Cell disruption methods

Various enzymes are produced intracellularly. Hence, following cell harvesting, an efficient disruption process to disintegrate the cell to release the intracellular proteins is needed. Some types of cells are broken readily by gentle treatment, while others are very resistant to breakage. A number of cell disruption methods have been developed ... 

Since so many cell disruption methods are available, the experimenter must, by trial and error, find a convenient method that yields the maximum quantity of the protein with minimal damage to the molecules. 

Shin JH, Lee GM, Kim JH (1994) Comparison of cell disruption methods for determining (3-galactosidase activity expressed in animal cells. Biotechnol Tech 8(6) 425 30 SMnmyo A, Davis IK, Nomoto F et al. (1978) Catabolite repression of hydrolases in Aspergillus niger. J Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 5(l) 59-68... 

Cell disruption methods can be roughly divided into two categories mechanical ones, e.g., bead mill, homogenizers, and ultrasound and nonmechanicals like organic solvents, osmotic shock, supersonic fluid feed (SFF) and pulsed electric field (PEF). For extracting microalgal components, several methods were applied (Table 2.6). 

Prabakaran P, Ravindran AD. A comparative study on effective cell disruption methods for lipid extraction from microalgae. Lett Appl Microbiol 2011 53 150. 

A variety of cell disruption methods are available. Physical, chemical, and enzymatic methods have all been used. The proper method should be carefully selected to ensure maximum cell disruption with minimum enzyme damage. This depends on the enzyme source, nature and stability. 

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