Immunoaffinity chromatographic isolation of prostate-specific antigen from seminal plasma for capillary electrophoresis analysis of its isoforms

Advancements in portable instruments based on affinity-capture-migration and affinity-capture-separation for use in clinical testing and life science applications

The shift from testing at centralized diagnostic laboratories to remote locations is being driven by the development of point-of-care (POC) instruments and represents a transformative moment in medicine. POC instruments address the need for rapid results that can inform faster therapeutic decisions and interventions. These instruments are especially valuable in the field, such as in an ambulance, or in remote and rural locations. The development of telehealth, enabled by advancements in digital technologies like smartphones and cloud computing, is also aiding in this evolution, allowing medical professionals to provide care remotely, potentially reducing healthcare costs and improving patient longevity. One notable POC device is the lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA), which played a major role in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic due to its ease of use, rapid analysis time, and low cost. However, LFIA tests exhibit relatively low analytical sensitivity and provide semi-quantitative information, indicating either a positive, negative, or inconclusive result, which can be attributed to its one-dimensional format. Immunoaffinity capillary electrophoresis (IACE), on the other hand, offers a two-dimensional format that includes an affinity-capture step of one or more matrix constituents followed by release and electrophoretic separation. The method provides greater analytical sensitivity, and quantitative information, thereby reducing the rate of false positives, false negatives, and inconclusive results. Combining LFIA and IACE technologies can thus provide an effective and economical solution for screening, confirming results, and monitoring patient progress, representing a key strategy in advancing diagnostics in healthcare.

Immunoaffinity Capillary Electrophoresis in the Era of Proteoforms, Liquid Biopsy and Preventive Medicine: A Potential Impact in the Diagnosis and Monitoring of Disease Progression

Over the years, multiple biomarkers have been used to aid in disease screening, diagnosis, prognosis, and response to therapy. As of late, protein biomarkers are gaining strength in their role for early disease diagnosis and prognosis in part due to the advancements in identification and characterization of a distinct functional pool of proteins known as proteoforms. Proteoforms are defined as all of the different molecular forms of a protein derived from a single gene caused by genetic variations, alternative spliced RNA transcripts and post-translational modifications. Monitoring the structural changes of each proteoform of a particular protein is essential to elucidate the complex molecular mechanisms that guide the course of disease. Clinical proteomics therefore holds the potential to offer further insight into disease pathology, progression, and prevention. Nevertheless, more technologically advanced diagnostic methods are needed to improve the reliability and clinical applicability of proteomics in preventive medicine. In this manuscript, we review the use of immunoaffinity capillary electrophoresis (IACE) as an emerging powerful diagnostic tool to isolate, separate, detect and characterize proteoform biomarkers obtained from liquid biopsy. IACE is an affinity capture-separation technology capable of isolating, concentrating and analyzing a wide range of biomarkers present in biological fluids. Isolation and concentration of target analytes is accomplished through binding to one or more biorecognition affinity ligands immobilized to a solid support, while separation and analysis are achieved by high-resolution capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled to one or more detectors. IACE has the potential to generate rapid results with significant accuracy, leading to reliability and reproducibility in diagnosing and monitoring disease. Additionally, IACE has the capability of monitoring the efficacy of therapeutic agents by quantifying companion and complementary protein biomarkers. With advancements in telemedicine and artificial intelligence, the implementation of proteoform biomarker detection and analysis may significantly improve our capacity to identify medical conditions early and intervene in ways that improve health outcomes for individuals and populations.

A new application of aptamer: One-step purification and immobilization of enzyme from cell lysates for biocatalysis

Aptamers are nucleic acid-based high affinity ligands that are able to capture their corresponding target through molecular recognition. In this study, several DNA aptamers with high affinity and specificity for β-glucuronidases (PGUS-E) were obtained by our modified SELEX method. Among them, Apt5 and Apt9 were selected as representatives and covalently linked to magnetic beads, respectively. The aptamer-modified magnetic beads were characterized and successfully applied to one-step purification and immobilization of PGUS-E from the complex cell lysates. By conveniently adjusting the pH and ion strength, the PGUS-E purities reached 84% for Apt5-modified beads and 88% for Apt9-modified beads. Moreover, the maximum PGUS-E capturing capacity of the Apt5 and Apt9 modified magnetic beads were found to be 31.75μg/mg and 32.95μg/mg, respectively. The immobilized PGUS-E on aptamer-based magnetic beads showed good reusability, and the conversion of glycyrrhizin still remained more than 70% after 7 cycles. In addition, the aptamer-modified beads support can be easily regenerated, and the conversion rate of glycyrrhizin (GL) was still 62% after the 7th cycle of regeneration. This investigation can be easily extended to other enzyme systems and may help open a generic route to develop a novel enzyme immobilization technology for biocatalysis based on aptamer.