Reversibly sealed multilayer microfluidic device for integrated cell perfusion and on-line chemical analysis of cultured adipocyte secretions

A three-layer microfluidic device was developed that combined perfusion of cultured cells with on-line chemical analysis for near real-time monitoring of cellular secretions. Two layers were reversibly sealed to form a cell chamber that allowed cells grown on coverslips to be loaded directly into the chip. The outlet of the chamber was in fluidic contact with a third layer that was permanently bonded. Perfusate from the cell chamber flowed into this third layer where a fluorescence enzyme assay for non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) was performed on-line. The device was used to monitor efflux of NEFAs from ∼6,200 cultured adipocytes with 83 s temporal resolution. Perfusion of murine 3T3-L1 cultured adipocytes resulted in an average basal concentration of 24.2 ± 2.4 μM NEFA (SEM, n = 6) detected in the effluent corresponding to 3.31 × 10⁻⁵ nmol cell⁻¹ min⁻¹. Upon pharmacological treatment with a β-adrenergic agonist to stimulate lipolysis, a 6.9 ± 0.7-fold (SEM, n = 6) sustained increase in NEFA secretion was observed. This multilayer device provides a versatile platform that could be adapted for use with other cell types to study corresponding cellular secretions in near real-time.     

Simultaneous Derivatization and Dispersive Liquid–Liquid Microextraction for Fatty Acid GC Determination in Water

Simultaneous derivatization and dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction technique for gas chromatographic determination of fatty acids in water samples is presented. One hundred microlitre of ethanol:pyridine (4:1) were added to 4 mL aqueous sample. Then a solution containing 0.960 mL of acetone (disperser solvent), 10 μL of carbon tetrachloride (extraction solvent) and 30 μL of ethyl chloroformate (derivatization reagent) were rapidly injected into the aqueous sample. After centrifugation, 1 μL sedimented phase with the analytes was analyzed by gas chromatography. The effects of extraction solvent type, derivatization, extraction, and disperser solvents volume, extraction time were investigated. The calibration graphs were linear up to 10 mg L^?1 for azelaic acid (R ² = 0.998) and up to 1 mg L^?1 for palmitic and stearic acids (R ² = 0.997). The detection limits were 14.5, 0.67 and 1.06 μg L^?1 for azelaic, palmitic, and stearic acids, respectively. Repeatabilities of the results were acceptable with relative standard deviations (RSD) up to 13%. A possibility to apply the proposed method for fatty acids determination in tap, lake, sea, and river water was demonstrated.     

Application of ion-selective electrodes in environmental analysis : Determination of Acid and Fluoride concentrations in Rain-water with a Flow-Injection System

A flow-injection method is described for the measurement of acid and fluoride concentrations. The conditions were optimized to ensure small sample and reagent consumption, low detection limit and the highest rate of analysis allowed by the potentiometric sensor. With a microcapillary pH-sensitive glass electrode, 20-μl sample volumes and 1.0–1.5 ml min^?1 carrier flow rates, strong acids were determined at concentrations as low as 10^?5 M (0.2 nmol of acid in 20 μ1). The relative standard deviation was about 1% at 10?4 M strong acid concentration at an injection rate of 500–550 h^?1. With a flow- through fluoride-selective electrode, 250-μl sample volumes and a 1 ml min^?1 carrier flow rates, fluoride concentrations as low as 10^?7 M were measured (ca. 0.5 ng of fluoride in 250 μ1). The injection rate was 40 h^?1 at concentrations below 10^?6 M, but 60 h^?1 above 10^?5 M. The methods were used successfully for determining the acid and fluoride concentrations in rain-waters.     

