Enantioseparation in capillary electrophoresis using 2-O-(2-hydroxybutyl)-beta-CD as a chiral selector

The resolving ability of 2-O-(2-hydroxybutyl)-beta-CD (HB-beta-CD) with different degrees of substitution (DS = 2.9 and 4.0) as a chiral selector in CZE is reported in this work. Fourteen chiral drugs belonging to different classes of compounds of pharmaceutical interest such as beta-agonists, antifungal agents, ageneric agents, etc., were resolved. The effects of the DS of HB-beta-CD on separations were also investigated. The chiral resolution (R(s)) was strongly influenced by the concentrations of the CD derivative, the BGE, and the pH of the BGE. Under the conditions of 50 mmol/L Tris-phosphate buffer at pH 2.5 containing 5 mmol/L HB-beta-CD, all 14 analytes were separated. The very low concentration necessary to obtain separation was particularly impressive. The DS had a significant effect on the resolution of the chiral drugs and the ionic strength of the separation media; hence, the use of a well-characterized CD derivative is crucial.     

Characterization of etched electrochemical detection for electrophoresis in micron inner diameter capillaries

An enhanced etched electrochemical (EC) detection technique has been developed for CE in micron inner diameter capillaries. The design improvements allow for better alignment between the capillary bore and the electrode. This new method involves utilizing a carbon fiber microelectrode and etching both the carbon fiber and the detection end of a micrometer-sized inner diameter capillary to limit dead volume and analyte diffusion at the amperometric EC detector. To understand the factors affecting enhanced detector efficiency, a detailed examination of the relationship between detector design and performance has been completed by exploring the effects of varying electrode diameter, tip shape, and size, in addition to the etch length of the capillary outlet. The enhanced detection provides peak efficiencies as high as 75000 theoretical plates and estimated detection limits as low as 40 nM for dopamine. This etched detection method should further facilitate volume-limited sample analysis by CE.     

Using capillary electrophoresis for the determination of organic acids in Port wine

The simultaneous separation and determination of organic acids in several samples of white and red Port wines was performed by capillary zone electrophoresis using indirect UV detection with 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid as a background electrolyte buffer. Operational parameters like migration time, temperature, voltage and capillary length were optimized. Sixteen samples of red wine and four samples of white wine were used to analyze for tartaric, malic, lactic, succinic and acetic acids using glyoxylic acid as the internal standard. The method is rapid, sensitive and quantitative, and time-consuming sample preparation, such as solid-phase extraction or liquid-liquid extraction procedure, is not required.     

Capillary electrophoresis coupled to time of flight-mass spectrometry of therapeutic peptide hormones

We have established a method for separation and characterization of a series of peptide hormones of pharmaceutical interest and wide therapeutical use by capillary electrophoresis-electrospray-mass spectrometry (CE-ES-MS) using a sheath flow interface. Several parameters were systematically investigated, such as concentration of the electrolyte, organic solvent and sheath liquid composition, gas flow rates and capillary position. Moreover, limits of detection, linearity, repeatability and day-to-day reproducibility of the proposed method were studied in order to obtain the main quality parameters.     

Chiral separation of β-amino alcohols by capillary electrophoresis using cyclodextrins as buffer additives. I. Effect of varying operating parameters

Summary Capillary electrophoresis has been used for the chiral analysis of two -amino alcohol pharmaceutical compounds. Capillary zone electrophoresis conditions were used with -cyclodextrin as a chiral mobile phase additive. The effects of variation of -cyclodextrin concentration, temperature, pH, background electrolyte composition and concentration have been investigated. Optimum separations were achieved for clenbuterol using -cyclodextrin at its solubility limit (16mM), the lowest practicable temperature (19°C), pH 4.0 and an electrolyte solution with a high ionic strength prepared from 0.1 M citric acid and 0.3 M Na₂HPO₄. For the development compound picumeterol and its (S)-enationmer, the optimum pH 4.0 buffer was prepared from 0.1 M citric acid and 0.2 M sodium acetate. Baseline separation with resolution greater than 2 was achieved for both compounds.This work was presented in part at the 2nd International Symposium on Chiral Discrimination, Rome, May 27–31, 1991.     

