Background-free,fast protein staining in sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel using counterion dyes,zincon and ethyl violet

A background-free, fast protein staining method in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis using an acidic dye, zincon (ZC) and a basic dye, ethyl violet (EV) is described. It is based on the counterion dye staining technique that employs two oppositely charged dyes to form an ion-pair complex in staining solution. The selective binding of free dye molecules to proteins in acidic solution produces bluish violet-colored bands. It is a rapid and end-point staining procedure, involving only fixing and staining steps that are completed in 1-1.5 h. The detection limit of this method is 8-15 ng of protein that is comparable to the sensitivity of the colloidal Coomassie Brilliant Blue G (CBBG) stain. Due to its sensitivity and speed, this stain may be more practical than any other dye-based stains for routine laboratory purposes.     

The Studies of Lanthanide Shift Reagents in NMR Spectroscopy

The action of a series of lanthanide chelate complexes LnL₃, where Lu=La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Dy, Ho, Er and Yb; L= dbm (dibenzoylmethanato), dpm (dipivaloylmethanato), and acac acetylactonato), on nmr spectra of 2-butanol has been studied. The origin of shifting abilities and shifting sign of various lanthanide ions are explained by means of Bleaney's theory.     

Modeling of phase equilibrium and vapor adsorption on carbon black based on a combination of a lattice theory and equation of state

A thermodynamic approach is developed in this paper to describe the behavior of a subcritical fluid in the neighborhood of vapor-liquid interface and close to a graphite surface. The fluid is modeled as a system of parallel molecular layers. The Helmholtz free energy of the fluid is expressed as the sum of the intrinsic Helmholtz free energies of separate layers and the potential energy of their mutual interactions calculated by the 10-4 potential. This Helmholtz free energy is described by an equation of state (such as the Bender or Peng-Robinson equation), which allows us a convenient means to obtain the intrinsic Helmholtz free energy of each molecular layer as a function of its two-dimensional density. All molecular layers of the bulk fluid are in mechanical equilibrium corresponding to the minimum of the total potential energy. In the case of adsorption the external potential exerted by the graphite layers is added to the free energy. The state of the interface zone between the liquid and the vapor phases or the state of the adsorbed phase is determined by the minimum of the grand potential. In the case of phase equilibrium the approach leads to the distribution of density and pressure over the transition zone. The interrelation between the collision diameter and the potential well depth was determined by the surface tension. It was shown that the distance between neighboring molecular layers substantially changes in the vapor-liquid transition zone and in the adsorbed phase with loading. The approach is considered in this paper for the case of adsorption of argon and nitrogen on carbon black. In both cases an excellent agreement with the experimental data was achieved without additional assumptions and fitting parameters, except for the fluid-solid potential well depth. The approach has far-reaching consequences and can be readily extended to the model of adsorption in slit pores of carbonaceous materials and to the analysis of multicomponent adsorption systems.     

Field and flow programming in frit-inlet asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation

The separation of wide molecular mass (Mr) ranges of macromolecules using frit inlet asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation (FI-AFlFFF) has been improved by implementing a combination of field and flow programming. In this first implementation, field strength (governed by the cross flow-rate through the membrane-covered accumulation wall) is decreased with time to obtain faster elution and improved detection of the more strongly retained (high Mr) materials. The channel outlet flow-rate is optionally held constant, increased, or decreased with time. With circulation of the flow exiting the accumulation wall to the inlet frit, the dual programming of cross flow and channel outlet flow could be implemented using just two pumps. With this flow configuration, the channel outlet flow-rate is always equal to the channel inlet flow-rate, and these may be programmed independently of the cross flow-rate through the membrane. FI-AFlFFF retains its operational advantage over conventional asymmetrical flow FFF (AFlFFF). Unlike conventional AFlFFF, FI-AFlFFF does not require time consuming, and experimentally inconvenient, sample focusing and relaxation steps involving valve switching and interruption of sample migration. The advantages of employing dual programming with FI-AFlFFF are demonstrated for sets of polystyrene sulfonate standards in the molecular mass range of 4 to 1000 kDa. It is shown that programmed FI-AFlFFF successfully expands the dynamic separation range of molecular mass.     

Speciation of arsenic and selenium compounds by ion-pair reversed-phase chromatography with electrothermic atomic absorption spectrometry. Application of experimental design for chromatographic optimisation

An off-line system is proposed consisting of ion-pair reversed-phase liquid chromatography, collections of fractions at the outflow of the column and furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The so-called system allowed determination of both arsenic and selenium species mainly found in the environment and in mammals (arsenite, arsenate, monomethylarsonate, dimethylarsinate, selenite, selenate, selenocystamine, selenocystine, selenomethionine and selenoethionine). In order to study the retention behaviour of these compounds and to estimate the optimal conditions for the chromatographic separation, central composite designs were used to evaluate the influence of the eluent parameters such as pH, tetrabutylammonium phosphate (TBA) concentration and sodium hydrogenphosphate amounts. The retention factors of each species and the selectivity were established as response criteria. Response surfaces and isoresponse curves were drawn from the mathematical models and enabled one to determine the optimal conditions and to visualise the method robustness. The predicted optimal zone was situated at pH 5.5-6.5, 4.0 mM Na2HPO4 and 3.0-4.0 mM TBA. Regression models suggested linearity for the studied compounds in the range 25-200 microg selenium and arsenic per litre investigated.     

Determination of primary amines by means of fluorescent schiff base derivatives

The formation of Schiff bases from the reaction of primary amines and several aromatic aldehydes has been studied. In many cases the Schiff bases were too unstable or feebly-fluorescent to be of analytical value. 1-Pyrenealdehyde and 2-fluorenealdehyde, however, were found to be suitable fluorigenic reagents for primary aliphatic amines, forming Schiff bases that were very stable and intensely fluorescent in acidic ethanol. The derivatives of 1-pyrenealdehyde could be detected at concentrations less than 1 ng ml^-1 in pure solution. Derivatives of 1-pyrenealdehyde could be readily produced by reactions at the surface of a t.l.c. plate. Combination of this approach with a simple deproteinizing procedure permitted analysis for nanograna quantities of primary amines in blood serum.     

Effect of particle size in preparative reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography on the isolation of epigallocatechin gallate from Korean green tea

To isolate epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) of catechin compounds from Korean green tea (Bosung, Chonnam), a C18 reversed-phase preparative column (250x22 mm) packed with packings of three different sizes (15, 40-63, and 150 microm) was used. The sample extracted with water was partitioned with chloroform and ethyl acetate to remove the impurities including caffeine. The mobile phases in this experiment were composed of 0.1% acetic acid in water, acetonitrile, methanol and ethyl acetate. The injection volume was fixed at 400 microl and the flow rate was increased as the particle size becomes larger. The isolation of EGCG with particle size was compared at a preparative scale and the feasibility of separation of EGCG at larger particle sizes was confirmed. The optimum mobile phase composition for separating EGCG was experimentally obtained at the particle sizes of 15 and 40-63 microm in the isocratic mode, but EGCG was not purely separated at the particle size of 150 microm.     

Tuning chirality of single-wall carbon nanotubes by selective etching with carbon dioxide

CO2 molecule chemisorbs selectively on the zigzag tube edge without an activation barrier, whereas it physisorbs on the armchair edge of nanotubes. In addition, carbon nanotubes can be etched by an adsorbed oxygen atom of CO2 molecule. From our results, we suggest a selective etching mechanism for tuning the chirality of the mass-produced carbon nanotubes.