Aqueous two-phase system (ATPS): an overview and advances in its applications

• Published in: Biological procedures online Vol. 18; no. 1; p. 18
• Main Authors: Iqbal, Mujahid, Tao, Yanfei, Xie, Shuyu, Zhu, Yufei, Chen, Dongmei, Wang, Xu, Huang, Lingli, Peng, Dapeng, Sattar, Adeel, Shabbir, Muhammad Abu Bakr, Hussain, Hafiz Iftikhar, Ahmed, Saeed, Yuan, Zonghui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 28.10.2016; BioMed Central
• Subjects: Analysis; Distillation, Fractional; Fractionation; Purification; Review; Sewage; Veterinary drug residues; Aqueous two-phase system (ATPS); Biomolecule separation; Solvent extraction; Veterinary drug residues
• ISSN: 1480-9222; 1480-9222
• DOI: 10.1186/s12575-016-0048-8

Aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) is a liquid-liquid fractionation technique and has gained an interest because of great potential for the extraction, separation, purification and enrichment of proteins, membranes, viruses, enzymes, nucleic acids and other biomolecules both in industry and academia. Although, the partition behavior involved in the method is complex and difficult to predict. Current research shows that it has also been successfully used in the detection of veterinary drug residues in food, separation of precious metals, sewage treatment and a variety of other purposes. The ATPS is able to give high recovery yield and is easily to scale up. It is also very economic and environment friendly method. The aim of this review is to overview the basics of ATPS, optimization and its applications.