Column Purification 1. Use a pipet to apply the bacterial sonicate (Procedure 11,page 15) to a column of drained and washed Glutathione Sepharose 4B RediPack or Disposable Column (Procedure 8, page 13). – Note: If needed, the sonicate may be clarified by filtrationthrough a 0.45 µm filter before applying it to the column. 2. Remove the end cap and allow the sonicate to flow through the column. – Note: The majority of the eluate can be discarded. However, a sample should be retained for analysis by SDS-PAGE (see Figure 7; see also Figure 8, page 19) or CDNB assay (Procedure 17, page 21) to measure the efficiency of binding to the matrix. 3. Wash the matrix by the addition of 10 bed volumes* of 1X PBS. Allow the column to drain. Repeat twice more for a total of three washes. – Note: Fusion protein bound to the matrix may be eluted directly at this stage using Glutathione Elution Buffer (see “Column Elution”), or the protein may be cleaved on the matrix with PreScission Protease, thrombin or factor Xa to liberate the protein of interest from the GST moiety. [Refer to Procedure 14, PreScission Protease Cleavage (page 17), Procedure 15, Thrombin Cleavage (page 18), or to Procedure 16, Factor Xa Cleavage (page 19). 4. Once the column with bound protein has been washed and drained, replace the bottom cap. 5. Elute the fusion protein by the addition of 1 ml of Glutathione Elution Buffer per ml bed volume. Incubate the column at room temperature (22-25°C) for 10 minutes to elute the fusion protein. 6. Remove the bottom cap and collect the eluate. This contains the fusion protein. 7. Repeat the elution and collection steps twice more. Pool the three eluates. – Note: Following the elution steps, a significant amount of fusion protein may remain bound to the matrix. Volumes and times used for elution may vary among fusion proteins. Additional elutions may be required. Eluates should be monitored for GST fusion protein by SDS-PAGE (see Figure 7, page 16; see also Figure 8,page 19) or by CDNB assay (Procedure 17, page 21).