Determination of the binding parameters for antithrombin-heparin fragment systems by affinity and frontal analysis continuous capillary electrophoresis.

The suitability of affinity capillary electrophoresis (ACE) and frontal analysis continuous capillary electrophoresis (FACCE) for binding constant determination was investigated for complexes between heparin fragments and antithrombin III, one of the main target proteins in the coagulation cascade. In a 100 mM ionic strength phosphate buffer (pH 7.4), ACE was suitable to determine weak to medium interactions developed by short oligomeric heparin fragments, but it failed for decasaccharide, which presents a more complex irreversible interaction. However FACCE allowed evaluating the binding constant for these longer oligomeric fragments. Both experimental approaches were complementary for a wide variety of heparinic fragments.

Capillary electrophoresis determination of the binding affinity of bioactive sulfated polysaccharides to proteins: study of the binding properties of fucoidan to antithrombin.

The interaction of proteins with polysaccharides represents a major and challenging topic in glycobiology, since such complexes mediate fundamental biological mechanisms. An affinity capillary electrophoresis method has been developed to evidence the complex formation and to determine the binding properties between an anticoagulant polysaccharide of marine origin, fucoidan, and a potential target protein, antithrombin. This method is a variant of zonal electrophoresis in the mobility shift format. A fixed amount of protein was injected into a capillary filled with a background electrolyte containing the polysaccharide in varying concentrations. The effective mobility data of the protein were processed according to classical linearization treatments to obtain the binding constant for the polysaccharide/antithrombin complex. The results indicate that fucoidan binds to antithrombin in a 1:1 stoichiometry and with an affinity depending on the molecular weight of the polysaccharide. For heparin, the binding constant obtained similarly is in accordance with the literature. This is the first report showing the implementation of a capillary electrophoresis method contributing to the mechanistic understanding of the biological activities of fucoidan and providing evidence for the complex formation between fucoidan and the protein inhibitor of the coagulation antithrombin.

Regioselective desulfation of sulfated L-fucopyranoside by a new sulfoesterase from the marine mollusk Pecten maximus: application to the structural study of algal fucoidan (Ascophyllum nodosum).

The study of the structural bases of the biological properties of algal fucoidan (Ascophyllum nodosum) led us to look for enzymes able to modify this sulfated polysaccharide. In this context, we found a sulfoesterase activity in the digestive glands of the common marine mollusk Pecten maximus, which is active on fucoidan. This sulfoesterase activity was shown by capillary electrophoresis and 13C-1H NMR (500 MHz) analysis of the enzymatic hydrolysis of the fucoidan, of fucoidan oligosaccharides and of sulfated fucose isomers. We report the exhaustive list of all proton and carbon chemical shifts for each of the three isomers of sulfated-l-fucose (including of their alpha/beta anomers), i.e. the 2-O-, 3-O- and 4-O-sulfated fucose, which have been useful reference values for the assignments of NMR spectra of fucoidan oligosaccharides upon enzymatic desulfation. Our results demonstrated a high regioselectivity for this sulfoesterase, which hydrolyzes only the sulfate group at the 2-O position of the fucopyranoside. Therefore, this sulfoesterase is a helpful tool in the structure-activity study of the fucoidan, as the literature data suggest that the 2-O-sulfation level play a central role in the biological properties of the polysaccharide.

On the use of the activation energy concept to investigate analyte and network deformations in entangled polymer solution capillary electrophoresis of synthetic polyelectrolytes.

The activation energy associated with the electrophoretic migration of an analyte under given electrolyte conditions can be accessed through the determination of the analyte electrophoretic mobility at various temperatures. In the case of the electrophoretic separation of polyelectrolytes in the presence of an entangled polymer network, activation energy can be regarded as the energy needed by the analyte to overcome the obstacles created by the separating network. Any deformation undergone by the analyte or the network is expected to induce a decrease in the activation energy. In this work, the electrophoretic mobilities of poly(styrenesulfonates) (PSSs) of various molecular weights (Mr 16 x 10(3) to 990 x 10(3)) were determined in entangled polyethylene oxide (PEO) solutions as a function of temperature (in the 17-60 degrees C range) and the PSS activation energies were calculated. The influences of the PSS molecular weight, blob sizes zetab of the separating network (related to the PEO concentration), ionic strength of the electrolyte and electric field strength (75-600 V/cm) were investigated. The results were interpreted in terms of analyte and network deformations and were confronted with those previously obtained for DNA migration in polymer solutions and chemical gels. For a radius of gyration Rgzetab, suggesting PSS and network deformations in the latter case. Increasing ionic strength resulted in an increase in the PSS activation energy, because of the decrease of their radii of gyration, which makes them less deformable. Finally, the activation energies of all the PSSs are a decreasing function of field strength and at high field strength tend to reach a constant value close to that for a small molecule.

