Amination and subsequent derivatization of epoxy-activated agarose for the preparation of new affinity adsorbents.

We have found a simple procedure to convert epoxy-activated agarose into amino derivatives using ammonia solution. The amino derivatives of agarose were succinylated with succinic anhydride and then activated with N-hydroxysuccinimide according to the method of Cuatrecasas and Parikh. Formula: (See Text). Coupling of the ligand to the activated agarose (shown above) was performed under mild conditions. The adsorbent thus obtained has no charged group in the linkage region between the ligand and agarose, thus reducing the nonspecific adsorption, and the bonds formed (ether and amide bonds) are stable even in an alkaline medium. Lens culinaris hemagglutinin-Sepharose 4B prepared by this method was successfully used for the affinity chromatography of solubilized human red blood cell membrane in detergent solution and was stable when elution was performed with borate buffer, pH 9.8.