Simultaneous HPLC Determination of Four Key Metabolites in the Metabolic Pathway for Production of 1,3-Propanediol from Glycerol

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method with refractive-index detection has been developed for simultaneous analysis of glycerol, dihydroxyacetone (DHA), 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde (3-HPA), and 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD), four key substances in the metabolic pathway for production of 1,3-PD from glycerol by microorganism fermentation. The compounds were separated on a 300 mm × 7.8 mm ion-exclusion column with a 65:35 (v/v) mixture of deionized water and acetonitrile, containing 0.0005 M H₂SO₄, as mobile phase. The flow rate was 0.5 mL min^?1. Under these conditions the retention times of 3-HPA, DHA, glycerol, and 1,3-PD were 6.87, 14.63, 16.37, and 18.50 min, respectively. Relative standard deviations and average recoveries were between 0.42 and 0.63% and between 96.7 and 103.1%, respectively; detection limits were between 0.017 and 0.038 g L^?1. The method enabled separation of these compounds.     

Direct electrochemistry and bioelectrocatalysis of a class II non-symbiotic plant haemoglobin immobilised on screen-printed carbon electrodes

In this study, direct electron transfer (ET) has been achieved between an immobilised non-symbiotic plant haemoglobin class II from Beta vulgaris (nsBvHb2) and three different screen-printed carbon electrodes based on graphite (SPCE), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT-SPCE), and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT-SPCE) without the aid of any electron mediator. The nsBvHb2 modified electrodes were studied with cyclic voltammetry (CV) and also when placed in a wall-jet flow through cell for their electrocatalytic properties for reduction of H₂O₂. The immobilised nsBvHb2 displayed a couple of stable and well-defined redox peaks with a formal potential (E°′) of ?33.5 mV (vs. Ag|AgCl|3 M KCl) at pH 7.4. The ET rate constant of nsBvHb2, k _s, was also determined at the surface of the three types of electrodes in phosphate buffer solution pH 7.4, and was found to be 0.50 s^?1 on SPCE, 2.78 s^?1 on MWCNT-SPCE and 4.06 s^?1 on SWCNT-SPCE, respectively. The average surface coverage of electrochemically active nsBvHb2 immobilised on the SPCEs, MWCNT-SPCEs and SWCNT-SPCEs obtained was 2.85?×?10^?10 mol cm^?2, 4.13?×?10^?10 mol cm^?2 and 5.20?×?10^?10 mol cm^?2. During the experiments the immobilised nsBvHb2 was stable and kept its electrochemical and catalytic activities. The nsBvHb2 modified electrodes also displayed an excellent response to the reduction of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) with a linear detection range from 1 μM to 1000 μM on the surface of SPCEs, from 0.5 μM to 1000 μM on MWCNT-SPCEs, and from 0.1 μM to 1000 μM on SWCNT-SPCEs. The lower limit of detection was 0.8 μM, 0.4 μM and 0.1 μM at 3σ at the SPCEs, the MWCNT-SPCEs, and the SWCNT-SPCEs, respectively, and the apparent Michaelis–Menten constant, $ {\hbox{K}}_{\rm{M}}^{\rm{app}} $ , for the H₂O₂ sensors was estimated to be 0.32 mM , 0.29 mM and 0.27 mM, respectively.     

A microfluidic electrochemiluminescent device for detecting cancer biomarker proteins

We describe an electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunoarray incorporated into a prototype microfluidic device for highly sensitive protein detection and apply this system to accurate, sensitive measurements of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in serum. The microfluidic system employed three molded polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) channels on a conductive pyrolytic graphite chip (2.5?×?2.5 cm) inserted into a machined chamber and interfaced with a pump, switching valve, and sample injector. Each of the three PDMS channels encompasses three 3 μL analytical wells. Capture-antibody-decorated single-wall carbon nanotube forests are fabricated in the bottom of the wells. The antigen is captured by these antibodies on the well bottoms. Then, a RuBPY-silica-secondary antibody (Ab₂) label is injected to bind to antigen on the array, followed by injection of sacrificial reductant tripropylamine (TPrA) to produce ECL. For detection, the chip is placed into an open-top ECL measuring cell, and the channels are in contact with electrolyte in the chamber. Potential applied at 0.95 V versus Ag/AgCl oxidizes TPrA to produce ECL by redox cycling the RuBPY species in the particles, and ECL light is measured by a charge-coupled device camera. This approach achieved ultralow detection limits of 100 fg?mL^?1 for PSA (9 zeptomole) and 10 fg?mL^?1 (1 zeptomole) for IL-6 in calf serum, a 10–25-fold improvement of a similar non-microfluidic array. PSA and IL-6 in synthetic cancer patient serum samples were detected in 1.1 h and results correlated well with single-protein enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.     

