the particular embodiment of the invention exemplified below employs a particular cohn fraction iv paste as a starting material , but the use of similar plasma fractions is contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention . alternative starting materials include but are not limited to other aat - containing cohn fractions ( see u . s . pat . no . 4 , 697 , 003 ), a precipitate from kistler - nitschmann supernatants a or a + i ( p . kistler , h . s . nitschmann , vox sang ., 7 : 414 - 424 ( 1962 )), and ammonium sulfate precipitates from plasma as described by schultze et al . in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 301 , 842 . the use of protein precipitates derived from cultures of aat - producing recombinant cells or organisms , or precipitates derived from the milk or serum of transgenic mammals , is also contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention . there are many methods known in the art for selectively precipitating proteins from solution , such as by the addition of salts , alcohols , and polyethylene glycol , often in combination with cooling and various ph adjustments . it is anticipated that the present invention will be applicable to most aat - containing protein precipitates containing recoverable aat activity , regardless of how they are initially prepared . the term “ crude aat - containing protein precipitate ” is used herein to refer to any aat - containing protein precipitate prepared by one or more of these known methods , whether from serum , milk , cell culture , or other original source . in a preferred embodiment , described below , the crude aat - containing protein precipitate is suspended in a tris buffer , and treated with dithiothreitol ( dtt , a preferred disulfide - reducing agent ) and fumed silica ( a preferred protein - adsorbing material ) in order to remove contaminating proteins and lipids . where the precipitate is cohn fraction iv , the two major protein contaminants thus removed are albumin and transferrin . dtt and other dithiols , as well as phosphines , are known in the art to reduce intrachain and inter - chain disulfide bonds . cleavage of structurally important disulfide bonds causes partial unfolding and destabilization of those contaminating proteins that have disulfide bonds . aat itself is not destabilized by dtt treatment because it has no intrachain disulfide bonds . fumed silica is known to bind preferentially to hydrophobic proteins . it is theorized that in the method of the invention , the destabilized contaminating proteins bind to a protein - adsorbing material such as fumed silica because the partial unfolding caused by disulfide bond cleavage exposes the proteins &# 39 ; inner core of hydrophobic residues . the scope of the invention is not limited , however , to any particular theory of operation . in a preferred embodiment , described below , the protein - adsorbing material , together with the adsorbed contaminating proteins , lipids , and other insoluble material , is removed from the suspension by filtration so as to obtain a clarified aat - containing protein solution . filtration is preferably carried out with the assistance of a filtering aid such as celite ™ diatomaceous earth , and preferably the suspension is recirculated through the filter until a clarity of & lt ; 10 nephelometer turbidity units ( ntu )/ ml is achieved . the filtrate is further processed by chromatographic techniques to afford highly pure and highly active aat . other methods of separation known in the art , for example centrifugation , could also be employed in place of filtration . the practitioner will select the method appropriate to the scale of operations and the nature of the protein - adsorbing material . after removal of insoluble materials , the aat - containing solution may be further processed by any of the methods known in the art for protein purification , particularly the methods already known to be suitable for purification of aat . in a preferred embodiment described below , the filtrate is first subjected to ion exchange chromatography (“ iec ”) with salt gradient elution . the chromatography column contains an anion exchange resin which consists of a porous resin support matrix to which positively charged groups are covalently attached . these positively charged groups reversibly bind anions , including proteins with anionic groups such as aat . aat , and other proteins which have a net negative charge at the ph of the eluting buffer , bind to the iec column . contaminating proteins having little or no negative