Removal of sample background buffering ions and myoglobin enrichment via a pH junction created by discontinuous buffers in capillary electrophoresis

Dynamic computer simulations of electrophoresis: 2010-2020

The transport of components in liquid media under the influence of an applied electric field can be described with the continuity equation. It represents a nonlinear conservation law that is based upon the balance laws of continuous transport processes and can be solved in time and space numerically. This procedure is referred to as dynamic computer simulation. Since its inception four decades ago, the state of dynamic computer simulation software and its use has progressed significantly. Dynamic models are the most versatile tools to explore the fundamentals of electrokinetic separations and provide insights into the behavior of buffer systems and sample components of all electrophoretic separation methods, including moving boundary electrophoresis, CZE, CGE, ITP, IEF, EKC, ACE, and CEC. This article is a continuation of previous reviews (Electrophoresis 2009, 30, S16–S26 and Electrophoresis 2010, 31, 726–754) and summarizes the progress and achievements made during the 2010 to 2020 time period in which some of the existing dynamic simulators were extended and new simulation packages were developed. This review presents the basics and extensions of the three most used one‐dimensional simulators, provides a survey of new one‐dimensional simulators, outlines an overview of multi‐dimensional models, and mentions models that were briefly reported in the literature. A comprehensive discussion of simulation applications and achievements of the 2010 to 2020 time period is also included.

Selective extraction of myoglobin from human serum with antibody-biomimetic magnetic nanoparticles

Myoglobin (Mb) is an ideal biochemical marker for the diagnosis of certain diseases caused by damage to heart muscle or skeletal muscle. Nevertheless, serum myoglobin levels are usually very low while the interference components in real sample are extremely abundent. Hence, it is of great clinical significance to establish an effective method for Mb targeting. To obtain desired selectivity, targeting biomolecules like antibody and aptamer are essential to 'the state of the art'. However, such biomolecules suffer from many disadvantages, such as hard to prepare, susceptible to protease degradation, and high cost. Thus, novel alternatives that can overcome these issues are highly desirable. Herein, we pioneered a template-anchored controllable surface imprinting strategy for selective extraction of Mb from human serum via combining with facile magnetic separation of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). Mb-imprinted MNPs, as antibody-biomimetic materials, were prepared using amino group-modified MNPs as substrates and water-soluble self-polymerizable dopamine as imprinting monomer. The optimized imprinting time was 70 min, giving an optimal performance with high practical imprinting efficiency (up to 41%), high imprinting factor (4.2), high binding affinity (K_d=(2.05 ± 0.09) × 10^-5 M), as well as excellent recognition selectivity. Moreover, compared to bare MNPs, Mb-imprinted MNPs possessed markedly better pH tolerance. Finally, the selective extraction of Mb from human serum sample by Mb-imprinted MNPs was experimentally confirmed and the recoveries of Mb in spiked serum ranged from (91.12 ± 6.81)% to (107.99 ± 7.76)%, indicating that the Mb-imprinted MNPs could be competent for the selective analysis of Mb in real bio-samples like human serum with high precision and reliability.