CZE separations of basic proteins at low pH in fused silica capillaries with surfaces modified by silane derivatization and/or adsorption of polar polymers

Mixtures of several basic proteins have been used to test CZE capillaries with surfaces modified by new pretreatment procedures; the performance obtained has been compared with that achieved using capillaries treated by procedures described in the literature. It has been shown that addition of non-ionic polyvinylalcohols (PVA) to CZE buffer solutions deactivates even bare, i.e. untreated, fused silica surfaces and renders them suitable for separations of basic proteins. The performance obtained from such surfaces was comparable with that of capillaries modified by the more elaborate procedures of etching, silanol derivatization, and/or adsorptive coating (again with polymers). A home-made device is described which enables derivatization and coating reactions to be performed on fused silica capillaries under an inert atmosphere, i.e. one free from oxygen and water.     

Internal electrolyte temperatures for polymer and fused-silica capillaries used in capillary electrophoresis

Polymers are important as materials for manufacturing microfluidic devices for electrodriven separations, in which Joule heating is an unavoidable phenomenon. Heating effects were investigated in polymer capillaries using a CE setup. This study is the first step toward the longer-term objective of the study of heating effects occurring in polymeric microfluidic devices. The thermal conductivity of polymers is much smaller than that of fused silica (FS), resulting in less efficient dissipation of heat in polymeric capillaries. This study used conductance measurements as a temperature probe to determine the mean electrolyte temperatures in CE capillaries of different materials. Values for mean electrolyte temperatures in capillaries made of New Generation FluoroPolymer (NGFP), poly-(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA), and poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) capillaries were compared with those obtained for FS capillaries. Extrapolation of plots of conductance versus power per unit length (P/L) to zero power was used to obtain conductance values free of Joule heating effects. The ratio of the measured conductance values at different power levels to the conductance at zero power was used to determine the mean temperature of the electrolyte. For each type of capillary material, it was found that the average increase in the mean temperature of the electrolyte (DeltaT(Mean)) was directly proportional to P/L and inversely proportional to the thermal conductivity (lambda) of the capillary material. At 7.5 W/m, values for DeltaT(Mean) for NGFP, PMMA, and PEEK were determined to be 36.6, 33.8, and 30.7 degrees C, respectively. Under identical conditions, DeltaT(Mean) for FS capillaries was 20.4 degrees C.     

Capillary electrophoresis using diol-bonded fused-silica capillaries

In this paper, 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane was used to produce diol-bonded capillaries at room temperature for capillary electrophoresis (CE). A variety of standard reference compounds and authentic biological samples including ribonucleotides, peptides and proteins were used to test the columns. It was found that greatly suppressed electroosmotic flow was measured over a pH range of 3–10. Lower than 1.6% relative standard deviation (>10 runs) in migration time was observed for the analysis of test proteins. For real samples of ribonucleotides in tumor cell extracts, 1 million theoretical plates and excellent peak shapes were obtained. The high column efficiency and symmetrical peaks allowed the separation of samples with only 0.6% maximum difference in migration times. The diol-bonded fused-silica capillary columns were stable when used in a pH range of 2–8 under typical CE conditions. The column preparation method involved a simple dynamic coating procedure at room temperature, greatly simplifying the more typical static coating methods that require vacuum pumps and ovens.     

Protein separation by capillary gel electrophoresis: A review

Capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE) has been used for protein separation for more than two decades. Due to the technology advancement, current CGE methods are becoming more and more robust and reliable for protein analysis, and some of the methods have been routinely used for the analysis of protein-based pharmaceuticals and quality controls. In light of this progress, we survey 147 papers related to CGE separations of proteins and present an overview of this technology. We first introduce briefly the early development of CGE. We then review the methodology, in which we specifically describe the matrices, coatings, and detection strategies used in CGE. CGE using microfabricated channels and incorporation of CGE with two-dimensional protein separations are also discussed in this section. We finally present a few representative applications of CGE for separating proteins in real-world samples.     