charge pass through the anion exchange resin column without binding and exit with the column effluent . those contaminating proteins that do bind to the column are then separated from the aat by gradient elution . the salt concentration is gradually increased as the column is eluted in order to release sequentially the various proteins that are bound to the resin . in a preferred embodiment , described below , the aat - containing eluate from the iec column is subjected to hydrophobic interaction chromatography (“ hic ”). this type of chromatography employs a support matrix to which moieties are covalently attached . in an aqueous environment , these hydrophobic moieties bind reversibly to hydrophobic molecules , such as the contaminating proteins remaining in the iec eluate . aat is relatively non - hydrophobic , therefore the majority of the aat flows through the column during the elution of the column with buffer , while the more hydrophobic contaminating proteins remain bound to the column . the column effluent thus contains the purified aat . in practice , aat has been found to have a slight affinity for certain hic column media , and in such cases further elution with several volumes of wash buffer may be desirable in order to recover substantially all of the aat in the originally - applied sample . after such additional purification steps as are required to reach the desired level of purity and activity , the aat solution is then concentrated and sterilized . in a preferred embodiment , described below , the aat is at a pharmaceutically acceptable level of purity and activity after the hydrophobic interaction chromatography , and no additional steps are necessary . in a preferred embodiment , described below , concentration is accomplished by ultrafiltration followed by dialysis filtration ( diafiltration ). in these techniques , solvent and dissolved salts and small molecules are passed through a filtering membrane , leaving behind a more concentrated protein solution . remaining salts and small molecules in the protein solution are then exchanged with a different buffer by continuous addition of several volumes of the new buffer to the product , while maintaining a constant product volume by continuously passing solution through the same membrane . the aat is then provided with a pharmaceutically acceptable buffer , and lyophilized by methods known in the art , preferably by methods known to be suitable for preparing aat therapeutic formulations . proteins isolated from mammalian sources may contain pathogenic viral contaminants , and it is desirable to reduce or eliminate such contamination in pharmaceutical compositions . methods of viral reduction are known to those of skill in the relevant arts . the methods contemplated to be applicable to the present invention include , but are not limited to , pasteurization , irradiation , solvent / detergent treatment , disinfection , filtration , and treatment with supercritical fluids . solvent / detergent treatment can be carried out , for example , by contacting a protein solution with a polyoxyethylene sorbitan ester and tributyl phosphate ( see u . s . pat . no . 4 , 820 , 805 ; see also wo 95 / 35306 for application of the method to an aat composition .) disinfection of a protein solution can be carried out by exposing the solution to a soluble pathogen inactivating agent , for example as disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 106 , 773 , 6 , 369 , 048 and 6 , 436 , 344 , or by contact with an insoluble pathogen inactivating matrix , for example as disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 096 , 216 and references therein . filtration may be through 15 - 70 nm ultrafilters ( e . g ., vira / gard ™ filters , a / g technology corp . ; planova ™ filters , asahi kasei corp . ; viresolve ™ filters , millipore corp . ; dv and omega ™ filters , pall corp .). irradiation may be with ultraviolet or gamma radiation ; see for example u . s . pat . no . 