High throughtput screening of potential displacer molecules

Abstract

An effective technique for the high throughput screening of displacers is described. In this technique, potential displacers are employed to displace a biomolecule (e.g., protein) adsorbed on a chromatographic resin in small-scale batch displacement experiments. The amount of protein displaced from a specific resin by a defined concentration of displacer is determined by monitoring the supermatant for the protein. By evaluating the displaced protein rather than the displacer itself, this technique enables a single detection technique (e.g., absorbance, fluorescence, etc.) to be employed for all batch displacement experiments. By monitoring the amount of protein displaced, the effacy of a large number of potential displacers can be rapidly evaluated. The entire experimental procedure can be carried out rapidly and is thus amenable to high throughput parallel screening of molecules possessing a large range of affinities and physico-chemical properties. The error of the technique is within 5% of protein displaced, thus making it a very reliable technique. The technique can be extended to different stationary phase materials, biomolecules, and modes of interaction.