Generalized polymer effective charge measurement by capillary isotachophoresis

Determination of physicochemical parameters of (bio)molecules and (bio)particles by capillary electromigration methods

The review provides an overview of recent developments and applications of capillary electromigration (CE) methods for the determination of important physicochemical parameters of various (bio)molecules and (bio)particles. These parameters include actual and limiting (absolute) ionic mobilities, effective electrophoretic mobilities, effective charges, isoelectric points, electrokinetic potentials, hydrodynamic radii, diffusion coefficients, relative molecular masses, acidity (ionization) constants, binding constants and stoichiometry of (bio)molecular complexes, changes of Gibbs free energy, enthalpy and entropy and rate constants of chemical reactions and interactions, retention factors and partition and distribution coefficients. For the determination of these parameters, the following CE methods are employed: zone electrophoresis in a free solution or in sieving media, isotachophoresis, isoelectric focusing, affinity electrophoresis, electrokinetic chromatography, and electrochromatography. In the individual sections, the procedures for the determination of the above parameters by the particular CE methods are described.

Taylor dispersion analysis using capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector

Taylor dispersion analysis (TDA) is a simple and absolute method to determine the hydrodynamic radius of solutes that respond to UV or fluorescence detections. To broaden the application range of TDA, it is necessary to develop new detection modes. This study aims to study capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector (C4D) for the analysis of charged macromolecules. The detection sensitivities and hydrodynamic radii were compared for a C4D detector and a UV detector on positively or negatively charged polymers responding both to UV and C4D (poly-L-lysine and poly(acrylamide-co-2-acrylamido-1-methyl-propanesulfonate). The influence of the composition of the background electrolyte on the detection sensitivity has been studied and optimized for C4D detection. The influence of the molar mass and of the polymer chemical charge density on the C4D and UV sensitivities of detection have been investigated based on well-characterized copolymers samples of different molar masses and charge densities. The advantages and disadvantages compared to UV detection, as well as the range of applicability of C4D detection in TDA were identified. C4D detection can be an alternative method for sizing charged polymers of reasonable molar mass (typically below 105 g mol-1) that do not absorb in UV. A decline in the sensitivity of detection in C4D was observed for higher molar masses.

Rapid 3-dimensional shape determination of globular proteins by mobility capillary electrophoresis and native mass spectrometry

Established high-throughput proteomics methods provide limited information on the stereostructures of proteins. Traditional technologies for protein structure determination typically require laborious steps and cannot be performed in a high-throughput fashion. Here, we report a new medium throughput method by combining mobility capillary electrophoresis (MCE) and native mass spectrometry (MS) for the 3-dimensional (3D) shape determination of globular proteins in the liquid phase, which provides both the geometric structure and molecular mass information of proteins. A theory was established to correlate the ion hydrodynamic radius and charge state distribution in the native mass spectrum with protein geometrical parameters, through which a low-resolution structure (shape) of the protein could be determined. Our test data of 11 different globular proteins showed that this approach allows us to determine the shapes of individual proteins, protein complexes and proteins in a mixture, and to monitor protein conformational changes. Besides providing complementary protein structure information and having mixture analysis capability, this MCE and native MS based method is fast in speed and low in sample consumption, making it potentially applicable in top–down proteomics and structural biology for intact globular protein or protein complex analysis.

Using native mass spectrometry and mobility capillary electrophoresis, the ellipsoid dimensions of globular proteins or protein complexes could be measured efficiently.

Structure and effective charge characterization of proteins by a mobility capillary electrophoresis based method

Measuring the conformations and effective charges of proteins in solution is critical for investigating protein bioactivity, but their rapid analysis remains a challenging problem. Here we report a mobility capillary electrophoresis (MCE) based method for the rapid analysis of protein stereo-structures and effective charges in different solution environments. With the capability of mixture separation, MCE measures the hydrodynamic radius of a protein through Taylor dispersion analysis and its effective charge through ion mobility analysis. The experimental results acquired from MCE are then utilized to restrain molecular dynamics simulations, so that the most probable conformation of that protein can be obtained. As proof-of-concept demonstrations, the charge states and structures of five proteins were analyzed under close to native environments. The conformation transitions and charge state variations of bovine serum albumin and lysozyme under different pH conditions were also investigated. This method is promising for high-throughput protein analysis, which could potentially be coupled with mass spectrometry for investigating protein stereo-structures and functions in top-down proteomics.

Recent developments in capillary and microchip electroseparations of peptides (2015-mid 2017)

The review brings a comprehensive overview of recent developments and applications of high performance capillary and microchip electroseparation methods (zone electrophoresis, isotachophoresis, isoelectric focusing, affinity electrophoresis, electrokinetic chromatography, and electrochromatography) to analysis, microscale isolation, purification, and physicochemical and biochemical characterization of peptides in the years 2015, 2016, and ca. up to the middle of 2017. Advances in the investigation of electromigration properties of peptides and in the methodology of their analysis (sample preseparation, preconcentration and derivatization, adsorption suppression and EOF control, and detection) are described. New developments in particular CE and CEC methods are presented and several types of their applications to peptide analysis are reported: qualitative and quantitative analysis, determination in complex (bio)matrices, monitoring of chemical and enzymatical reactions and physical changes, amino acid, sequence and chiral analysis, and peptide mapping of proteins. Some micropreparative peptide separations are shown and capabilities of CE and CEC methods to provide important physicochemical characteristics of peptides are demonstrated.