L-Asparaginase Purification

L-asparaginase (L-ASNase) is the gold standard enzyme used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia. This disease primarily affects children; however, treatment increases survival from 20% to 90%. As a bioproduct, it is obtained via a biotechnological process and its purification usually consists of several steps that account for up to 80% of the total production costs. This review discusses available strategies for the purification of L-ASNase and highlights a process with fewer steps, and consequently, lower cost and higher yield. This process emphasizes the possibility of using a novel aqueous two-phase system extraction process to purify L-ASNase.