6 , 187 , 572 and references therein . inactivation of viruses by treatment with supercritical fluids is described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 465 , 168 . pasteurization of a protein solution may be accomplished by heating within the limits dictated by the thermal stability of the protein to be treated . in the case of aat , pasteurization is usually accomplished by heating to about 60 - 70 ° c . in a preferred embodiment , described below , viral reduction of the aat concentrate is carried out by pasteurization and ultrafiltration . stabilizing additives may be added to protect the aat from thermal degradation during the pasteurization step , as disclosed for example in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 876 , 241 . sucrose and potassium acetate are preferably added as stabilizers , and the stabilized aat solution is then pasteurized at about 60 ° c . to reduce viral contamination . the amount of sucrose is preferably at least 40 %, more preferably at least 50 %, and most preferably about 60 % by weight . use of less than 40 % sucrose has been found to result in undesirable levels of aggregation of the aat . the amount of potassium acetate is preferably at least 4 %, more preferably at least 5 %, and most preferably about 6 % by weight . after viral reduction , the aat solution may optionally be diluted and ultrafiltered , then re - concentrated and sterilized , e . g . by filtration . the sterilized aat - containing concentrate may then be lyophilized to form a therapeutic product . a suitable composition for preparing a lyophilized aat powder is shown in table 1 . the final formulation will depend on the viral inactivation step ( s ) selected and the intended mode of administration . depending on whether the aat is to be administered by injection , as an aerosol , or topically , the aat may be stored as a lyophilized powder , a liquid , or a suspension . the composition shown in table 1 is suitable for injection , and may be lyophilized and stored in glass vials for later reconstitution with sterile water . the composition of a suitable dry powder formulation for inhalation is shown in table 2 . such a formulation is suitable for inhalation administration as described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 780 , 014 , either with a metered dose inhaler , or with a pulmonary delivery device such as is disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 138 , 668 . assays for determining the quantity and quality of aat are known in the art and may be employed for evaluating the efficiency of the method . an example of an immunoassay involving a monoclonal antibody specific for aat , used for measuring or detecting aat in biological fluids , is disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 114 , 863 . an example of the use of rate nephelometry is disclosed in l . gaidulis et al ., clin . chem . 29 : 1838 ( 1983 ). aat functional activity may be assayed by measuring its elastase inhibitory capacity using a chromogenic substrate for elastase , as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 697 , 003 . aat may also be assayed by measuring its trypsin inhibitory capacity in a similar manner . in a preferred embodiment , aat is assayed by endpoint nephelometry , as described elsewhere in this specification . the quantity of proteins may be determined by methods known in the art , for example the bradford assay , or by absorbance at 280 nm using as an extinction coefficient σ 1cm , 280nm 1 % = 5 . 3 ( r . panned , d . johnson , and j . travis , biochemistry 13 : 5439 - 5445 ( 1974 )). sds - page with staining and densitometry may be used to assess purity of the sample and detect the presence of contaminating proteins . a reducing agent such as dithiothreitol is preferably used with sds - page to cleave any disulfide - linked polymers , thereby facilitating the comparison of total aat to total non - aat protein . size - exclusion hplc may also be used to assess purity of the sample and detect the presence of both contaminating proteins and aggregate or polymeric forms of aat . analysis of four lots prepared by the method of the invention showed aat protein purity by sds - page ( reduced ) of at least 98 %, an aat monomer content of at least 95 %, and specific activity averaging 1 . 06 mg functional aat / mg protein ( table 3 ). human plasma is cooled to − 2 to 2 ° c . and adjusted to a ph of 6 . 9 to 7 . 5 . cold ethanol is added to a concentration of 6 to 10 %, and the temperature is lowered to − 4 to 0 ° c . the precipitate that forms (“ fraction i ”) is removed by centrifugation or filtration . the filtrate or supernatant from the above procedure is adjusted to ph 6 . 7 to 7 . 1 , and cold ethanol is added to a concentration of 18 to 22 %. the temperature is lowered to − 7 to − 3 ° c ., and the mixture is again subjected to centrifugation or filtration . the precipitate that forms (“ fraction ii + iii ”) is set aside for other purposes . the filtrate or supernatant from the above procedure is adjusted to ph 4 . 9 to 5 . 3 and the ethanol concentration is adjusted to 16 to 20 %. the temperature is adjusted to − 7 to − 3 ° c . after the suspension settles , it is adjusted to ph 5 . 