Sample preparation for large-scale protein purification

Protein-based drugs are a rapidly growing segment of the prescription drug market and must be isolated in large quantities. The starting material for many of these drugs is of cell origin, and the proteins must first be isolated from the myriad of undesired cell contents. Sample preparation and purification procedures suitable in the laboratory might not be scaled up to production processes easily. Here, Ron Majors discusses methods that can be used to isolate large amounts of proteins from crude biological samples. Discussed are mechanical and chemical cell disruption, clarification of disrupted cellular materials using centrifugation, filtration, flocculation and coagulation, and product concentration.