Capillary electrophoresis of associative diblock copolymers.

Water soluble diblock copolymers composed of a long poly(styrene sulfonate) chain (between 200 and 400 monomers) and a short poly(ethylene propylene) or poly(tert.-butylstyrene) hydrophobic end (20-50 monomers) are highly associative and form micelles in aqueous solution. The micelles are composed of a small hydrophobic core and a polyelectrolyte corona, the dimensions of which can be estimated by neutron and light scattering. These physical techniques are, however, not amenable to discriminate easily between the free copolymer and the copolymer micelle. Capillary electrophoresis was implemented in this work as a new and effective tool to investigate the behaviour of such associative copolymer systems. Since the rate of exchange between the micellised and free states is very slow in comparison with the time scale of the electrophoretic process, the electropherograms of the diblock copolymers obtained in plain aqueous borate buffers exhibit two peaks assigned to the two states mentioned above. The identification of the two peaks was first made on the basis of the retention orders of the two peaks equally obtained in similar conditions by size-exclusion chromatography. The copolymer micelles appeared to have a smaller electrophoretic mobility than the free copolymers. This peak assignment is also consistent with the observed ratio of the time-corrected peak areas and peak dispersions. The effects of the copolymer concentration, electric field, temperature and hydroorganic composition of the medium was also studied. Such systems do not exhibit a defined concentration threshold equivalent to a classical critical micelle concentration. Adding methanol to the electrolyte resulted in the progressive loss of baseline return between the two peaks, which might be attributed to a slight increase in the rate of exchange between the two states. Finally, adding a neutral surfactant to the electrolyte at a concentration in excess of its critical micelle concentration resulted in a decrease in the electrophoretic mobility of the peak attributed to the free copoplymer, while the electrophoretic mobility of the copolymer micelle remained unperturbed.

From small charged molecules to oligomers: a semiempirical approach to the modeling of actual mobility in free solution.

According to Stokes' treatment, the ionic mobility of particles, which are small with respect to Debye length, is usually considered to be proportional to the nominal charge and inversely proportional to the hydrodynamic radius. Experimentally, it is well known, however, that the ionic mobility of a small multicharged molecule does not depend linearly on its nominal charge in a wide range. This behavior can be accounted for by a condensation of the charge or a modification of the friction coefficient with the charge. This paper presents a semiempirical modeling of the actual mobility based on the assumption of additivity of frictional contributions pertaining to the uncharged molecular backbone and to each charged or uncharged moiety. Condensation of the charge was not considered. The model first appeared to be suitable for multicharged analytes having a characteristic dimension smaller than the Debye length, such as benzene polycarboxylic acids and polysulfated disaccharides. This approach was then adapted to account for the actual mobilities of singly and evenly charged oligomers (N-mers) having a dimension smaller than or similar to the Debye length. Rather good experimental agreement was obtained for polyalanines and polyglycines (N < or = 6), fatty acid homologs, fully sulfonated polystyrene oligomers (N < or = 13), and polycytidines (N < or = 10). Especially the influence of the polymerization degree on the mobility of oligomers having identical charge densities was clarified. It is also shown that the electrophoretic contribution to the overall friction coefficient increases linearly with the nominal charge but hardly depends on the chemical nature of the charged moieties. This model should be of interest to evaluate the role of various physicochemical phenomena (hydrodynamic and electrophoretic frictions, hydrodynamic coupling, charge condensation) involved in the migration of charged oligomers.

A semi-empirical approach to the modeling of the electrophoretic mobility in free solution: application to polystyrenesulfonates of various sulfonation rates.

