Applications of nanodiamonds for separation and purification of proteins

Recombinant apoobelin and recombinant luciferase are separated from bacterial cells of Escherichia coli with the use of detonation nanodiamonds. The application of nanodiamonds has a number of points in its favor, namely, (i) simplifies the procedures for purifying the proteins, (ii) decreases the time of their separation to 30-40 min, (iii) eliminates the necessity of using special chromatographic equipment, and (iv) makes it possible to prepare high-purity apoobelin and luciferase materials with protein yields of 35-45 and 45-60%, respectively. The possible mechanisms of interaction of protein molecules and nanodiamond particles are analyzed. (C) 2004 MAIK Nauka / Interperiodica.