Stability-Indicating LC Method for the Determination of Lacidipine in Tablets. Application to Degradation Kinetics and Content Uniformity Testing

A simple, stability-indicating, reversed-phase liquid chromatographic method was developed for the determination of lacidipine in the presence of its degradation products. The analysis was carried out using a 150 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 μm particle size Nucleodur MN-C18 column. Mobile phase containing a mixture of acetonitrile and 0.02 M phosphate buffer (70:30) at pH = 5.0 was pumped at a flow rate of 1 mL min^?1 with UV-detection at 254 nm. The method showed good linearity in the range of 0.06–15 μg mL^?1 with a limit of detection (S/N = 3) of 0.016 μg mL^?1 (3.5 × 10^?8 M). The suggested method was successfully applied for the analysis of lacidipine in bulk and in commercial tablets with average recoveries of 100.19 ± 0.81% and 100.05 ± 0.69%, respectively. The results were favorably compared to those obtained by a reference method. The suggested method was utilized to investigate the kinetics of alkaline, acidic, peroxide and photo-induced degradation of the drug. The apparent first-order rate constant, half-life times and activation energies of the degradation process were calculated. The pH profile curve was derived. The proposed method was successfully applied to the content uniformity testing of tablets.     

Determination of 13 Free Fatty Acids in Pheretima Using Ultra-Performance LC-ESI-MS

A simple and rapid ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous determination of thirteen free fatty acids (FFAs) in Pheretima has been developed and validated. Measurements for each FFA were linear over a wide range (0.05–3.95 μg mL^?1) with good correlation coefficients (>0.99). The limit of detection and limit of quantification for all the fatty acids were below 26 and 78 ng mL^?1, respectively. The intra- and inter-assay precision and accuracy for the thirteen FFAs fell well within the predefined limits of acceptability. Satisfactory recoveries were in the range of 96–103%.     

Determination of Organic Acids in Red Wine and Must on Only One RP-LC-Column Directly After Sample Dilution and Filtration

A new method for simultaneous determination of organic acids in red wine and must by liquid chromatography was studied. The determination of organic acids in wines can be achieved in less than 13 min, preceded only by a simple sample dilution and filtration step. With this method, the chromatographic separation of eight organic acids and interfering peaks present in red wine, required only one reversed phase column (Waters Atlantis dC18 column, 4.6 × 150 mm ID, 5 μm). As mobile phase, isocratic acetonitrile–0.01 mol L^?1 KH₂PO₄ at pH 2.7 5:95 (v/v) at a flow rate of 0.8 mL min^?1 was used. Detection wavelength was set at 210 nm except for ascorbic acid which was detected at 243 nm. Application to red wine and must confirmed good repeatability and showed a wide variation range for concentrations of organic acids.     

