Try stringent purification methods including:
-Increase NaCl concentration to 2 M or greater. This should be tried first because the salt can be easily removed via dialysis.
-Increase the imidazole concentration
-Decrease the pH; for native purification, this can be reduced as long as protein function can be maintained. If not, decreasing pH should be tried anyway under such circumstances because protein can be refolded later if the native purification method does not achieve elution.
If the protein does not elute despite stringent elution procedure, the column must be stripped by one of the following methods:
-DTT: 1 mM or greater should be used.
-EDTA or EGTA: incubation of resin in 10-100 mM should be sufficient.
Note: Proteins should come off as long as they don't precipitate on the column. Stripping the column will cause resin contamination of the protein. Either dialysis or centrifugation can remove the stripped resin. The stripped resin should not be reused again.
Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our
Protein Purification and Isolation Support Center.