Purification

The term copurification—especially in the study of chemistry and biochemistry—refers to the process of physical separation, using either chromatography or one of the many purification techniques. This process involves two or more substances of interest, which will then be separated from other substances that are considered to be contaminants. The substances involved in the process of copurification typically attract each other in order to form a noncovalent complex (for example, a protein complex).

In some cases, however, the fractionating of mixtures—especially when these mixtures have a large number of components (such as in the case of a cell lysate), chances are that some of the components might copurify even though they do not form noncovalent complexes. In the context of these cases, the term copurification can be used to refer to the process in which two biochemical activities or some other properties are isolated together after a purification procedure. But it is important to note that it is not always certain if a specific sample has been purified to homogeneity, which means that it contains only one molecular species or a single molecular complex. These activities or properties are like within the process of copurification, but the process cannot guarantee to reside on the same molecule or even in the same molecular complex.

Copurification procedures, including co-immunoprecipitation, are typically utilized to analyze the various interactions between proteins. Copurification is also used in the mapping of the interactome (the whole set of molecular interactions in cells) of a wide variety of living organisms.

Other purification techniques used in the study of biology and biochemistry include chromatography, which employs adsorption and desorption on a packed bed of a specific solid matter in order to purify various components of one feedstream.

This category contains scientific information on copurification, a specific process of physical separation, using either chromatography or one of the many purification techniques.