Capillary zone electrophoresis of biological substances with surface-modified fused silica capillaries with switchable electroosmotic flow

A surface modification has been developed which yields fused silica capillaries with switchable electroosmotic flow (anodal/cathodal). The capillary surface is a composite material consisting of unreacted silanol groups, a layer of positively charged quaternary ammonium functions, and a hydrophilic layer of long polyether chains. Because of the presence of positively and negatively charged groups, the net charge of the capillary surface can be varied from positive to negative by changing the pH of the running electrolyte, thus enabling manipulation of the magnitude and direction of the electroosmotic flow. The long polyether chains were effective in shielding biomacromolecules from the charged inner surface of the capillary, thus minimizing electrostatic interaction of the solutes with both unreacted silanols and the quaternary ammonium groups which had been introduced. As a consequence, high separation efficiencies were achieved with proteins, nucleotides, and a series of acidic oligosaccharides.     

Electrophoretic separation and confocal laser-induced fluorescence detection at ultralow concentrations in constricted fused-silica capillaries

Laser-induced fluorescence detection of labeled amino acids in a flowing stream at femtomolar (10(-15)M) concentrations was achieved by using a fused-silica capillary flow-cell comprising a constricted thin-walled detection region with inner diameters (IDs) ranging from 2 to 8 microm. The diameter of the constricted region was made to match a diffraction-limited focus of a uniphase transverse electromagnetic mode (TEM(00)) laser beam. Optimization of capillary dimensions and geometries (i.e., curvature, wall thickness, and outer-inner diameter ratio were performed in order to minimize cylindrical lensing of the focused laser beam. The fluorescence was collected in a confocal optical setup using a 1.3 numerical aperture (NA), 100x oil-immersion objective and a single-photon-counting avalanche diode (SPAD). Under conditions of fluid flow, the constriction in the capillary forces all analytes to traverse across the laser probe volume, resulting in a high sampling efficiency. Fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled glutamate (FITC-Glu) was electrophoretically separated and detected in capillaries having an ID of 2 microm at the constricted region with detection limits of 250 fM (signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) = 3) in the injected solution.     

Capillary isoelectric focusing--reproducibility and protein adsorption

Capillary isoelectric focusing (CIEF) is an important tool for the quality assurance of biotechnologically maintained drugs and for proteome analysis. The critical performance parameters of this technique are the precisions of isoelectric point (pI) values and peak areas. Compared to capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE), where precise results can be obtained (e.g., 0.5% relative standard deviation (RSD) for peak areas, n = 60), only few data are available for CIEF experiments. So far, reproducible data of pI values (RSD = 0.5%) have been acquired, but peak areas show inferior results (about 3-15% RSD). Nonstable capillary coatings and protein adsorption have been discussed as possible reasons. Recent work of Righetti et al. [25, 27] has proven that the use of coated capillaries can reduce the adsorption of proteins by 50% but cannot prevent it. In our CIEF experiments irregular and poorly reproducible peak patterns have been observed. In a long-time experiment of 106 repeated runs, an overall RSD of 10% was obtained for peak areas, RSD of 2% only in series of about 10 consecutive replicates. Especially at higher concentrations the reproducibility deteriorates. This seems to be the result of a self-amplifying process, induced by adsorbed protein molecules, leading to further agglomerations. CZE control experiments in linear polyacrylamide (LPA)-coated capillaries proved a strong pH dependency of these effects within a small range. Compared to bare fused-silica surfaces, adsorption effects are reduced but not inhibited. An enhancement of reproducibility in CIEF experiments can be achieved only by controlling the interactions of proteins and capillary walls.     

Methodological Challenges of Protein Analysis in Blood Serum and Cerebrospinal Fluid by Capillary Electrophoresis

Summary High-performance capillary electrophoresis (HPCE or CE) is an ultrasensitive analytical technique with high resolving power and a wide area of applications including peptide/protein analysis. Its applicability is greatly enhanced by the short separation times, the ease of method development and the minimum sample and organic solvent requirements. Various HPCE modes have been developed for peptide/protein analysis, including capillary zone electrophoresis, micellar elektrokinetic capillary chromatography, capillary isoelectric focusing, isotachophoresis, capillary gel electrophoresis and microemulsion elektrokinetic chromatography. HPCE can easily be applied to quality control of manufacturing processes or to clinical routine for diagnostic purposes due to its potential to provide information on the identity, the purity of the samples and the quantities of the constituents. Furthermore, interactions of a peptide or a protein with other molecules can be studied by HPCE. The separation principles of the various operation modes applied to peptide/protein analysis are presented in this article. Furthermore, in order to exemplify the application of the separation principles in the area of serum protein analysis, which is of importance in clinical practice, the capillary electrophoretic methods developed for analysis of serum and cerebrospinal fluid proteins are also reviewed.Presented at: International Symposium on Separation and Characterization of Natural and Synthetic Macromolecules, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, February 5–7, 2003     

