Patent ID: 8460885

Claim:
A process for the selective binding of an aggregating abnormal form of a protein in the presence of the non-aggregating normal form of the protein, comprising contacting under selective binding conditions a material containing both said abnormal and normal forms with a binding agent which is a polyionic material having a binding avidity for said aggregating form of said protein as present in the material, and which is a polyanionic polyglycoside, a polyethyleneimine or a polyamine, or a polymer providing a surface having ionic groups covalently bonded within the structure of the polymer or produced by modification of the surface groups of the polymer, wherein said selective binding conditions include: the presence of a competition agent in solution, which competition agent has ionic groups having a lesser binding avidity for the abnormal form of the protein than does the polyionic material; a salt concentration not exceeding 250 mM and a pH of from 5 to 10.