ISRN Chromatography
Volume 2012 (2012), Article ID 649746, 9 pages
doi:10.5402/2012/649746
Chromatographic Removal of Endotoxins: A Bioprocess Engineer's Perspective
1Bio Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
2Biotechnology Research Institute, University Malaysia Sabah, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Received 26 March 2012; Accepted 22 April 2012
Academic Editors: M. P. Marszall, M. A. Pozo-Bayon, and A. Sanches Silva
Copyright © 2012 Clarence M. Ongkudon et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Gram-negative bacteria are widely used for the production of gene-based products such as DNA vaccines and bio-drugs, where endotoxin contamination can occur at any point within the process and its removal is of great concern. In this article, we review the structures of endotoxin and the effects that it causes in vivo. The endotoxin removal strategies are also discussed in the light of the different interaction mechanisms involved between endotoxins and bioproducts particularly plasmid DNA and proteins. For most cases, endotoxin removal is favoured at a highly ionic or acidic condition. Various removal methods particularly chromatography-based techniques are covered in this article according to the relevant applications.