7 to 6 . 1 and the ethanol concentration is adjusted to 40 to 44 %. the precipitate that forms (“ fraction iv 1 0 . 4 ”) is removed by centrifugation or filtration , and stored until needed in the form of a paste . fraction iv 1 - 4 contains aat as well as contaminating proteins and lipids . the fraction iv 1 - 4 paste is suspended in a suspension buffer ( e . g ., 100 mm tris , 20 mm nacl , ph between about 7 . 5 and about 9 . 5 , preferably between about 8 and about 9 ) and stirred for a minimum of one hour at low temperature . the amount of buffer used ranges from 6 to 10 kg of buffer per kg of the plasma - containing fraction . the tris buffer suspension is then treated with dithiothreitol ( dtt ) and fumed silica . dtt is added to the tris buffer suspension at a concentration in the range of about 10 - 50 mm . the solution is stirred for at least 30 minutes , preferably 2 - 4 hours , at low temperature , and preferably at a ph of about 8 - 9 . fumed silica is added at a concentration of approximately 100 - 300 g fumed silica per kg fraction iv precipitate . the suspension is stirred for at least 30 minutes , preferably 1 - 4 hours , at low temperature , at a ph of about 8 - 9 . a filter aid such as celite ™ ( diatomaceous earth ) is added at the rate of five parts filter aid one part silica , by weight , and the mixture is stirred for approximately 15 minutes . the soluble aat product is separated from the precipitated fumed silica and contaminating proteins using a filter press , yielding the aat final filtrate . preferably , the suspension is recirculated through the filter press until the desired level of clarity is obtained . the aat final filtrate is then treated further as follows . the aat final filtrate is applied directly onto a chromatography column containing an anion exchange resin equilibrated with an iec equilibration buffer . contaminants are removed from the column by washing the column with an iec wash buffer , and aat is subsequently eluted using an iec elution buffer . the eluate from the iec column is prepared for hic by adding ammonium sulfate to a final concentration of about 1 m . the solution is then filtered and applied to a hydrophobic interaction chromatography column which is equilibrated in a hic wash buffer . initial elution with a wash buffer provides an aat - containing effluent , and elution with additional wash buffer removes any aat retained on the column . the combined effluent and washes are concentrated by ultrafiltration , and diafiltered into a phosphate buffer . the final aat concentration is preferably no greater than 7 % protein . the aat concentrate is stabilized for pasteurization by the addition of sucrose and potassium acetate , and pasteurized at about 60 ° c . for 10 - 11 hours . the pasteurized solution is held at 2 - 8 ° c . pending further processing . the pasteurized aat solution is diluted with a final formulation buffer . the diluted , pasteurized aat solution is then filtered through two new ym - 100 ( amicon ) spiral - wound ultrafiltration cartridges . this nanofiltration step serves as a second primary viral reduction step . viruses are retained by the membrane , which has a nominal 100 , 000 dalton molecular weight cut - off , while aat , which has an approximate molecular weight of 50 kd , passes through . the aat is collected in the permeate of the second filter and in filter post - washes . the final filtrate is collected in a bulk receiver and held at 2 - 8 ° c . the aat - containing final filtrate is concentrated and diafiltered into final formulation buffer at a temperature of no more than 15 ° c . to form a final bulk solution . this solution is clarified and sterilized by passage through a series of sterile , bacterial - retentive filters . the sterile bulk solution is filled into sterilized glass final containers . the filled containers are freeze - dried and then sealed under vacuum . the product is 296 % pure aat as determined by both sds - page and immunological assays such as elisa or nephelometry , and is 293 % monomer by size exclusion hplc . the recovery based on the functionally active aat content of the cohn fraction iv paste is 70 %. fraction iv 1 - 4 precipitate ( 667 kg ) was isolated via the cohn plasma fractionation process from 9026 liters of human plasma . the material was divided into nine batches of approximately 75 kg each . each batch was suspended in tris buffer , using 6 to 10 parts buffer ( w / w ) relative to the presscake . the suspensions were stirred for at least 15 minutes , the temperature was adjusted to 2 °- 8 ° c ., and the ph of each suspension was adjusted to 8 . 