Connect with us

Electrophoresis: State of Art Technology for Past, Present and Future

Electrophoresis is used for separation of either proteins or nucleic acids, and has undergone a number of advancements from commonly used slab-gel electrophoresis (SGE) to recently developed biochip-based SGE systems by Zhang and Yamaguchi’s group. The electrophoresis market is primarily divided into gel electrophoresis (GE) and capillary electrophoresis (CE) technologies. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) provides basic approaches in proteomics for the separation and visualization of complex protein mixtures. Two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) is an acrylamide gel electrophoresis-based technique for protein separation and quantification in complex mixtures for the characterization of quality parameters of importance in the meat industry. In addition, it can also compare two or three protein samples on the same analytical gel, and establish differentially expressed protein levels between healthy normal and diseased pathological tissue samples, such as liver, testis, and lungs. Comparing tissue groups under different conditions is crucially important for advancing the biomedical field by characterization of cellular processes, understanding pathophysiological development, and tissue biomarker discovery. Similarly, targeted depletion of known abundant proteins with antibody columns has been successfully employed using DIGE to discover significant proteins associated with the disease phenotype.

Capillary electrophoresis, matrix-assisted laser desorption, and ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) and Brdicka reaction can be used to characterize human and rabbit metallothionein, despite having the same number of -sulfhydryl (-SH) groups. In addition, a method is developed, based on capillary zone electrophoresis coupled with a diode array detector (CZE-DAD), for simultaneous analysis of ibuprofen (IBU) and phenylephrine (PHE) in bulk and tablets. Using antibodies against cyclic citrullinated peptides (CCPs), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be diagnosed by capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection (CE-LIF). Further, microchip capillary electrophoresis (MCE) can be used for on-chip detection of trace amounts of glyphosate and glufosinate residues in agricultural products, trace amounts of nitrite and nitrate in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), trace amount of compound in medicinal plants, separation of hemagglutinin (HA) and nucleocapsid protein (NP) gene PCR products from influenza A (H1N1) virus, sex identification of ancient DNA samples, determination of functional proteins in infant milk formula, and topological DNA variants. Thiols in proteins can also be analyzed using microchip capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection (μCE-LIF). Rapid determination of catecholamines (CAs) in urine samples can also be done, using non-aqueous microchip electrophoresis (NAMCE). Recently a research group of Prof Willis, from Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA, suggested that microchip electrophoresis (ME) could be used in future NASA exploration missions, which can help in filling the gaps in our knowledge of life beyond earth.

Copyright © 2024 Medical Buyer

error: Content is protected !!