Protein Purification

Protein purification is a sequence of procedure intended to isolate a single kind of protein from a complex mixture. The Protein purification is very important for the characterization of the interaction, structure, and function of the protein of interest. The starting material is commonly a microbial culture or a biological tissue. The several steps in the purification procedure may free the protein from a matrix which confines it, separate the non-protein and protein component of the mixture and finally divide the desired protein from all other proteins.

Separation of one protein from all others is classically the most laborious aspect of protein purification. Separation steps may exploit variations in for instance physico-chemical properties, protein size, binding affinity and biological activity. Purification may be analytical or preparative. Preparative purifications make goal to produce a relatively huge quantity of purified proteins for subsequent use. The techniques used in protein purification can roughly be separated into preparative and analytical techniques. The distinction is not exact, but the deciding factor is the amount of protein which can practically be purified with that technique.