80 - 8 . 95 with 1 n sodium hydroxide or 1 n hydrochloric acid as necessary . the suspensions were stirred for 15 to 105 minutes ( average 45 min ), and monitored for protein ( bradford assay ) and potency . specific activity of each batch ranged from 0 . 027 to 0 . 045 , and averaged 0 . 037 mg functional aat per mg protein . approximately 12 % of the total protein was albumin , and approximately 22 % was transferrin . dithiothreitol ( dtt ) was added to a final concentration of 0 . 01 to 0 . 05 m dtt ( average 0 . 03 m ) based upon the amount of tris buffer in each batch . after a pre - mix period of at least 15 minutes , the temperature was adjusted to 2 °− 8 ° c . and the ph re - adjusted to 8 . 80 - 8 . 95 , and the solutions were stirred for 2 to 8 hours ( average 3 hours ). if necessary , the ph was again adjusted to 8 . 80 - 8 . 95 . aerosil ® 380 ( fumed silica , degussa ag , frankfurt - main ) was added at the rate of 13 . 4 to 18 . 6 g per liter plasma input ( average 16 . 7 g ). the suspensions were stirred for 1 to 4 hours ( average 1 hour ) at 2 - 8 ° c . celite ™ 545 was added to each suspension at the rate of 5 parts celite ™ to 1 part aerosil ®, and the suspensions were stirred at 2 - 8 ° c . each suspension was then recirculated through a plate and frame filter press , holding 25 × 25 inch cuno ™ a2605 — 10cp filter pads ( cellulose pads with inorganic filter aids ; nominal cutoff 1 micron ). when the turbidity was 510 ntu by nephelometry ( minimum of 15 min . ), recirculation was discontinued and the filtrate was collected . the filter press was post - washed with tris extraction buffer at 2 - 8 ° c . the postwashes were combined with the initial filtrate solutions , and total protein in solution was determined by the bradford protein assay . the filtrates were held at 2 - 8 ° c . for no longer than 19 hours . based on aat activity , the filtrates contained a total of 1557 g of att , corresponding to a 59 % yield of the activity present in the original suspension of fraction iv paste , and a purification factor of 1 . 5 . ( in view of the activity present after subsequent processing , these values appear to be low , possibly due to the presence of unidentified factors interfering with the aat assay .) specific activity for each of the nine batches ranged from 0 . 042 to 0 . 064 , and averaged 0 . 056 mg functional aat per mg protein . albumin and transferrin were below detection limits ( total protein contained less than 0 . 5 % albumin and less than 2 . 5 % transferrin .) a 92 - liter , 30 cm high ion exchange chromatography ( iec ) column loaded with tmae fractogel ™ ( synthetic polymeric resin media , em industries , hawthorne , n . y .) was equilibrated with iec equilibration buffer ( 50 mm tris , ph 8 . 3 - 9 . 3 , 20 - 25 ° c .). following equilibration , conductivity of the effluent was verified to be ≦ 1 . 25 ms / cm . each filtrate from the previous step was warmed to 20 - 25 ° c . and filtered through a cuno zeta plus ™ 90sp cartridge ( 45115 - 12 - 90sp , depth filter cartridge , nominal mw cutoff of 0 . 1 micron ) before loading onto the column with control of flow rate (≦ 3 . 0 cm / minute ) and column pressure ≦ 20 psi ). total protein loaded onto the iec column was limited to no more than 70 % of the resin capacity . the column was then washed with five column volumes of iec wash buffer ( 50 mm tris , 25 - 70 mm nacl gradient , ph 7 . 1 - 7 . 7 ) at 20 - 25 ° c ., with control of flow rate (≦ 3 . 0 cm / minute ) and column pressure (≦ 20 psi ). the effluent was monitored by bradford protein determination , assay of aat activity , and uv absorbance at 280 nm . aat was eluted with approximately three column volumes of iec elution buffer ( 50 mm tris , 75 - 120 mm nacl gradient , ph 7 . 1 - 7 . 7 ) at 20 - 25 ° c ., with control of flow rate (≦ 3 . 0 cm / minute ) and column pressure (≦ 20 psi ). the effluent was monitored by bradford protein determination , assay of aat activity , and uv absorbance at 280 nm . the entire peak that eluted after application of the elution buffer was collected for further processing . the above procedure was repeated nine times in order to process all nine batches of filtrate . ammonium sulfate was added to the iec eluates to a final concentration of 0 . 9 to 1 . 1 m . the resulting solutions were either used immediately , or stored at 15 - 25 ° c . for no more than seven days . based on aat activity , the iec eluates contained a total of 2241 g of att , corresponding to an 84 % yield of the activity present in the original suspension of fraction iv paste , and a purification factor of 16 . 