sigma adds to life sciences' offerings

Meissner Filtration Products Inchas introduced two new productsinto the market.

Firstly, it’s new 25mm syringefilters (see below) are designed forscaleup evaluation of Meissnermembrane filters to capsules,cartridge filters, and UltraCap highcapacity disposable filterassemblies. Manufactured with thesame construction materials, thesyringe filters simplify scale-up toMeissner’s larger capacity filterproducts, while minimising re-validation, says the company.

The filters are offered in sterileand non-sterile versions withabsolute retention ratings of 0.2µm and 0.4 µm. A choice of filtermembranes for evaluationincludes SteriLUX polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) and STyLUXpolyethersulfone (PES).

They are reportedly ideal forproduct development studies,preliminary filterability testing,determination of productcompatibility, and small volumeliquid sterilisation, according toMeissner. All materials are

reportedly biosafe, and incompliance with USP Class VIPlastics biological reactivity tests.The syringe filters are non-cytotoxic and nonpyrogenic.

And Meissner has also released anew EverLUX polyethersulfone(PES) membrane filter (see right).The filter is designed for veryhigh contaminant capacity,extended service life, and highflow rates when filtering a widerange of biological fluids.

According to Meissner, theunique asymmetric structure ofthis membrane extends itscapacity and service life bywithstanding higher particle loadsand protein concentrations. TheEverLUX is offered with absoluteretention ratings of 0.2 µm, 0.4µm, and 0.6 µm. Thepermanently hydrophilic filter isoptimised for sterile filtration,prefiltration, and clarificationapplications, says the company.

And Meissner reports that theEverLUX can be used in a rangeof low to high-contaminantliquids, including – bloodproducts; buffers; complexbiologicals; serum; cell and tissueculture media; processintermediates; supernatants;vaccines; and ophthalmics.

www.meissner.com

New products8Filtration+Separation January/February 2006

Meissner launches newsyringe / PES filters

Sigma adds to Life Sciences’ offeringsParker Hannifin hasdeveloped a particle counterfor the detection ofcontamination in aviationfuels, from the refinery to theuplift of fuel into the aircraft.Designed for use in theaviation refuelling industry,the ACM20 can replacepotentially subjective methodsof fuel monitoring such as‘clear and bright’ and‘Gravimetric Millipore’,Parker says. It involves a two-minute test, with very littlewaste, to check contaminationlevels, trends and integrity ina reliable, reproducible andrepeatable way, and can beused in other applicationssuch as filter performance,pipeline commissioning andextending service intervals ofsupply systems, the companyclaims.

www.parker.com

Sigma, a division of Sigma-Aldrich Corporation haslaunched a new HIS-Select iLAP 5ml Column – a patent-pendingmethod that combines cell lysisand histidine-tagged proteinpurification steps into one step –allowing fast, efficient and non-denaturing protein extractiondirectly from microbial cultures,reports the company.

The HIS-Select iLAP columnconsists of a novel, single-use,disposable column designed for the

one-step purification of histidine-tagged proteins directly from a 5ml bacterial culture. According tothe company, the productmaximises the speed and efficiencyof recombinant protein extractionwhile eliminating sample loss.

The column contains a highly-specific HIS-Select nickel chelatematrix, and highly efficientCelLytic Express, both present in aconvenient tablet format. Thecolumn is designed for the

simultaneous, direct lysis of a 5 mlbacterial culture and affinitycapture of the target histidine-tagged protein without anyadditional manipulation required(such as centrifugation). As theculture is lysed in the column, thetarget protein is captured on thesame highly-selective HIS-SelectAffinity Gel. The relatively highcapacity feature of these columnsenables the capture of at least 1-2mg of histidine-tagged protein percolumn, making them ideal forconfirming expression of a

histidine-tagged target protein –for performing protein; proteininteraction assays; or for rapidlyscreening colonies or multipleconstructs (cultures). The resultingpurified protein is compatible withprotein assays, SDS-PAGE,Western blotting and MALDI.

“The HIS-Select iLAP technologyhas dramatically simplifiedpurification of histidine-taggedrecombinant proteins directly frombacterial cultures,” said MichaelHadjisavas, global strategicmarketing manager, proteomics, atSigma-Aldrich. “This new 5 mlcolumn format allows for the rapidscreening of recombinant clones forprotein expression and subsequentprotein characterisation,” he added.“Since the technology allows forsimultaneous cell lysis and proteinpurification, it will significantlyreduce purification time as well assample handling, minimising thepotential for protein loss ordamage.”www.sigma-aldrich.com.