The present invention relates to a method of cleansing protein from multivalent metal ions bound thereto.

Many biologically active proteins have obtained wide use as important drugs. As a result primarily of dif¬ ferent cleaning methods, these proteins are liable to contain relatively large guantities of different me- tals. An investigation into the proportions of metals in various biological products was published in 1986 (6), and it is evident from this investigation that the proportions of metals in, for instance, human serum albumin can reach values which are harmful to patients.

The metals normally derive from the various additives used when wor ing-up and cleansing the proteins. For instance, these processes normally involve the use of filter aids and filters having a relatively high pro¬ portion of filter aids for the purpose of clear-filter¬ ing solutions in various process stages. These filter aids have often been found to contain metals which are able to bind to the protein in ion form. The problems can be overcome by using other filtering methods, using filters based on inert materials. Such filters, how¬ ever, are at present particularly expensive in compari¬ son with the filter materials conventionally used.

In the case of many proteins, multivalent metal ions are bound strongly to the protein, probably due to chelate formation and ion-exchange effects.

Endeavours have also been made to remove the bound metals ions by treatment with various complex formers,

such as EDTA or citrate ions. The metal ions, however, are bound so strongly to the proteins that these en¬ deavours have met with no success.

The contaminating multivalent metal ions in the pro¬ teins may, for instance, consist of one or more of the metals aluminium, chromium, lead, mercury, iron, nick¬ el, copper and magnesium. Of these metal ions, the removal of aluminium, iron and lead is the most impor- tant.

Aluminium, which is the most common metal in the earth's crust has been assumed to constitute an ethio- logical factor in a number of clinical illness condi- tions, such as senile demens of the Alzheimer type (1, 2) and dialysis encephalopath (3, 4, 5), etc. It has been clearly established that aluminium is accumulated in the tissues and has a toxic effect on patients suf¬ fering from kidney function disorders.

The injurous effect of other metals, such as iron, chromium, nickel and lead, is previously known, either due to their normal toxicity, or due to their ability to promote allergies, for instance.

The aforesaid disadvantages are avoided by the present invention, which provides a method of cleansing pro¬ teins of the multivalent metal ions bound thereto, so as to obtain as the end product one or more proteins in which the proportion of strongly bound multivalent metal ions is greatly reduced.

In accordance with the present invention, a protein is cleansed of multivalent metal ions bound thereto by releasing the multivalent metal ions by exchanging said

multivalent ions with monovalent metal ions and remov¬ ing the replaced multivalent metal ions. In accordance with one particular embodiment of the invention, the monovalent metal ions are subseguently also removed.

The monovalent metal ions used to substitute the multi¬ valent metal ions are primarily alkali metal cations, and then particularly sodium or potassium, or ammonium cations.

The accompanying drawing is a flow sheet of a dia- filtration process, which constitutes one embodiment of the invention and which is described in more detail in the following examples.

The multivalent metal ions bound to the protein are exchanged with the monovalent metal ions, by treating a solution of the protein with a solution of a salt of a monovalent metal ion in high concentration. This pro- cess displaces the eguilibrium, so that the multivalent cations are displaced by the monovalent cations. The released multivalent metal cations can then be removed with the aid of one or several known processes. Proces¬ ses found particularly operable in both exchange stages are diafiltration and gel filtration.

In the case of diafiltration, the liguid to be filtered is caused to flow parallel with the surface of the filter and a pressure gradient is applied over the filter. The pore size of the filter is selected in correspondence with the molecular size of the protein to be cleansed, so that the protein molecules are re¬ tained while the metal ions pass through the filter. The size of the pores is normally of the order of nano- meters. A solution of salt of monovalent metal ions in

high concentration is added to the protein solution, before passing the solution over the filter surface. This causes the bound multivalent metal ions to be displaced from the protein and substituted by monova- lent metal ions, and the multivalent metal ions will then pass through the filter as filtrate. A further solution of monovalent metal salt in a guantity cor¬ responding to the withdrawn filtrate is then added to the resultant protein-solution concentrate, and the solution is recycled for further filtration, this pro¬ cess being continued until the content of multivalent metal ions has been reduced to the desired value.

If desired, the diafiltration process can then be con- tinued with the addition of water instead of salt solu¬ tion, the monovalent metal ions being displaced from the protein molecules and removed through the filter.