Mesoporous ZnO-NiO architectures for use in a high-performance nonenzymatic glucose sensor

Mesoporous ZnO-NiO architectures were prepared by thermal annealing of zinc-nickel hydroxycarbonate composites. The resulting architectures are shown to be assembled by many mesoporous nanosheets, and this results in a large surface area and a strong synergy between the ZnO and NiO nanoparticles. The material obtained by annealing at 400 °C was used as an electrode that responds to glucose over a wide concentration range (from 0.5 μM to 6.4 mM), with a detection limit as low as 0.5 μM, fast response time (<3 s), and good sensitivity (120.5 μA?·?mM^?1?·?cm^?2). Figure

The mesoporous ZnO-NiO architecture by annealing at 400 °C was used as an electrode that responds to glucose over a wide concentration range (from 0.5 μM to 6.4 mM), with a detection limit as low as 0.5 μM, fast response time (<3 s), and good sensitivity (120.5 μA?·?mM^?1?·?cm^?2      

Gas Chromatographic Determination of Guanidino Compounds Using Hexafluoroacetylacetone and Ethyl Chloroformate as Derivatizing Reagents

Guanidino compounds guanidine, methylguanidine, guanidinoacetic acid, guanidinobutyric acid, guanidinopropionic acid, and guanidinosuccinic acid after derivatization with hexafluoroacetylacetone and ethyl chloroformate at pH 9 in aqueous phase, eluted, and separated from gas chromatographic column HP-5 (30 m × 0.32 mm id) with film thickness of 0.25 μm at an initial column temperature 90 °C for 2 min, followed by heating rate of 10 °C min^?1 up to 220 °C with nitrogen flow rate of 1 mL min^?1. The detection was by flame ionization detector. The linear calibration ranges of each of guanidino compounds were obtained within 1–10 μg mL^?1, and the limit of detection was within 0.014–0.19 μg mL^?1. The derivatization and gas chromatography elution and separation were repeatable in terms of retention time and peak height/peak area with relative standard deviation (RSD) (n = 4) within 1.7–2.9 % and 1.4–2.8 %, respectively. The method was applied for the determination of guanidino compounds from deproteinized serum of uremic patients and healthy volunteers, and was found in the range below the limit of quantitation (BLOQ) to 1.25 μg mL^?1 with RSD within 1.4–3.6 %, and BLOQ to 0.4 μg mL^?1 with RSD 1.3–3.4 %, respectively. A number of pharmaceutical additives did not effect the determination with RSD within ±3.1 %.     

Simultaneous Determination of Theobromine,Paraxanthine, Theophylline,and Caffeine in Urine by Reversed-Phase High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Diode Array UV Detection

A reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic method was improved for the simultaneous determination of theobromine, paraxanthine, theophylline, and caffeine in urine. The method includes a liquid-liquid extraction at alkaline pH with ethylacetate. The 7-(2,3-dihidroxypropyl) theophylline was used as an internal standard (ISTD). The separation was achieved on a C₁₈ column using 14:86 methanol:buffer (25 mM KH₂PO₄ adjusted to pH 4 with ortho-phosphoric acid) solution as mobile phase under isocratic conditions at a flow rate 1 mL min^?1. An ultraviolet absorption at 274 nm was monitored. In these conditions, the LOD was 0.03 μg mL^?1 for theobromine, 0.02 μg mL^?1 for paraxanthine, 0.04 μg mL^?1 for theophylline, and 0.08 μg mL^?1 for caffeine. The method has been applied to urine samples.     

Lipase Production by Botryosphaeria ribis EC-01 on Soybean and Castorbean Meals: Optimization, Immobilization, and Application for Biodiesel Production

The effects of soybean and castorbean meals were evaluated separately, and in combinations at different ratios, as substrates for lipase production by Botryosphaeria ribis EC-01 in submerged fermentation using only distilled water. The addition of glycerol analytical grade (AG) and glycerol crude (CG) to soybean and castorbean meals separately and in combination, were also examined for lipase production. Glycerol-AG increased enzyme production, whereas glycerol-CG decreased it. A 2⁴ factorial design was developed to determine the best concentrations of soybean meal, castorbean meal, glycerol-AG, and KH₂PO₄ to optimize lipase production by B. ribis EC-01. Soybean meal and glycerol-AG had a significant effect on lipase production, whereas castorbean meal did not. A second treatment (2² factorial design central composite) was developed, and optimal lipase production (4,820 U/g of dry solids content (ds)) was obtained when B. ribis EC-01 was grown on 0.5 % (w/v) soybean meal and 5.2 % (v/v) glycerol in distilled water, which was in agreement with the predicted value (4,892 U/g ds) calculated by the model. The unitary cost of lipase production determined under the optimized conditions developed ranged from US$0.42 to 0.44 based on nutrient costs. The fungal lipase was immobilized onto Celite and showed high thermal stability and was used for transesterification of soybean oil in methanol (1:3) resulting in 36 % of fatty acyl alkyl ester content. The apparent K _m and V _max were determined and were 1.86 mM and 14.29 μmol min^?1 mg^?1, respectively.     