Recent applications of capillary electromigration methods to separation and analysis of proteins

This review article describes the significant recent developments in analysis of proteins by capillary electromigration (CE) methods (zone electrophoresis, isotachophoresis, isoelectric focusing, affinity electrophoresis, electrokinetic chromatography and electrochromatography) during the period 2011–2015. Improvements in sample preparation, preconcentration, suppression of adsorption and control of electroosmotic flow, separations by particular CE methods, and the detection schemes used in the analysis of proteins are discussed. Innovative applications of the above CE methods for quality control of protein biopharmaceuticals, protein determination in complex biomatrices, peptide mapping of proteins, and determination of physicochemical parameters of proteins are presented.     

Utilizing the pH hysteresis effect for versatile and simple electrophoretic analysis of proteins in bare fused-silica capillaries

The analysis of peptides and proteins by CE is often desirable due to low sample consumption and possibilities for nondenaturing yet highly effective separations. However, adsorption to the inner surfaces of fused-silica capillaries often is detrimental to such analyses. This phenomenon is especially pronounced in the analysis of basic proteins and proteins containing exposed positively charged patches. To avoid wall interactions numerous buffer additives and static and dynamic wall coating principles have been devised. We previously showed (J. Chromatogr. A 2004, 1059, 215-222) that CE of the basic protein beta2-glycoprotein was rendered possible by an acidic pretreatment step, and we attributed this observation to the so-called pH hysteresis effect that influences the time for pH equilibration of the capillary wall and thus the effective wall charge and the electroosmotic mobility. We here investigate the effects of different pretreatment techniques on EOF values and on the rate of the deprotonation of silanol groups when performing the electrophoresis at neutral pH. We show the utility of this simple approach for the CE analysis of a number of basic proteins in plain silica capillaries at physiological pH.     

Protein adsorption and transport in polymer-functionalized ion-exchangers

A wide variety of stationary phases is available for use in preparative chromatography of proteins, covering different base matrices, pore structures and modes of chromatography. There has recently been significant growth in the number of such materials in which the base matrix is derivatized to add a covalently attached or grafted polymer layer or, in some cases, a hydrogel that fills the pore space. This review summarizes the main structural and functional features of ion exchangers of this kind, which represent the largest class of such materials. Although the adsorption and transport properties may generally be used operationally and modeled phenomenologically using the same methods as are used for proteins in conventional media, there are noteworthy mechanistic differences in protein behavior in these adsorbents. A fundamental difference in protein retention is that it may be portrayed as partitioning into a three-dimensional polymer phase rather than adsorption at an extended two-dimensional surface, as applies in more conventional media. Beyond this partitioning behavior, however, the polymer-functionalized media often display rapid intraparticle transport that, while qualitatively comparable to that in conventional media, is sufficiently rapid quantitatively under certain conditions that it can lead to clear benefits in key measures of performance such as the dynamic binding capacity. Although possible mechanistic bases for the retention and transport properties are discussed, appreciable areas of uncertainty make detailed mechanistic modeling very challenging, and more detailed experimental characterization is likely to be more productive.     

多肽净电荷数及等电点的计算

多肽净电荷数及等电点的计算许旭（中国药科大学药物分析教研室，南京，２１０００９）罗国安，林炳承（清华大学化学系）（中国科学院大连化学物理研究所）关键词毛细管区带电泳，多肽，净电荷数，等电点考察多肽在毛细管区带电泳（ＣＺＥ）中的迁移时，必须知道其在分析...     