The same principles can be applied in gel filtration, ss¬

The gel filter material is selected so as to have an appropriate pore size commensurate with the molecular size of the protein to be cleansed. The gel filtration process is carried out with the protein in a buffer solution containing a high proportion of monovalent metal salt, in order to displace the bound multivalent metal ions. The desired cleansing effect can be achie¬ ved, in the majority of cases, by adding a sufficient guantity of monovalent metal salt to the sample to be gel-filtered. When the pore size of the gel-filter material is correctly adapted, the protein will flow through the filter medium while the multivalent metal ions will be delayed, thereby enabling said multivalent metal ions to be isolated from the protein.

The proportion of monovalent metal salt in the solution used to displace the multivalent metal ions from the protein in the diafiltration or gel filtration process can vary within relatively wide limits. The absolute lowest limit of this range is determined by the physio¬ logical salt content, thus 0.9% w/v or 0.15 M. The upper limit is decided, in principle, by the saturation content of the salt concerned in the solution, although other factors may also have significance. For instance, some proteins can be denatured by high salt contents. The person skilled in this art, however, will have no difficulty in finding an operable salt content on the basis of simple experiments.

Particularly different types of proteins can be clean¬ sed by means of the inventive method. The method has been found particularly expedient for cleansing albu¬ min, such as human serum albumin, and gammaglobulin. The invention is not restricted, however, to the clean¬ sing of solely these proteins.

The invention will now be further illustrated with reference to the following examples.

Example 1:

5 1 of a 10-percent solution of human serum albumin (HSA) was diafiltered against 15 1 of a 1M sodium chlo¬ ride solution. Apparatus for carrying out the method are shown schematically in the accompanying drawing.

The apparatus include a water storage tank 1 and a supply tank 2 for 1M sodium chloride solution. The storage tanks are connected to a common conduit 7 which leads to a storage container 8 for albumin solution,

via outlet pipes 3 and 5 and valves 4 and 6 respective¬ ly. The albumin solution is passed from the container 8 through a pipe 9 and into an ultra-filtering device 10, the filter of which has a porosity of 10 000 ("cut off" molecular weight) . A filtrate is removed from the fil¬ ter device 10 through a pipe 11 and a concentrate is recirculated through a pipe 12 to the storage vessel 8. The removed filtrate has a volume of F- , and an egually large volume F_. of water or salt solution is passed to the storage vessel 8, through the pipe 7, so as to-hold the volume constant.

During the filtration process, the valve 4 is closed and the valve 6 open at first, and salt solution is passed from the storage tank 2 to the storage container 8, so as to displace the multivalent metal ions from the protein, these ^' multivalent metal ions then being removed in the filtrate, through the pipe 11. When the filtration process has continued over a length of time such that the proportion of multivalent metal ions in the protein has been reduced to the desired value, the valve 6 is closed and the valve 4 opened, and the fil¬ tration process is continued with the addition of clean water, so as to, in turn, displace the monovalent metal ions from the protein and remove said monovalent ions in the filtrate, through the pipe 11. Filtration with the addition of clean water is then continued until the proportion of monovalent metal ions has decreased to the desired value.

In the illustrated example, 15 1 1M sodium chloride solution is added continuously to the albumin solution during the filtering process, wherewith the proportion of multivalent metal ions in the albumin solution, e.g. aluminium, is reduced to a value beneath 30 μg/1. The

input values of the metal content normally lie within the range of 200 to 1500 μg/1. The reduction of the proportion of undesirable multivalent metal ions in the protein is thus very considerable.

The proportions of Fe, Pb and Cr in the input albumin solution were 3.2, 0.36 and 0.6 mg/1 respectively. Subseguent to treatment, these proportions were found to have reduced to 0.3, 0.08 and 0.02 mg/ l respective- ly.

Example 2;

Crude albumin from ethanol fractionation of plasma (Fr. V) was dissolved to a content of about 10% in distilled water. The solution was filtered and the pH adjusted to 7.0.

Diafiltration was then effected against a sodium chlo¬ ride solution, containing 2 mol/1 NaCl. 135 1 of this solution was used in total. For each 45 liters added, samples were taken for determining the aluminium con¬ tent. Ultrafilters having a "cut off" of 10 000 were used. The results are set forth in the following Table 1:

Table 1

Diafiltration solution added Al-content mg/1

0 0.35 45 0.16

90 0.11

135 0.04

Subseguent to reducing the sodium content, the alumi- nium content was found to be 0.01 mg/1.