A Validated LC Method for the Quantitation of Cefotaxime in pH-Sensitive Nanoparticles

A sensitive and rapid routine LC method was validated for measuring cefotaxime incorporated in three different pH-sensitive nanoparticles. The drug was chromatographed on a C18 reversed-phase column; the mobile phase used was 0.05 M aqueous ammonium acetate, acetonitrile and tetrahydrofuran (87:11:2, v/v) adjusted to pH 5.5 with acetic acid. The flow rate was 1 mL min^?1 and cefotaxime was quantified at 254 nm, with a sensitivity range of 0.005 AUFS. The validated method was specific, linear (R ² ≥ 0.999), precise and accurate in a concentration range of 0.2–50.0 μg mL^?1. The method was rapid, selective and suitable for evaluation of cefotaxime in pH-sensitive Eudragit nanoparticles.     

Chromatographic separation of thulium from erbium for neutron capture cross section measurements—Part I: Trace scale optimization of ion chromatography method with various complexing agents

The impact of various ion chromatography parameters on the separation of trace amounts of thulium from erbium was examined to address the need for the preparation of a ¹⁷¹Tm target for neutron capture cross section measurements. The following optimal operation parameters for analytical scale separations with cation exchange resin were established based on a modified separation resolution: 0.046 M α-HIB^? as eluent with a flow rate of 1.2 mL min^?1 at 25 °C. Different carboxylic acids with varying pH were also investigated, which reaffirmed the use of α-hydroxyisobutyrate as the most suitable complexant for the separation of these neighboring lanthanides.     

Determination of tetracycline by flow injection with chemiluminescence detection

Tetracycline hydrochloride (4 × 10^?5?1 × 10^?3M) in a 40-μl aqueous sample is determined in a flow system by measurement of the chemiluminescence emitted on reaction with bromine (9.3 × 10^?3 M) at pH 10.4 (carbonate buffer). The limit of detection is 1.6 nmol per 40-μl injection.     

Simultaneous Determination of Acetaminophen, Caffeine, and Chlorphenamine Maleate in Paracetamol and Chlorphenamine Maleate Granules

A simple and rapid HPLC method using phenacetin (PHN) as internal standard has been developed for simultaneous determination of acetaminophen, caffeine, and chlorphenamine maleate in the product compound paracetamol and chlorphenamine maleate granules. Separation and quantitation were achieved on a 250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm particle, C₁₈ column. The mobile phase was methanol 0.05 mol L^?1 aqueous KH₂PO₄ solution, 45:55 (v/v), containing 0.1% triethylamine and adjusted to pH 3.6 by addition of phosphoric acid; the flow rate was 1.0 mL min^?1. Detection of all compounds was by UV absorbance at 260 nm and elution of the analytes was achieved in less than 12 min. The linearity, accuracy, and precision of the method were acceptable to good over the concentration ranges 6.4–153.6 μg mL^?1 for acetaminophen, 5.0–120.0 μg mL^?1 for caffeine, and 9.6–230.4 μg mL^?1 for chlorphenamine maleate.     