Transient electrophoretic processes in capillaries of non-uniform cross-section

The previous model of electrofocusing in a tapered capillary was extended to cover both focusing and non-focusing modes of capillary electrophoresis. The more general equation derived can be used either for tapered or for funnel-like segments of capillary for which the product of the local cross-section and the length-based separation coordinate is constant. The particular forms of the equation are used to discuss the changes in the vaRiance of a moving Gaussian zone in practically interesting cases of electrophoresis in a capillary of non-uniform cross-section.     

Capillary electrophoresis-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry using uncoated fused-silica capillaries and alkaline buffer solution for the analysis of small carboxylic acids

A simple and cost-effective capillary electrophoresis/mass spectrometric (CE/MS) method for the analysis of small carboxylic acids including succinate, malate, tartarate, maleinate and citrate, is described. All CE/MS experiments were performed with uncoated fused-silica capillaries and with alkaline volatile buffer solution (ammonium formate buffer, pH 10). Since sheath liquids have significant effects on the sensitivity in typical CE/MS applications, the effects of type and flow rate of the sheath liquids on the sensitivity of carboxylic acids were investigated. As the result, the best sensitivity was obtained with the alkaline sheath liquid (5 mM ammonium hydroxide in water/methanol (50/50, v/v) solution) at 6 μl min⁻¹. With the alkaline volatile buffer solution, sufficient electroosmotic flow (EOF) to carry all small carboxylic acids toward the cathode (MS side) was obtained, although all analytes had different electrophoretic mobilities toward the anode (the CE inlet). Taking advantage of the relatively higher EOF velocity, several carboxylic acids could be detected by MS in ESI-negative mode with a short analysis time. The R.S.D. values (n=5) for the migration time and the peak area of the carboxylic acids tested were less than 0.6 and 4.2%, respectively. The method was applied to the CE/MS analysis of carboxylic acids in apple juice to demonstrate the applicability to real samples.     

Protein adsorption onto nanomaterials for the development of biosensors and analytical devices: A review

An important consideration for the development of biosensors is the adsorption of the biorecognition element to the surface of a substrate. As the first step in the immobilization process, adsorption affects most immobilization routes and much attention is given into the research of this process to maximize the overall activity of the biosensor. The use of nanomaterials, specifically nanoparticles and nanostructured films, offers advantageous properties that can be fine-tuned to maximize interactions with specific proteins to maximize activity, minimize structural changes, and enhance the catalytic step. In the biosensor field, protein–nanomaterial interactions are an emerging trend that span across many disciplines. This review addresses recent publications about the proteins most frequently used, their most relevant characteristics, and the conditions required to adsorb them to nanomaterials. When relevant and available, subsequent analytical figures of merits are discussed for selected biosensors. The general trend amongst the research papers allows concluding that the use of nanomaterials has already provided significant improvements in the analytical performance of many biosensors and that this research field will continue to grow.     

Studies on bioconjugation of quantum dots using capillary electrophoresis and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy

In this paper, we systematically investigated the conjugation of quantum dots (QDs) with certain biomolecules using capillary electrophoresis (CE) and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) methods. Commercial QDs and aqueous-synthesized QDs in our lab were used as labeling probes, certain bio-macromolecules, such as proteins, antibodies, and enzymes, were used as mode samples, and 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) and N-hydroxysulfo-succinimide (Sulfo-NHS) were used as linking reagents. We studied the effects of certain factors such as the isoelectric points (pIs) of bio-macromolecules and buffer pH on the bioconjugation of QDs, and found that the pIs of bio-macromolecules played an important role in the conjugation reaction. By the optimization of the buffer pH some proteins with different pIs were efficiently conjugated with QDs using EDC and Sulfo-NHS as linking agents. Furthermore, we on-line investigated the kinetic process of QDs-bioconjugation by FCS and found that the conjugation reaction of QDs with protein was rapid and the reaction process almost completed within 10 min. We also observed that QDs conjugated with proteins were stable for at least 5 days in phosphate buffer. Our work described here will be very helpful for the improvement of the QDs conjugation efficiency in bioapplications.     