2 . specific activity for each of the nine batches ranged from 0 . 416 to 0 . 975 , and averaged 0 . 592 mg functional aat per mg protein . a cuno ™ filter ( zeta plus ™ 90sp cartridge 45115 - 12 - 90sp , nominal mw cutoff of 0 . 1 micron ) was prepared with a hot wfi flush followed by a cold wfi rinse ( wfi = water for injection ). water was gently blown out of the filter with compressed air . three iec eluates , containing ammonium sulfate , were pooled and filtered through the prepared cuno ™ filter and subsequently combined to provide the “ filtered iec solution ”. the filter was post - washed with approximately 20 liters hic wash buffer ( 50 mm tris , 1 m ammonium sulfate , ph 7 . 7 ). the post - wash and the filtrate were combined and weighed . the process was repeated three times to process the nine batches of iec eluate . a hydrophobic interaction column ( hic ) was packed with phenyl sepharose ™ fast flow hs resin ( pharmacia , piscataway , n . j .) to a volume of 49 liters ( 32 cm bed height ), and equilibrated with hic wash buffer ( 50 mm tris , 1 m ammonium sulfate , ph 7 . 1 - 7 . 7 ). this and all column loading and subsequent elutions were carried out with control of flow rate ≦ 4 cm / minute ), column pressure ≦ 20 psi ), and solution temperatures ( 20 - 25 ° c .). each of the three batches of filtered iec solution was loaded onto an hic column . total protein load onto the column was limited to ≦ 39 g protein per liter of resin . optical density ( od 280 ) of the effluent was monitored , and collection was initiated when the od 280 rose 0 . 04 units higher than the baseline value . the column was washed with hic wash buffer to elute additional aat from the column , while non - aat contaminants remained bound to the column . approximately ten column volumes of hic wash buffer was applied to the column , and effluent was collected until the a 280 dropped to & lt ; 0 . 05 units above baseline . the aat effluent and column wash were combined and weighed . samples were taken for bradford protein determination , od protein determination , potency , and lal ( limulus amebocyte lysate ) testing . the hic effluents were held at 15 - 25 ° c . for no more than 72 hours . based on aat activity , the three batches of hic effluent contained a total of 2090 g of att , corresponding to a 79 % yield of the activity present in the original suspension of fraction iv paste , and a purification factor of 25 . 6 . specific activity for each of the three batches ranged from 0 . 908 to 0 . 986 , and averaged 0 . 937 mg functional aat per mg protein . a tangential flow ultrafiltration ( uf ) unit containing a polyether sulfone membrane ( surface area : 50 ft 2 ) with a molecular weight cut off range of 5 , 000 - 30 , 000 was integrity tested to ensure a bubble point of less than 1250 ml / minute . diafiltration buffer ( 40 mm sodium phosphate , ph 7 . 2 - 7 . 6 ; 10 kg minimum ) was recirculated through the unit for a minimum of five minutes . the recirculated buffer solution was sampled to verify proper ph ( 7 . 2 - 7 . 6 ) and lal (& lt ; 0 . 25 eu / ml ). a repeat of the prewash steps was performed if ph and lal requirements were not met . the uf unit was held for no more than 12 hours at 2 - 8 ° c . prior to hic effluent application . the hic effluent from the previous process step was mixed , and the temperature was adjusted to 15 - 25 ° c ., prior to application to the ultrafiltration unit . inlet pressure was maintained at ≦ 40 psi , and outlet pressure and sample weight were monitored during the concentration process . concentration was performed until the weight of the concentrate was approximately 10 kg . following concentration , the hic effluent concentrate was diafiltered , exchanging the tris - buffered ammonium sulfate solution with a sodium phosphate buffer . diafiltration buffer ( 40 mm sodium phosphate , ph 7 . 2 - 7 . 6 ) was applied at a volume ten times the weight of the hic effluent concentrate . inlet pressure was maintained at & lt ; 40 psi , and outlet pressure was monitored . after all of the diafiltration buffer had been added , the sodium concentration of the permeate was determined . diafiltration was considered complete if the sodium concentration of the permeate was within 10 % of that of the diafiltration buffer . additional diafiltration buffer ( 5 × the weight of the concentrate ) was added , and diafiltration extended , if necessary , until the sodium concentration of the permeate was within 10 % of that of the diafiltration buffer . following diafiltration , the ultrafiltration was continued until the concentrate had a mass of approximately 6 kg . product was then gently blown out of the uf system (≦ 25 psi ). the ultrafiltration unit was postwashed twice with 1 . 