Example 3:

Crude albumin according to Example 2 was dissolved in distilled water to a proportion of about 10%. The solu¬ tion was filtered and the pH of the filtrate adjusted to 7.0. The total volume was 3 liters. Solid sodium chloride was added to the solution, to a proportion of 2 mol/1, and the aluminium proportion of the solution was assayed as being 0.86 mg/ml. The solution was then diafiltered against 9 liters of NaCl-solution having a proportion of 2 mol/1. The diafilter used had a "cut off" at molecular weight 10 000. The aluminium propor¬ tions of the albumin solution and the permeate was assayed, after addition of given guantities of NaCl- sσlution. The results are set forth in the following Table 2.

Table 2

Volume diafiltered Albumin solution Permeate solution _f 1 Al-cont. mg/ml Al-cont. mcr/ml

1.5 0.41 0.56

3 0.32 0.31

4.5 0.23 0.24

6 0.16 0.16

9 0.09 0.10

The albumin solution was then diafiltered against 30 liters of distilled water for de-salting purposes, and the aluminium content of the solution was determined during the de-salting process. The results are set forth in the following Table 3:

Table 3: Volume _r 1 Albumin solution Al-cont. mcr/ml

0.02

4 < 0.01

6 < 0.01

8 < 0.01

10 < 0.01

The solution was concentrated to an albumin content of 20%, after the de-salting process, whereafter the alu¬ minium content was measured to 0.02 mg/ml.

Example 4:

41.4 kg of a 10-percent albumin solution was pH-ad- justed to 7.0, and sodium chloride in solid form was added to a content of 2 mol/1. A sample of the solution was analyzed with respect to its contents of Al, Fe, Cr and Mg.

The solution was diafiltered with 125 liters of sodium chloride solution having the content of 2 mol/1. The solution was then de-salted with distilled water until the sodium content was less than 0.7 mg/ml. This level was reached after adding 250 liters of distilled water.

After de-salting the solution, the solution was con¬ centrated to an albumin content of 20% and sterile filtered and introduced into bottles (100 ml) for heat treatment at 60°C for 10 hours. The proportions in which the aforesaid metal were present in the solution were determined prior to the de-salting process and after heat-treating the bottles, the analysis results obtained being set forth in the following Table 4.

Table 4: mg/1

Al Fe Cr Mg

Starting material cal¬ culated to 20% albumin 0.47 4.34 0.08 2.51 Concentrate from dia¬ filtration 0.02 0.7 0.03 0.1 In bottles after heat treatment 0.02 0.3 <0.01 0.1

The present invention thus provides a simple and con¬ venient method of removing undesirable multivalent metal ions bound to a protein. The method can be applied generally for cleansing proteins and is not restricted solely to the examples described in this document. It will also be seen that further variants and modifications bf the invention are possible within the scope of the following claims. For instance, the proteins can be cleansed by ultrafiltration, although this method is not as rational as the described method, since it is then necessary to add further salt solution or water. The inventive principles remain unchanged., however.

Literature references:

1. Crapper D.R, Kishnan S S, Quittat S. Aluminium, neuro-fibrillary degeneration and Alzheimer's disease. Brain 1976, 99, 67-80

2. Crapper D R, Quittat S, Krishnan S S et al.: Intra¬ nuclear aluminium content in Alzheimer's disease, dia¬ lysis encephalo-Acta Neuropath 1980, 50, 19-24

3. Alfrey A C, Le Gendre G R, Kaehny W D: The dialysis encephalopathy syndrome. Possible aluminium

intoxication. N Eng. Med 1976, 294, 184-188.

4. Alfrey A C, Hegg A, Craswell P: Metabolism and toxi¬ city of aluminium in renal failure. Am J Clin Nutr 1980, 33, 1509-1516

5. Per D P, Gajdusek D C, Garruto R M et al.: Intra- neuronal aluminium accumulation in amyothropic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson-dementia of Guam. Science 1982, 217, 1053-1055

6. May J C, Rains T C, Maienthal F J et al. : A survey of the concentrations of eleven metals in vaccins, allergenic extracts, toxoids, blood, blood derivatives, and other biological products. J Biol Stand 1986, 14, 363-375