Recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) in inclusion bodies was solubilized by 8 mol/L urea solution and subsequently precipitated by acetone to improve its purity. After that, the precipitates were solubilized by sodium hydroxide solution containing 2 mol/L urea. Then the solubilized rhG-CSF was passed through a size exclusion chromatography for refolding and extensive purification, and further purified by a weak anion exchange chromatography. The purity and mass recovery of refolded rhG-CSF were 96.5% and 75.6%, respectively. The bioactivity was 8.4×107 IU/mg.
A new method with only a single chromatographic column to accomplish the separation of intact protein molecules by the combination of ion exchange chromatography and hydrophobic interaction chromatography is firstly presented. By selecting twice a suitable stationary phase, mobile phase, buffer exchange condition, and sample injection, some proteins usually required to separate with two-dimensional chromatography can now be accomplished only using the single column in one hour. In addition, the separated proteins can maintain their original three-or four-dimensional molecular structure. It would be expected that this method can also provide a new thought for sample pre-frac-tionation in proteomic investigation, especially, for the limitation of sample source.
