To isolate the desired protein from a more complex mix, scientists use chromatography as a preferred method. In order to perform this protein purification process, certain chromatography resins come in to play, serving as separation agents. Of all available resin sources, the best one for the job by far is agarose.

This polysaccharide is a building block of several types of red seaweed. Its porousness and stable structure make it one of the best materials for creating chromatography resins. Thanks to its properties, it finds great use in molecular biology and many different chromatography methods.If you want to find out more about agarose chromatography resins, please read on.

What Is Agarose?

Certain types of red seaweed, mainly tengusa (Gelidiaceae) and ogonori (Gracilaria), are the primary source of agar. This jelly-like substance is built out of two main components: agarose and agaropectin. The purification process of agarose is complete once all the agaropectin is removed from the agar.

Agarose finds use in many industries but is especially important in molecular biology. Thanks to its properties it’s ideal for electrophoresis, for example. Employed this way, agarose works perfectly in the separation of large molecules, such as DNA.

Another important use of agarose is in chromatography since it can easily take shape of tiny beads. In this form, agarose allows for protein purification and is usable in many different chromatography methods.

The advantages of using agarose chromatography resins are numerous. First of all, agarose is extremely hydrophilic, with minimal unspecific binding. Thanks to its low matrix volume of 4-8%, it’s capable of achieving high capacity. It’s also easy to conjugate and remains stable under alkaline conditions. Since agarose is a soft material, ensuring its optimal pressure-flow performance requires advanced crosslinking and emulsification technologies.

Application of Agarose Chromatography Resins

Thanks to their high-performance properties, high-flow agarose chromatography resins provide exceptional results. Thanks to the agarose’s stable and porous structure, these resins allow for the optimisation of the material’s porosity and pore organisation.

Another important feature of agarose is that it has high-specificity, meaning it doesn’t absorb any unwanted biomolecules it gets exposed to. It also has great flow properties and tolerates extremes of pH and ionic strength.

As, agarose chromatography resins are ideal for purifying large and complex proteins, like monoclonal antibodies, for example. Being one of the most cost-effective and high productivity solutions, agarose resins also increase productivity. They cover both affinity capture and ion exchange polishing techniques with a range of Protein A and anion/cation exchange resins.

Original OPUS Pre-Packed Chromatography Columns

Purolite’sPraesto® line of agarose chromatography resins is also available pre-packed intoRepligen’s OPUS range of chromatography columns. suitable for both affinity chromatography and ion-exchange chromatography. These agarose chromatography resins deliver outstanding results across the entire range, from capture to high-resolution polishing steps.

OPUS columns are suitable for many different applications, such as:

• Downstream automated parallel chromatography
• Bench-scale resin screening
• Process development
• Sample preparation

Benefits of Using Pre-Packed Agarose Chromatography Resins

Today, maintaining a quick turnaround and optimising the use of available facilities is extremely important. This becomes more apparent when you take into consideration the fast-paced nature of the biopharmaceutical industry. Thanks to Purolite’s pre-packed and pre-qualified resin products, it’s possible to further optimise any of the existing workflows.

Using Purolite’s resins combined with OPUS pre-packed columns, you get to save an astounding amount of time that’s usually spent on various time-consuming manual procedures. Some of them include packing, packing evaluation, and cleaning. This way it’s possible to save significant investment costs that would go towards the packing machinery. Additionally, pre-packed columns further reduce the risk of microbial contamination during the packing process and prevent potential packing failures.

Depending on the laboratory needs, the OPUS range comes pre-packed in various sizes. such as the commonly-used Robocolumn, Minichrom, and OPUS 5-80R formats.

Agarose Chromatography Resins Are Best for the Job

Hopefully, you’ve gained some useful information about agarose chromatography resins. With its many great properties, agarose really is a winning component in modern chromatography applications. And by utilising pre-packed resins, it’s certain to make significant optimisation in laboratory processes. As a result, you also achieve certain financial savings, thanks to the reduced packing risks and by avoiding investing in expensive packing equipment.