from both electrostatic and steric interactions.  Plasmid DNA isoforms can be purified by exploiting differences in the elongational flexibility of the different topological isoforms of the plasmid.  These results clearly demonstrate some of the exciting opportunities for using membrane systems in bioprocessing applications.