The effect of conditioning of fused-silica capillaries on their electrophoretic performance

In CE practice, conditioning of the capillary tube with strong base, acid, or both in sequence, has been recognized as essential to obtain reasonable precision in electroosmotic mobility (EOM), and consequently, in the migration times of analytes. This report focuses on the comparative study of three different approaches for capillary conditioning: etching with HF, etching with NaOH, and leaching with HCl after NaOH treatment. EOM-based measurements, including the hysteresis effect that characterizes the dependence of EOM with pH, were used to evaluate the conditioned silica surface. Additionally, indirect inspection of the conditioned surface was carried out by examining the electrophoretic profile of the cationic probe Ru(bpy)(3) (2+), known to strongly interact with the ionized silica surface while displaying no significant acid-base activity. It was shown that, once conditioned and prior to any CE measurement, extensive rinse of the capillary with the running electrolyte at high flow rate was essential to attain relatively rapid re-equilibration of the tube with the fluid. Insufficient rinse with the running electrolyte would result in negatively biased EOM measurements and significant drift in migration times. It was also established that relatively high flow rates of 1 M NaOH conditioning solution (4-5 column volumes per minute) was required to attain capillaries with reproducible electrophoretic performance within a reasonable conditioning time (typically, 1 h). In addition to relatively more extensive rehydroxylation of the silica surface, evidenced by the highest EOM values obtained, the sequential use of NaOH-etching and HCl-leaching provided better precision than HF-etching or NaOH-etching alone.     

聚合物涂层技术在毛细管电泳分离蛋白质中的应用

影响毛细管电泳分离蛋白质效率和重现性的主要原因是毛细管壁对蛋白质的吸附.本文综述了解决这一问题的途径,包括极端pH值法、添加小分子添加剂、对毛细管内壁改性等方法,重点介绍并比较了用于毛细管内壁改性的两类聚合物涂层-化学键合和物理吸附的涂层.分别讨论了两类涂层在对电渗流的抑制和调节、对蛋白质吸附的阻止等方面的作用效果,并且对同种涂覆机理下不同聚合物的涂覆效果做了相关比较.总体上说,物理吸附的涂层比化学键合的涂层性能优越,因此在毛细管涂覆领域更受欢迎.尽管目前该领域的工作取得了较大进展,但仍未找到一种对所有种类蛋白质的分离都有效的普适性涂层,因此未来的一段时间内分离复杂组分的蛋白质仍面临着挑战.     

Isoelectric focusing sample injection for capillary electrophoresis of proteins

Carrier ampholyte-free isoelectric focusing (IEF) sample injection (concentration) for capillary electrophoresis (CE) is realized in a single capillary. A short section of porous capillary wall was made near the injection end of a capillary by HF etching. In the etching process, an electric voltage was applied across the etching capillary wall and electric current was monitored. When an electric current through the etching capillary was observed, the capillary wall became porous. The etched part was fixed in a vial, where NaOH solution with a certain concentration was added during the sample injection. The whole capillary was filled with pH 3.0 running buffer. The inlet end vial was filled with protein sample dissolved in the running buffer. An electric voltage was applied across the inlet end vial and etched porous wall. A neutralization reaction occurs at the boundary (interface) of the fronts of H+ and OH-. A pH step or sharp pH gradient exists across the boundary. When positive protein ions electromigrate to the boundary from the sample vial, they are isoelectricelly focused at points corresponding to their pH. After a certain period of concentration, a high voltage is applied across the whole capillary and a conventional CE is followed. An over 100-fold concentration factor has been easily obtained for three model proteins (bovine serum albumin, lysozyme, ribonuclease A). Furthermore, the IEF sample concentration and its dynamics have been visually observed with the whole-column imaging technique. Its merits and remaining problem have been discussed, too.     

Coupled fused silica capillaries for rapid capillary zone electrophoresis of proteins

A novel two-dimensional electrophoretic system for the control of electroosmosis in capillary zone electrophoresis has been developed and evaluated for rapid separations of proteins. The system comprises uncoated and polyether-coated fused silica capillaries coupled in series. An equation relating the average electroosmotic flow velocity in the coupled capillaries to the intrinsic electroosmotic velocities of the connected segments and their corresponding lengths has been derived and verified experimentally. This approach has the advantage of enabling the electroosmotic flow to be tuned independently of the applied voltage. As a consequence, rapid protein analysis at relatively low field strength was achieved without sacrificing the high separation efficiencies obtained with surface-modified capillaries.