LUNA INNOVATIONS INCORPORATED — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: Though vast improvements have been made in various protein expression platforms, limitatio

Description

Though vast improvements have been made in various protein expression platforms, limitations arise in the implementation of current purification methods. Traditional chromatographic methods are time intensive, carry heavy material costs, and are difficult to scale - reducing the benefits achieved in protein expression. Affinity-binding methods are promising for scale-up and swiftness of purification, but the necessary resins can be expensive and difficult to adapt to purify proteins from new expression platforms. To respond to this need, Luna proposes the development of a low-cost affinity matrix with a high surface area to provide substantial binding regions for targeted proteins of interest. This system will allow for the purification of any protein expressed with the cellulose binding module and intein self-cleaving tag, an expression possible with many proteins in a wide variety of host organisms. The implementation of this low-cost affinity matrix and widely applicable purification system will allow for fast, simple, inexpensive purification of any target protein.