Diethylaminoethyl cellulose (DEAE-C) is a positively charged
resin used in
ion-exchange chromatography, a type of
column chromatography, for the separation and purification of proteins and nucleic acids. Gel matrix beads are
derivatized
Derivatization is a technique used in chemistry which converts a chemical compound into a product (the reaction's derivate) of similar chemical structure, called a derivative.
Generally, a specific functional group of the compound participates i ...
with
diethylaminoethanol
Diethylethanolamine (DEAE) is a chemical compound with the molecular formula C6H15NO. It is used as a precursor in the production of a variety of chemical commodities such as the local anesthetic procaine. It can be reacted with 4-aminobenzoic a ...
(DEAE) and lock negatively charged proteins or nucleic acids into the matrix. The proteins are released from the resin by increasing the salt concentration of the solvent or changing the pH of the solution as to change the charge on the protein.
Preparation
DEAE-C is synthesized by an alkali-catalyzed reaction of
cellulose (obtained from
cotton fabric) with 2-chlorotriethylamine, illustrated as following :
Types
Common resins
DEAE-C is commonly commercially available as DE52 and DE53.
These resins are prepared preswollen although cellulose exchangers swell in a strong basic environment to increase access to binding sites.
DE52 has a
pKa
PKA may refer to:
* Professionally known as:
** Pen name
** Stage persona
* p''K''a, the symbol for the acid dissociation constant at logarithmic scale
* Protein kinase A, a class of cAMP-dependent enzymes
* Pi Kappa Alpha, the North-American so ...
of 11.5. The buffering range for
diethanolamine is 8.4-8.8, though the range for DEAE-C varies between manufacturers.
DEAE-D
DEAE-
Dextran (DEAE-D) is a positively charged dextran derivative that can be used for
vaccine production,
gene therapy, protein stabilization,
dyslipidemia prevention,
flocculating agents, and many other applications.
DEAE-D is also used for
transfecting animal cells with foreign DNA. It is added to solution containing DNA meant for transfection. It binds and interacts with negatively charged DNA molecules and via an unknown mechanism brings about the uptake of
nucleic acid
Nucleic acids are biopolymers, macromolecules, essential to all known forms of life. They are composed of nucleotides, which are the monomers made of three components: a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. The two main cl ...
s by the cell. This procedure is highly suited for transient transfection used for various
molecular biology studies.
Other derivatives
DEAE-Sepharose
DEAE-Sepharose is a tradename for the anion-exchange reactive group, diethylaminoethanol (DEAE) covalently linked to Sepharose (a polysaccharide polymer
A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + ''-mer'', "part")
is a substance or material ...
, DEAE-650 and DEAE-
Sephadex are commonly used in chromatography.
Ion-exchange chromatography
DEAE-C is a weak anion exchanger. This exchange is utilized to separate proteins that have faintly differing charges. Like all anion exchangers, the resin carries a positive charge that interacts favorably with negative charges. The positive charge of DEAE cellulose is due to a protonated amine group. To ensure that the resin is protonated and positively charged, the chromatography should be performed at least 2 pH units below the
pKa
PKA may refer to:
* Professionally known as:
** Pen name
** Stage persona
* p''K''a, the symbol for the acid dissociation constant at logarithmic scale
* Protein kinase A, a class of cAMP-dependent enzymes
* Pi Kappa Alpha, the North-American so ...
of the amine group, 10. The strength of the bond between the resin and protein is highly dependent on the
pH range in the column and the
pI of the protein of interest. The resin is a weak exchanger because it is only partially ionized over most pH values, and an efficient separation with DEAE-C
chromatography requires a specific, narrow pH range.
Cellulose, dextran, agarose, and other insoluble complexes are unaffected because they compose inert matrices, hence why they are so often derivatized with strong and weak cation and anion exchangers in chromatography. DEAE-C beads have diethylaminoethyl chains covalently bound to oxygen atoms on the
D-glucose subunits of
cellulose.
See also
*
Size-exclusion chromatography
*
Stationary phase
References
{{reflist
Cellulose
Cellulose ethers