5 kg diafiltration buffer . the uf postwashes were added to the diafiltered concentrate . the total weight of concentrate was determined and the protein concentration determined ( od at 280 nm ). based on the od protein observed , the aat protein concentration was determined , and adjusted if necessary to the range 2 . 9 - 6 . 8 %. analysis for lal , sds - page , bradford protein , potency , and bioburden were performed . sds - page showed ≧ 98 % aat . based on aat activity , the concentrates contained a total of 2096 g of aat , a 79 % yield of the activity present in the cohn paste suspension , and a purification factor of 26 . 6 . specific activity for each of the three batches ranged from 0 . 886 to 1 . 04 , and averaged 0 . 974 mg functional aat per mg protein . the aat concentrate ( 2 . 9 - 6 . 8 % protein ) was adjusted to 20 - 25 ° c ., and sucrose ( 1 . 75 kg per kg aat concentrate ) and potassium acetate ( 0 . 175 kg per kg aat concentrate ) were added . the final concentration of sucrose was 59 . 8 %± 6 % ( w / w ), and the final concentration of potassium acetate was 5 . 98 %± 0 . 6 % ( w / w ). after mixing , the stabilized concentrate was transferred into one - liter sealed serum bottles . the bottles were stored at 2 - 8 ° c . for no more than 10 weeks ( and at 15 - 25 ° c . for no more than 48 hours ) before being heat - treated ( pasteurized ). pasteurization at 60 ± 1 ° c . was performed for 10 - 11 hours . the pasteurized aat solution was held at 2 - 8 ° c . for no more than 10 weeks , and at 15 - 25 ° c . for no more than 72 hours , prior to further processing . pasteurized aat solution was pooled under hepa - filtered air into two batches , and diluted with diafiltration buffer ( 20 mm sodium phosphate , 45 mm nacl , 3 % mannitol , ph 6 . 6 - 7 . 4 ) at a ratio of 5 : 1 buffer : aat solution ( w / w ). the diluted solutions were sampled for lal , protein , and potency . based on aat activity , the pasteurized and diluted solutions contained a total of 1941 g of aat , a 73 % yield of the activity present in the cohn paste suspension , and a purification factor of 26 . 6 . specific activities for the two pasteurized batches were 0 . 954 and 0 . 993 , an average of 0 . 973 mg functional aat per mg protein . the percent monomer of the aat solutions was measured by size - exclusion hplc before and after pasteurization . the monomer fractions of the aat concentrates ( pre - pasteurization ) were 97 . 1 % to 98 . 5 %, averaging 97 . 7 %. the monomer fractions of the two pasteurized and diluted solutions were 95 . 9 % and 97 . 5 %, an average of 96 . 7 %. only 1 . 0 % of the monomeric form of aat was polymerized or aggregated during the pasteurization step . two ym100 filter cartridges ( millipore , bedford , mass .) were installed in series into a ym100 uf system , with the first cartridge operated in a tangential flow mode and the second cartridge dead - ended . the uf system was recirculated with a minimum of 5 kg diafiltration buffer . following recirculation , the diafiltration buffer was tested to verify ph ( 6 . 8 - 7 . 2 ) and lal (& lt ; 0 . 25 eu / ml ). the diafiltration buffer , and all subsequent processing until lyophilization , was at 2 - 8 ° c . each of the pooled aat solutions was passed through the ym100 cartridges at 2 - 8 ° c . at an inlet pressure of ≦ 45 psi . the load did not exceed 1339 grams protein , and the weight of the ym100 filtrate plus postwashes did not exceed 337 kg . the ym100 filtrates were then ultrafiltered and diafiltered , at an inlet pressure of ≦ 50 psi , against diafiltration buffer ( 1 . 60 - 1 . 90 mg / ml sodium , 10 times the ym100 concentrate weight ), using an ultrafilter containing a 10 , 000 m . w . membrane (≧ 25 ft 2 surface area ) that was dedicated to the post - pasteurization process . the diafiltered solutions were sampled inline and tested for sodium . if the sodium level of the permeate was within ± 10 % of the diafiltration buffer sodium concentration , diafiltration was considered complete . if the sodium level was not within ± 10 % of the diafiltration buffer sodium concentration , diafiltration was repeated with additional diafiltration buffer ( 5 times the ym100 filtrate weight ). a final concentration was performed until approximately 6 kg of solution was obtained . two postwashes were performed using 1 . 