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Protein purification product formats 

Protein purification via affinity chromatography is based on the binding affinities between different molecules. During purification, target protein tagged with a short peptide binds to the ligand, which is usually coupled to resin, while unwanted proteins without tag do not bind and can be washed away.

The resin can consist of agarose or magnetic beads. Both come in suspension form. Alternatively, agarose beads can also be prepacked in FPLC, gravity or spin columns. Which format works best for your application depends either on the yield you require or on the initial sample volume.

Choosing the product format based on...

Yield

Sample volume

Choosing protein purification product format based on sample volume

These two schemes should help you decide how to choose the right product format for protein purification among the four most popular formats: columns for FPLC/HPLC devices, gravity flow columns, magnetic beads and spin columns. Please note that the recommendation depends on whether you have the required yield or  sample volume as a starting point.

Product formats in details

FPLC/HPLC columns

Large sample volumes can be purified using columns in automated FPLC/HPLC devices such as Äkta®. FPLC columns come with different resin volumes and can be connected in series to increase the binding capacity. They attach to the device via the standard 10-32 connectors.

  • Broad pH compatibility
  • Excellent pressure stability
  • Outstanding target purity
  • 1 & 5 ml column bed volume available

Product advantages:
  • Quick application of large sample volumes
  • Fully automated protein purification
  • Time saving: No waiting between the purification steps, since the device applies the correct volumes of buffer and sample autonomously.
  • Recording of the complete affinity chromatography protocol, which provides information about the purification quality
  • Reproducible purification results due to the program settings that are set up beforehand and not dependent on the user

Strep-Tactin®XT 4Flow® FPLC column
Content: 1 ml
FPLC column to purify Strep-Tag®II or Twin-Strep-tag® fusion proteins
Strep-Tactin®XT 4Flow® high capacity FPLC column
Content: 1 ml
FPLC column to purify Strep-tag®II or Twin-Strep-tag® fusion proteins
Strep-Tactin® Superflow® high capacity FPLC column
Content: 1 ml
FPLC column to purify Strep-tag®II or Twin-Strep-tag® fusion proteins
affinity chromatography columns for äkta
Thumbnail for connecting fplc column to an akta device video

Gravity flow columns

Gravity flow columns are ideal for protein purifications with a medium yield. The resin suspensions allow you to pack your own columns according to your need, but you can also choose from other formats, like pre-packed columns.

  • Optimized for column affinity chromatography
  • Variety of different product sizes and matrices

Columns for protein purification

Prepacked columns

Content: 5 ml
Strep-Tactin® Superflow® high capacity column
Content: 5 ml
Gravity flow column to purify Strep-tag®II or Twin-Strep-tag® fusion proteins
Strep-Tactin®XT 4Flow® column
Content: 5 x 0.2 ml
Gravity flow column to purify Strep-tag®II or Twin-Strep-tag® fusion proteins
Strep-Tactin®XT 4Flow® high capacity column
Content: 5 x 0.2 ml
Gravity flow column to purify Strep-tag®II or Twin-Strep-tag® fusion proteins

Suspension

Strep-Tactin® MacroPrep® resin
50% suspension to purify Strep-tag®II or Twin-Strep-tag® fusion proteins
Strep-Tactin® Sepharose® resin
Content: 4 ml
50% suspension to purify Strep-tag®II or Twin-Strep-tag® fusion proteins
Strep-Tactin® Superflow® high capacity resin
Content: 4 ml
50% suspension to purify Strep-tag®II or Twin-Strep-tag® fusion proteins
Strep-Tactin® Superflow® resin
50% suspension to purify Strep-tag®II or Twin-Strep-tag® fusion proteins
Strep-Tactin®XT 4Flow® high capacity resin
Content: 4 ml
50% suspension to purify Strep-tag®II or Twin-Strep-tag® fusion proteins
Content: 50 ml
Strep-Tactin®XT 4Flow® resin
Content: 50 ml
50% suspension to purify Strep-tag®II or Twin-Strep-tag® fusion proteins

Magnetic beads

Magnetic beads can be used for batch purifications in tubes or 96-well plates to purify proteins in pull-downs, IPs and Co-IPs. The beads can be easily fixed to the reaction tube with a magnet, so you can skip centrifugation without having to worry about losing your sample during pipetting steps.

  • No centrifugation
  • Separation via magentic separator
  • 2 ml and 10 ml volume available


Pull-down assay magnetic beads
MagStrep® Strep-Tactin®XT beads
Content: 2 ml
Magnetic beads (5% suspension) to purify Strep-tag®II or Twin-Strep-tag® fusion proteins
MagStrep® Strep-Tactin® beads
Content: 2 ml
Magnetic beads (5% suspension) to purify biotinylated proteins

Spin columns

If you need to process multiple small samples in parallel, you can use spin columns with the resin of your choice. They allow you to do a batch purification of a different protein in every tube with a simple setup. 

  • Compatible with conventional 1.5 ml or 2.0 ml reaction tubes
  • Buy a ready-to-use kit or fill empty columns with resin of your choice


Spin columns for protein purification
Strep-Tactin®XT 4Flow® high capacity Spin Column Kit
For rapid purification of Strep-tag®II and Twin-Strep-tag® fusion proteins
Empty Spin Columns
For rapid protein purification with Strep-Tactin®XT 4Flow® high capacity

Resin reuse

Strep-Tactin® and Strep-Tactin®XT resins for protein purification can be regenerated and reused 3 to 5 times without loss in performance. The proper regeneration of the column and resin activation can easily be checked with HABA. The yellow HABA solution turns red (Strep-Tactin®) or orange (Strep-Tactin®XT) upon binding to the engineered biotin binding pockets of Strep-Tactin® and Strep-Tactin®XT clearly indicating that the resin is fully regenerated. Afterwards, HABA can be removed by washing with 1x Buffer W. Once the red color has disappeared the column can be reused. If the biotin binding pocket is blocked or damaged no color shift occurs and the resin cannot be reused.

Thumbnail for Sepharose resin regeneration check video