Acta Veterinaria Hungarica 53 (3), pp. 299–307 (2005) 0236-6290/$ 20.00 © 2005 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest BINDING OF MYCOPLASMAS TO SOLID PHASE ADSORBENTS Susan SZATHMÁRY 1,2 , Nandani RAJAPAKSE 1 , Ibolya SZÉKELY 2 , E. PITLIK 3 , Judit BÍRÓ 2 , Noémi ERDEI 2 and L. STIPKOVITS 2* 1 Clarigen Inc., Carlsbad, CA, USA; 2 Veterinary Medical Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-1581 Budapest, P.O. Box 18, Hungary; 3 Second Department of Internal Medicine, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary (Received November 4, 2004; accepted April 18, 2005) The capture of mycoplasmas (M. hominis, M. buccale, M. fermentans, M. bovis, M. synoviae, M. gallisepticum and M. arthritidis) based on lipid structures and adhesion molecules present in the mycoplasmal membrane was tested using different chromatographic resins (ActiClean Etox, ClarEtox, Heparin-Actigel, Sulfated Hiflow and SulfEtox). All of the resins efficiently reduced mycoplasma concentrations in Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS) and in Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) by 3–8 logs in a few minutes. This technology could be used for removing mycoplasmas from tissue culture components such as serum, and for concentrat- ing mycoplasmas in vaccine production. Key words: Mycoplasma, chromatography resin Infection with pathogenic mycoplasmas can significantly affect livestock production. Mycoplasmas have a pronounced affinity for mucosal tissues and con- sequently show a predilection for the respiratory system, mammary gland, serous membranes and urogenital tract (Frey, 2002). In cattle, the most important disease is pleuropneumonia caused by M. mycoides subsp. mycoides small colony (SC), as well as pneumoarthritis and mastitis caused by M. bovis (Pfützner and Sachse, 1996). In sheep and goat, infectious agalactia caused by M. agalactiae can be found frequently. In swine, M. hyopneumoniae causes pneumonia (Ross, 1990), while in chicken and turkey M. gallisepticum and M. synoviae are responsible for respiratory disease and arthritis (Kleven, 1990). One of the methods to control economic losses associated with mycoplasmal diseases is vaccination (Elfaki et al., 1993; Stipkovits et al., 2004). In order to produce an effective vaccine, the concen- tration of mycoplasma cells in a vaccine dose is important. The concentration of mycoplasmas by filtration is plagued by the problem of ultrafilter fouling, and ul- tracentrifugation is impractical on an industrial scale. Over the past decades, cell culture has become an indispensable tool for modern biomedical research. With the increased use of cell cultures, the impor- * Corresponding author: László Stipkovits; E-mail: stipkovits@vmri.hu; Fax: +36 (1) 467 4083