Stable neutral double hydrophilic block copolymer capillary coating for capillary electrophoretic separations

Double hydrophilic copolymers - synthetic approaches, architectural variety, and current application fields

Solubility and functionality of polymeric materials are essential properties determining their role in any application. In that regard, double hydrophilic copolymers (DHC) are typically constructed from two chemically dissimilar but water-soluble building blocks. During the past decades, these materials have been intensely developed and utilised as, e.g., matrices for the design of multifunctional hybrid materials, in drug carriers and gene delivery, as nanoreactors, or as sensors. This is predominantly due to almost unlimited possibilities to precisely tune DHC composition and topology, their solution behavior, e.g., stimuli-response, and potential interactions with small molecules, ions and (nanoparticle) surfaces. In this contribution we want to highlight that this class of polymers has experienced tremendous progress regarding synthesis, architectural variety, and the possibility to combine response to different stimuli within one material. Especially the implementation of DHCs as versatile building blocks in hybrid materials expanded the range of water-based applications during the last two decades, which now includes also photocatalysis, sensing, and 3D inkjet printing of hydrogels, definitely going beyond already well-established utilisation in biomedicine or as templates.

Ideal-filter capillary electrophoresis: A highly efficient partitioning method for selection of protein binders from oligonucleotide libraries

Selection of affinity ligands for protein targets from oligonucleotide libraries currently involves multiple rounds of alternating steps of partitioning of protein-bound oligonucleotides (binders) from protein-unbound oligonucleotides (nonbinders). We have recently introduced ideal-filter capillary electrophoresis (IFCE) for binder selection in a single step of partitioning. In IFCE, protein-binder complexes and nonbinders move inside the capillary in the opposite directions, and the efficiency of their partitioning reaches 10⁹ , i.e., only one of a billion molecules of nonbinders leaks through IFCE while all binders pass through. The condition of IFCE can be satisfied when the magnitude of the mobility of EOF is smaller than that of the protein-binder complexes and larger than that of nonbinders. The efficiency of partitioning in IFCE is 10 million times higher than those of solid-phase-based methods of partitioning typically used in selection of affinity ligands for protein targets from oligonucleotide libraries. Here, we provide additional details on our justification for IFCE development. We elaborate on electrophoretic aspects of the method and define the theoretical range of EOF mobilities that support IFCE. Based on these theoretical results, we identify an experimental range of background electrolyte's ionic strength that supports IFCE. We also extend our interpretation of the results and discuss in-depth IFCE's prospective in practical applications and fundamental studies.

Preparation of photosensitive diazotized poly (vinyl alcohol-b-styrene) covalent capillary coatings for capillary electrophoresis separation of proteins

In this paper, we have developed a novel method for the preparation of covalently connected capillary coatings in which diazotized poly (vinyl alcohol-b-styrene) (diazo-P(VA-b-St)) was used as a photosensitive coating agent. Firstly, the diazo-P(VA-b-St) coating was self-assembled on the inner surface of the capillary, and then irradiated by ultraviolet (UV) light to convert the ionic bonding into covalent bonding through the unique photochemical reaction of diazo groups. The covalently connected coatings inhibited the protein adsorption on the inner surface of the capillary, as a result, the baseline protein separation of ribonuclease A (RNase A), lysozyme (Lyz) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) were attained by utilizing the capillary electrophoresis (CE). The covalently connected diazo-P(VA-b-St) capillary coatings have greater CE separation performance with magnificent repeatability and enhanced stability, when compared with non-covalently coated or bare capillaries. This strategy to synthesize photosensitive diazo-P(VA-b-St) capillary coatings for their use in capillary electrophoresis separation of proteins is highly environment-friendly as it does not involve the use of extremely noxious and moisture penetrating coatings of silane.