This work focuses on the understanding of the electrophoretic behavior of flexible chains of polystyrenesulfonates (PSSs) in free solution. It deals mainly with the variation of the electrophoretic mobility with (i) the polymerization degree (N) of fully sulfonated PSSs and (ii) the sulfonation rate of randomly sulfonated PSSs. In both cases, the electrophoretic mobility was modeled following a semi-empirical approach which involves parameters retaining a physical meaning. Fully sulfonated PSS oligomers, having a length smaller than or similar to the Debye length, exhibit a particular electrophoretic behavior, in-between that observed for multicharged small molecules and that for polyelectrolytes. The electrophoretic mobility of these oligomers increases strongly with N, which is attributed to a hydrodynamic coupling between monomers. Then the mobility is maximum for an N of about 10, for which the PSS oligomers are still in a rod-like conformation. Afterwards, as N increases and the PSSs are larger than the Debye length, the electrophoretic mobility decreases slowly until it reaches a constant value corresponding to the free-draining behavior. Next, the electrophoretic behavior of long PSS (N about 1,200) differing in their sulfonation rates was investigated. The effective charge rates were determined independently by conductimetric measurements and the mobilities were modeled as a function of the sulfonation rate. The PSS behavior observed was compared to the one previously reported for classical polyelectrolytes having hydrophilic backbones, such as copolymers of poly(acryamide-coacrylic acid). A specific behavior has been pointed out for these partially sulfonated PSSs, which is attributed to the hydrophobicity of their backbone. Finally, it is shown that separations of PSSs of different sulfonation rates can be obtained with electrolytes containing an anionic surfactant or methanol.

Development of a capillary electrophoresis assay based on free sulfate determination for the direct monitoring of sulfoesterase activity.

A capillary electrophoresis assay of sulfoesterase activity was developed that overcomes the main drawbacks encountered with the usual methods for sulfate determination in complex biological medium. Conditions are described allowing direct measurement of inorganic sulfate that is enzymatically produced in the reaction mixture. The main features of this method are electrokinetic sample introduction, which allows selective extraction of sulfate from the matrix into the separation capillary, counter-electroosmotic flow migration mode, indirect absorbance detection and use of an internal standard for quantitative performances. Likewise, perfect linearity was obtained for concentrations of sulfate up to 40 ppm. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.2 and 0.6 ppm, respectively. The run-to-run and day-to-day precision are 1 and 4.5%, respectively, for sulfate concentrations varying from 35 ppm down to 1 ppm. The accuracy was established for the synthetic p-nitrocatechol sulfate substrate by comparison with the classical spectrophotometric assay. The method was applied to the kinetic monitoring of the activity of a sulfoesterase extracted from the marine mollusc Pecten maximus on fucoidan, a bioactive sulfated fucose-based polysaccharide derived from brown algae. For the first time, a sulfoesterase activity was shown to be effective on such sulfated polysaccharides.

Identification of heparin oligosaccharides by direct coupling of capillary electrophoresis/ionspray-mass spectrometry.

A direct coupling between capillary electrophoresis (CE) and ionspray (IS) mass spectrometry (MS) has been optimized to identify oligosaccharides obtained by enzymatic digestion of heparin. The separation electrolyte was made compatible with the requirements of a direct coupling using electrolytes made of ammonium acetate buffer, pH 3.5 and 9.2. The different parameters of the CE/IS interface were optimized using a standard mixture of disaccharides: flow rate and composition of the sheath liquid, flow rate of the sheath gas and position of the capillary in the needle. Different combinations of positive or negative CE voltage polarity and positive or negative MS ionization modes were investigated. They allowed for detection orders to be easily reversed and for complementary structural information to be gathered. Finally, the optimized methodology was applied to the separation and characterization of porcine mucosa heparin depolymerized by heparinases II and III.

The effect of blob size and network dynamics on the size-based separation of polystyrenesulfonates by capillary electrophoresis in the presence of entangled polymer solutions.