Gene Cloning, Expression, and Characterization of a Thermostable Xylanase from Nesterenkonia xinjiangensis CCTCC AA001025

An endo-β-1,4-xylanase-encoding gene, xyn11NX, was cloned from Nesterenkonia xinjiangensis CCTCC AA001025 and expressed in Escherichia coli. The gene encoded a 192-amino acid polypeptide and a putative 50-amino acid signal peptide. The deduced amino acid sequence exhibited a high degree of similarity with the xylanases from Streptomyces thermocyaneoviolaceus (68%) and Thermobifida fusca (66%) belonging to glycoside hydrolase family 11. After purification to homogeneity, the recombinant Xyn11NX exhibited optimal activity at pH 7.0 and 55 °C and remained stable at weakly acidic to alkaline pH (pH 5.0–11.0). The enzyme was thermostable, retaining more than 80% of the initial activity after incubation at 60 °C for 1 h and more than 40% of the activity at 90 °C for 15 min. The K _m and V _max values for oat spelt xylan and birchwood xylan were 16.08 mg ml^?1 and 45.66 μmol min^?1 mg^?1 and 9.22 mg ml^?1 and 16.05 μmol min^?1 mg^?1, respectively. The predominant hydrolysis products were xylobiose and xylotriose when using oat spelt xylan or birchwood xylan as substrate.     

Fatty acid neutral losses observed in tandem mass spectrometry with collision‐induced dissociation allows regiochemical assignment of sulfoquinovosyl‐diacylglycerols

A full characterization of sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerols (SQDGs) in the lipid extract of spinach leaves has been achieved using liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization‐linear quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometry (MS). Low‐energy collision‐induced dissociation tandem MS (MS/MS) of the deprotonated species [M ? H]^? was exploited for a detailed study of sulfolipid fragmentation. Losses of neutral fatty acids from the acyl side chains (i.e. [M ? H ? RCOOH]^?) were found to prevail over ketene losses ([M ? H ? R'CHCO]^?) or carboxylates of long‐chain fatty acids ([RCOO]^?), as expected for gas‐phase acidity of SQDG ions. A new concerted mechanism for RCOOH elimination, based on a charge‐remote fragmentation, is proposed. The preferential loss of a fatty acids molecule from the sn‐1 position (i.e. [M ? H ? R₁COOH]^?) of the glycerol backbone, most likely due to kinetic control of the gas‐phase fragmentation process, was exploited for the regiochemical assignment of the investigated sulfolipids. As a result, 24 SQDGs were detected and identified in the lipid extract of spinach leaves, their number and variety being unprecedented in the field of plant sulfolipids. Moreover, the prevailing presence of a palmitic acyl chain (16:0) on the glycerol sn‐2 position of spinach SQDGs suggests a prokaryotic or chloroplastic path as the main route for their biosynthesis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On-line spectrophotometric determination of scandium after preconcentration on XAD-4 resin impregnated with nalidixic acid

An on-line scandium preconcentration and determination method was developed with spectrophotometer associated with flow injection. Scandium from aqueous sample solution of pH 4.5 was selectively retained in the minicolumn containing XAD-4 resin impregnated with nalidixic acid at a flow rate of 11.8 mL min^?1 as scandium–nalidixic acid complex. The scandium complex was desorbed from the resin by 0.1 mol L^?1 HCl at a flow rate of 3.2 mL min^?1 and mixed with arsenazo-III solution (0.05 % solution in 0.1 mol L^?1 HCl, 3.2 mL min^?1) and taken to the flow through cell of spectrophotometer where its absorbance was measured at 640 nm. The preconcentration factors obtained were 35 and 155; detection limits of 1.4 and 0.32 μg L^?1 and sample throughputs of 40 and 11 were obtained for preconcentration time of 60 and 300 s, respectively. The tolerance limits of many interfering cations like Th(IV), U (VI), rare-earths and anions like tartrate, citrate, oxalate and fluoride were improved. The method was successfully applied to the determination of scandium from mock seawater samples and good recovery was obtained. The method was also validated on certified reference material IAEA-SL-1 (lake sediment) and the result was in good agreement with the reported value.