Comparison of the performance of anion exchange membrane materials for adenovirus purification using laterally-fed membrane chromatography

Viruses are an emerging class of biotherapeutics used to treat a variety of diseases. Ion-exchange membrane chromatography is commonly used for virus purification, with the Mustang Q (Pall) and Sartobind Q (Sartorius) being two of the most widely used strong anion-exchange membranes. These membranes are made from different materials and have different pore sizes, and while previous studies have attempted to compare their performance in various virus purification applications, those studies have been hindered by the additional fact that these membranes are sold in different module formats. Thus, in order to establish a direct comparison of the capabilities and purification performance of anion exchange membrane materials, we first fabricated equivalent laterally-fed membrane chromatography (LFMC) devices containing either 1 mL of Mustang Q membrane or 1 mL of Sartobind Q membrane and then compared their performance based on residence times, the elution patterns of pre-purified biomolecules, and the recovery and purity of adenovirus from a cell lysate. Under the same linear gradient elution conditions, purified adenovirus eluted approximately one membrane volume earlier for the Sartobind Q membrane; a similar result was obtained during purification of adenovirus from infected suspension 293 cells. While the total recovery of adenovirus was the same for both membranes (similar to 60%), the Sartobind Q membrane provided a much greater removal of DNA impurities in the virus containing elution fractions.