Heparin-Sepharose Affinity Chromatography

This chapter describes the importance of heparin-Sepharose affinity chromatography and promotes further studies on the use of heparin-Sepharose in analytical and preparative enzymology. In modern enzymology affinity chromatography has become the method of choice for the purification of macromolecules. This method exploits the unique specificity found in biological systems for the purification of enzymes, coenzymes, enzyme inhibitors, hormone receptors, lectins, nucleic acids, and antibodies. Affinity chromatography on heparin-Sepharose has been used to fractionate human lipoproteins, and this method provides an effective means of separating low-density lipoproteins and high-density lipoproteins. The use of heparin as an all-purpose ligand for affinity chromatography has been an important development in analytical and preparative techniques used for the separation and isolation of various proteins and enzymes. In the future, heparin-Sepharose chromatography should be highly exploited for the isolation and characterization of proteins and enzymes and for the exploration of the complex interactions between heparin and proteins.