Separation of α-lactalbumin grafted- and non-grafted maghemite core/silica shell nanoparticles by capillary zone electrophoresis

Contributions of Capillary Electrophoresis in Analytical Nanometrology: A Critical View

An overview on the increasing role of capillary electrophoresis in characterization and direct analysis of nanomaterials is herein presented. The niche of electrophoretic approaches in nanometrology is so relevant that nonmetallic, metal, metal oxide nanoparticles, and quantum dots have been analyzed to be targeted via capillary electrophoresis with conventional detection systems or coupling arrangements aimed at increasing selectivity and sensitivity toward either pristine or conjugated nanoparticles. Moreover, parameters altering intrinsic properties of nanoparticles may be optimized to gather the desired results and identify nanomaterials according to their size, shape, or associations with binding agents. The usefulness and quickness of capillary electrophoresis for quantifying or screening ultrasmall-sized particles enables this technique to set an example for analysis of standards or previously synthesized nanostructures in research or routine laboratories. Abundant evidence of the suitability of electrophoretic approaches for characterization and direct determination of nanomaterials in actual samples has been provided in this review, together with a discussion about hyphenation with state-of-the art detectors and comparison between capillary electrophoresis with other separation approaches. This permits scientific community to be optimistic in the short term.

Study of interactions between carboxylated core shell magnetic nanoparticles and polymyxin B by capillary electrophoresis with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

In this work, interactions of carboxylated core shell magnetic nanoparticles with polymyxin B sulfate were studied by connecting capillary electrophoresis with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The interaction was probed by affinity mode of capillary electrophoresis with 25 mM phosphate buffer at physiological pH. ⁵⁴Fe, ⁵⁶Fe, ⁵⁷Fe, ³⁴S, and ¹²C isotopes were used to monitor the migration of an electroosmotic flow marker and the interaction of the nanoparticles with polymyxin B. The analysis of interaction data showed two distinct interaction regions, one with low polymyxin B concentration, the second with high polymyxin B concentration. These regions differed in the strength of the interaction, 1.49 × 10⁷ M^-1 and 1.60 × 10⁴ M^-1, and in the stoichiometry of 0.7 and 3.5, respectively. These differences can be explained by the decrease of electrostatic repulsion between nanoparticles caused by polymyxin B. This is also in agreement with the nanoparticles peak shapes: sharp for low polymyxin B concentrations and broad for high polymyxin B concentrations.

Electrokinetic characterization of superparamagnetic nanoparticle-aptamer conjugates: design of new highly specific probes for miniaturized molecular diagnostics

With the view of designing new nanoparticle (NP)-aptamer conjugates and proving their suitability as biorecognition tools for miniaturized molecular diagnostics, new maghemite-silica core-shell NP-aptamer conjugates were characterized for the first time in terms of grafting rate and colloidal stability under electrophoretic conditions using capillary electrophoresis. After the grafting rate (on the order of six to 50) of the lysozyme-binding aptamer had been estimated, the electrophoretic stability and peak dispersion of the resulting oligonucleotide-NP conjugates were estimated so as to determine the optimal separation conditions in terms of buffer pH, ionic strength and nature, as well as temperature and electric field strength. The effective surface charge density of the NPs was close to zero for pH lower than 5, which led to some aggregation. The NPs were stable in the pH range from 5 to 9, and an increase in electrophoretic mobility was evidenced with increasing pH. Colloidal stability was preserved at physiological pH for both non-grafted NPs and grafted NPs in the 10-100 mM ionic strength range and in the 15-60 °C temperature range. A strong influence of the nature of the buffer counterion on NP electrophoretic mobility and peak dispersion was evidenced, thus indicating some interactions between buffer components and NP-aptamer conjugates. Whereas an electric field effect (50-900 V cm(-1)) on NP electrophoretic mobility was evidenced, probably linked to counterion dissociation, temperature seems to have an appreciable effect on the zeta potential and aptamer configuration as well. This information is crucial for estimating the potentialities of such biorecognition tools in electrophoretic systems.

Microchip integrating magnetic nanoparticles for allergy diagnosis

We report on the development of a simple and easy to use microchip dedicated to allergy diagnosis. This microchip combines both the advantages of homogeneous immunoassays i.e. species diffusion and heterogeneous immunoassays i.e. easy separation and preconcentration steps. In vitro allergy diagnosis is based on specific Immunoglobulin E (IgE) quantitation, in that way we have developed and integrated magnetic core-shell nanoparticles (MCSNPs) as an IgE capture nanoplatform in a microdevice taking benefit from both their magnetic and colloidal properties. Integrating such immunosupport allows to perform the target analyte (IgE) capture in the colloidal phase thus increasing the analyte capture kinetics since both immunological partners are diffusing during the immune reaction. This colloidal approach improves 1000 times the analyte capture kinetics compared to conventional methods. Moreover, based on the MCSNPs' magnetic properties and on the magnetic chamber we have previously developed the MCSNPs and therefore the target can be confined and preconcentrated within the microdevice prior to the detection step. The MCSNPs preconcentration factor achieved was about 35,000 and allows to reach high sensitivity thus avoiding catalytic amplification during the detection step. The developed microchip offers many advantages: the analytical procedure was fully integrated on-chip, analyses were performed in short assay time (20 min), the sample and reagents consumption was reduced to few microlitres (5 μL) while a low limit of detection can be achieved (about 1 ng mL(-1)).