5 kg diafiltration buffer each time . postwashes were combined with the concentrate for determination of total volume of diafiltered ym100 filtrate . diafiltered ym100 filtrates were held for no more than 12 days at 2 - 8 ° c . before further processing . based on aat activity , the diafiltrate contained a total of 1960 g of aat , a 74 % yield of the activity present in the cohn paste suspension , with a purification factor of 27 . 5 . specific activities for the two batches were 0 . 984 and 1 . 03 , an average of 1 . 01 mg functional aat per mg protein . after addition of diafiltration buffer to obtain a final formulation target of 50 mg functional aat / ml , the ym100 filtrate solution ph was adjusted as necessary to ph 6 . 8 - 7 . 2 . clarification was carried out with a 0 . 2 micron pall slk - 7002 - nrp filter ( pall corp ., east hills , n . y .). once clarified , the non - sterile bulk aat solutions were combined , weighed and sampled for lal , protein , potency , and bioburden (≦ 100 cfu / ml ). the non - sterile bulk aat was held for no longer than 73 . 5 hours at 2 - 8 ° c . pending sterile filtration . based on aat activity , the non - sterile bulk aat solution contained a total of 1822 g of aat , a 69 % yield of the activity present in the cohn paste suspension , with a purification factor of 26 . 8 . the specific activity was 0 . 981 mg functional aat per mg protein . in preparation for sterile filtration , a sterile bulk assembly consisting of a 60 l bulk receiver , a pall 0 . 2 micron ka1nfp2 sterilizing filter and two ( 2 ) millipore 0 . 2 micron aervent ™ 50 vent filters ( hydrophobic polytetrofluoroethylene filters ) was prepared . the assembly was autoclaved and used within 7 days of autoclaving . the non - sterile bulk solution was sterile - filtered with control of temperature ( 2 - 8 ° c . ), pressure (≦ 20 psi ), filtration time (≦ 120 minutes ), and load including postwash (≦ 0 . 26 kg non - sterile bulk per cm 2 filter area ). the sterile filtrate ultimately obtained from 667 kg of cohn fraction iv paste contained 1 . 78 kg of functional aat , corresponding to an overall yield of 67 % based on the activity of the initial cohn fraction iv 1 - 4 suspension , and a purification factor of 29 . 8 . the specific activity was 1 . 09 mg functional aat per mg protein . the product was & gt ; 99 % aat by sds - page , and & gt ; 95 % monomer by size - exclusion hplc . aat sterile bulk was aseptically filled into 50 ml type i glass vials using a fill volume targeted to achieve approximately 1000 mg functional aat activity per vial ( i . e . 20 . 8 g ± 0 . 2 g solution per vial ), and the vial contents were frozen and lyophilized . † the bradford protein assay was used for these fractions because they are too impure to determine protein concentration by od 280 . the protein standard used in the bradford assay was purified aat , calibrated using an extinction coefficient for aat of 5 . 3 , see r . pannell , d . johnson , and j . travis , biochemistry 13 : 5439 - 5445 ( 1974 ). ‡ protein concentration by od 280 using an extinction coefficient for aat of 5 . 3 . functional aat yields , and characteristics of the aat fractions obtained , at each of the above steps are set out in table 4 . modifications of the above - described modes for carrying out the invention will be obvious to those of skill in the fields of protein purification , analytical chemistry , medicine , and related fields , and such substitutions and modifications are contemplated to be within the scope of the invention . the detailed embodiments described above are provided by way of example only , and are not intended to limit the scope of the following claims .
a streamlined method for purifying alpha - 1 - antitrypsin from an aat - containing protein mixture , such as coh fraction iv precipitate , is provided . in the method of the invention , contaminating proteins are destabilized by cleavage of disulfide bonds with a reducing reagent , such as dithiol , which does not affect aat . the destabilized proteins are then preferentially adsorbed on a solid protein - adsorbing material , without the addition of a salt as a precipitante . spearation of the solid absorbent from the solution leaves a purified aat solution that is directly suitable for chromatographic purification , without the need for extensive desalting as in prior art processes . a process incorporating this method , which provides pharmaceutical grade aat in high yield on a commercial scale , is also described .