Abstract:
A method for recovering hepatitis B surface antigen protein from transformed yeast cells including the steps of (i) obtaining an aqueous homogenate of the yeast cells; (ii) enriching the hepatitis B surface antigen protein in the homogenate with a protein-aggregating reagent to form a precipitate which contains hepatitis B surface antigen protein; (iii) dissolving the precipitate in a buffer to form a suspension; and (iv) post-homogenizing the suspension to obtain a 10% to 50% increase in yield of the hepatitis B surface antigen protein as calculated based on a yield achieved without performing the post-homogenizing step.