Isotope‐Coded Affinity Tagging Technique Using Avidin Functional Affinity Electrophoresis: An Alternative to an Avidin Affinity Column

Avidin functional affinity electrophoresis (AFAEP) is substituted for an avidin affinity column (AAC) to capture biotinylated peptides in the Isotope‐Coded Affinity Tagging (ICAT) technique which is a valuable tool in quantitative proteomics. In this new technique, the AFAEP‐captured ICAT‐labeled biotinylated peptides are extracted with the biotin tag intact from the polyacrylamide gel piece with aqueous 95% formamide (pH 8.2) at 65 °C for 20 min, and then detected by a matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometer. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and the ¹²C‐ and ¹³C‐ICAT reagents are used to test this AFAEP‐ICAT technique. The results show that both AFAEP and AAC methods provide quantitative information of the relative amounts of ¹²C‐ and ¹³C‐ICAT‐labeled biotinylated tryptic peptides of BSA in a sample. Compared with AAC, the AFAEP is cheaper to perform, more stringent in capturing the biotinylated peptides, and capable of simultaneously processing multiple samples.     

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     

Capillary electrophoresis separation of heterocyclic nitrosoamino acid-conformers at sub-ambient temperatures

The separation of a selected group of naturally occurring, heterocyclic nitrosoamino acids was achieved by capillary zone electrophoresis and the resolution of the syn and anti conformers improved as the temperature was lowered to 5 °C. The double peaks observed for each nitrosoamino acid are probably caused by the slow kinetics of conformational isomerism. The experimental setup consisted of a P/ACE 5510 electrophoresis system, a 57 cm polyacrylamidecoated capillary, and a 10 mM phosphate buffer, pH 7.2, containing 2 mM of 3-(N-N-dimethylmyristylammonio)propanesulfonate (DMMAPS) and 0.1% Tween 20. Our study shows that (a) the lower the temperature, the greater the resolution and the longer the migration times; and (b) different nitrosoamino acid conformers were resolved at different temperatures because of differences in the rate of isomerization. For example, the conformers of N-nitrosothiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid were partially resolved at 30 °C while those of N-nitrosoproline were well resolved at the same temperature.     

Functional characterization of two-dimensional gel-separated proteins using sequential staining

Proteins separated by two-dimensional (2-D) gel electrophoresis can be visualized using various protein staining methods. This is followed by downstream procedures, such as image analysis, gel spot cutting, protein digestion, and mass spectrometry (MS), to characterize protein expression profiles within cells, tissues, organisms, or body fluids. Characterizing specific post-translational modifications on proteins using MS of peptide fragments is difficult and labor-intensive. Recently, specific staining methods have been developed and merged into the 2-D gel platform so that not only general protein patterns but also patterns of phosphorylated and glycosylated proteins can be obtained. We used the new Pro-Q Diamond phosphoprotein dye technology for the fluorescent detection of phosphoproteins directly in 2-D gels of mouse leukocyte proteins, and Pro-Q Emerald 488 glycoprotein dye to detect glycoproteins. These two fluorescent stains are compatible with general protein stains, such as SYPRO Ruby stain. We devised a sequential procedure using Pro-Q Diamond (phosphoprotein), followed by Pro-Q Emerald 488 (glycoprotein), followed by SYPRO Ruby stain (general protein stain), and finally silver stain for total protein profile. This multiple staining of the proteins in a single gel provided parallel determination of protein expression and preliminary characterization of post-translational modifications of proteins in individual spots on 2-D gels. Although this method does not provide the same degree of certainty as traditional MS methods of characterizing post-translational modifications, it is much simpler, faster, and does not require sophisticated equipment and expertise in MS.