Prediction of the Reverse Micellar Extraction of Papain Using Dissipative Particle Dynamics Simulation

Reverse micellar extraction is a promising technology for large-scale protein purification, but its molecular interaction mechanisms have not been thoroughly characterized. In this study, a dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) molecular simulation method was employed to study the interactions among the surfactant, organic phase, water, and proteins on the mesoscopic scale. This study simulated the self-assembly process of the reverse micelle extraction of papain. The results showed that the papain could be extracted by a CTAB/isooctane/n-hexanol system, which was validated by extraction experiments. The optimized extraction recovery was 76.9 %. This study elucidates the molecular process of the reverse micellar extraction of proteins and provides a method to predict its efficacy.