High pH instability of quaternary ammonium surfactant coatings in capillary electrophoresis

The two-tailed cationic surfactant dioctadecyldimethyl ammonium bromide (DODAB) produces semi-permanent coatings that yield strongly reversed electroosmotic flow (EOF), for example -0.31 ± 0.01 cm² kV^-1 s^-1 at pH 3.5. Moreover, these coatings are easy to prepare, regenerable, cost effective, and yield high efficiency (520 000-900 000 plates per m) separations of cationic proteins over many runs under acidic (pH 3.5) conditions. Given the quaternary amine functionality of DODAB, we were surprised to observe that DODAB coatings become unstable at pH > 7. At pH 7.2, the EOF of a DODAB coated capillary drifted from reversed to cathodic over only 5 runs, and protein separations became severely compromised. By pH 12, no EOF reversal was observed. Electrophoretic and mass spectrometric studies demonstrate that the coating decomposition involves a surface conversion of the quaternary amine in DODAB to a variety of products, although the exact mechanism remains elusive. Regardless, the results herein demonstrate that semi-permanent coatings based on cationic two-tailed surfactants such as DODAB are limited to separations using acidic buffers.

Recent trends in capillary electrophoresis for complex samples analysis: A review

CE has been a continuously evolving analytical methodology since its first introduction in the 1980s of the last century. The development of new CE separation procedures, the coupling of these systems to more sensitive and versatile detection systems, and the advances in miniaturization technology have allowed the application of CE to the resolution of new and complex analytical problems, overcoming the traditional disadvantages associated with this method. In the present work, different recent trends in CE and their application to the determination of high complexity samples (as biological fluids, individual cells, etc.) will be reviewed: capillary modification by different types of coatings, microfluidic CE, and online microextraction CE. The main advantages and disadvantages of the different proposed approaches will be discussed with examples of most recent applications.

Partial filling affinity capillary electrophoresis including adsorption energy distribution calculations--towards reliable and feasible biomolecular interaction studies

In this work, a method to study and analyze the interaction data in free solution by exploiting partial filling affinity capillary electrophoresis (PF-ACE) followed by adsorption energy distribution calculations (AED) prior model fit to adsorption isotherms will be demonstrated. PF-ACE-AED approach allowed the possibility to distinguish weak and strong interactions of the binding processes between the most common apolipoprotein E protein isoforms (apoE2, apoE3, apoE4) of high density lipoprotein (HDL) and apoE-containing HDL2 with major glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chain of proteoglycans (PGs), chondroitin-6-sulfate (C6S). The AED analysis clearly revealed the heterogeneity of the binding processes. The major difference was that they were heterogeneous with two different adsorption sites for apoE2 and apoE4 isoforms, whereas interestingly for apoE3 and apoE-containing HDL2, the binding was homogeneous (one site) adsorption process. Moreover, our results allowed the evaluation of differences in the binding process strengths giving the following order with C6S: apoE-containing HDL2 > apoE2 > apoE4 > apoE3. In addition, the affinity constant values determined could be compared with those obtained in our previous studies for the interactions between apoE isoforms and another important GAG chain of PGs - dermatan sulfate (DS). The success of the combination of AED calculations prior to non-linear adsorption isotherm model fit with PF-ACE when the concentration range was extended, confirmed the power of the system in the clarification of the heterogeneity of biological processes studied.

Partial-filling affinity capillary electrophoresis and quartz crystal microbalance with adsorption energy distribution calculations in the study of biomolecular interactions with apolipoprotein E as interaction partner

Adsorption energy distribution (AED) calculations were successfully applied to partial-filling affinity capillary electrophoresis (PF-ACE) to facilitate more detailed studies of biomolecular interactions. PF-ACE with AED calculations was employed to study the interactions between two isoforms of apolipoprotein E (apoE) and dermatan sulfate (DS), and a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) was used in combination with AED calculations to examine the interactions of the 15-amino-acid peptide fragment of apoE with DS. The heterogeneity of the interactions was elucidated. Microscale thermophoresis was used to validate the results. The interactions studied are of interest because, in vivo, apolipoprotein E localizes on DS-containing regions in the extracellular matrix of human vascular subendothelium. Two-site binding was demonstrated for the isoform apoE3 and DS, but only one-site binding for apoE2-DS. Comparable affinity constants were obtained for the apoE2-DS, apoE3-D3, and 15-amino-acid peptide of apoE-DS using the three techniques. The results show that combining AED calculations with modern biosensing techniques can open up another dimension in studies on the heterogeneity and affinity constants of biological molecules.