This work focuses on the separation of standard polystyrenesulfonates (PSS), with molecular masses (Mr) between 16 and 990 x 10(3) in capillaries filled with semidilute (entangled) linear hydrophilic polymers. Contrary to cross-linked chemical gels, which produce permanent networks, solutions of linear polymers lead to dynamic networks. The analytical performances and migration mechanisms are discussed on the basis of experiments performed in solutions of linear polyethyleneoxides and derivatized celluloses of various molecular masses. The influence of the mesh size and of the lifetime of the obstacles of the separating network has been investigated in detail. The mesh size is assimilated to the blob size of the separating polymer and is a decreasing function of its concentration. The lifetime of the obstacles of the network, identified with the reptation time of the polymer chain, characterizes its dynamics. This characteristic time increases with both the molecular weight of the separating polymer and its concentration. Its impact was first examined at fixed blob size. Then, the influence of the blob size was studied while keeping the reptation time of the network constant. By doing so, the existence of interactions between the solute and the separating polymer or between the solute and capillary wall can be more safely assessed. It appears that the reptation time of the mesh has a large influence on the electrophoretic mobility of the PSSs under a threshold value, which is of the order of magnitude of the time taken by the PSS to migrate on the blob size. Also shown are separations using networks made up with mixtures of polyethyleneoxides of the same nature and same mass concentration, but of very different molecular masses. This latter approach allows one to adapt the viscosity of the solution and the dynamics of the network, keeping the blob size constant.

Use of a zwitterionic cyclodextrin as a chiral agent for the separation of enantiomers by capillary electrophoresis.

The purity and enantioselectivity of a novel chiral agent, the zwitterionic mono-(6-delta-glutamylamino-6-deoxy)-beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD-Glu), were studied by capillary electrophoresis. Chiral separation of the enantiomers of chlorthalidone was obtained at pH 2.3, a pH at which beta-CD-Glu is partially protonated. Comparison with the cationic mono-(6-amino-6-deoxy)-beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD-NH2) enantioselectivity clearly shows that the greater the difference in mobility between the free analyte and the analyte-cyclodextrin complex, the better the resolution. Hydrobenzoin enantiomers were separated at pH 11.2, a pH at which beta-CD-Glu is anionic. Under these conditions, the migration order was opposite to that observed in the presence of beta-CD-NH2 at pH 2.3. When no separation was obtained directly with beta-CD-Glu, a dual cyclodextrin system was developed. Carprofen enantiomers were resolved at pH 2.3 in the presence of a beta-CD-Glu/trimethyl-beta-cyclodextrin (TM-beta-CD) system in which the charged CD confers a non-zero mobility to the analyte, while the neutral CD allows chiral recognition.

Selectivity in capillary electrophoresis: application to chiral separations with cyclodextrins.

In order to accurately evaluate the performances of any electrolyte medium, a clear concept of selectivity in capillary electrophoresis and related electroseparation techniques is proposed. Selectivity is defined as the ratio of the affinity factors of both analytes for a separating agent (phase, pseudophase, or complexing agent present in the background electrolyte). When in the presence of a complexing agent and if only 1:1 complexation occurs, selectivity corresponds to the ratio of the apparent binding constants and is independent of the concentration of the complexing agent. This concept is illustrated through the separations of neutral and anionic enantiomers in the presence of a cationic cyclodextrin, the mono(6-amino-6-deoxy)-ß-cyclodextrin, as a chiral complexing agent. The values obtained for different pairs of enantiomers are discussed with regard to the functional groups that distinguish them. When the analytes have the same mobilities in free solution and in their complexed form, then the resolution equation developed in micellar electrokinetic chromatography may be applied and optimum conditions (affinity factors, chiral agent concentration) can be predicted.

Intrinsic selectivity in capillary electrophoresis for chiral separations with dual cyclodextrin systems.

Defined as the ratio of the affinity factors of the analytes for a complexing agent, the intrinsic selectivity is representative of the very nature of the complexing agent. When more than one complexing agent are present in the background electrolyte, it is possible to define several intrinsic selectivities according to whether complexing agents are considered separately or all together. A theoretical model with respect to selectivity is presented for separations that involve two complexing agents, using the concept of apparent constant for complex formation. When only independent complexation occurs (absence of mixed complexes), then the intrinsic selectivity of a complexing agent X in the presence of a complexing agent Y can be easily related to the intrinsic selectivity of each complexing agent and to complex formation constants. Dual systems of cyclodextrins (CDs), implementing the cationic mono(6-amino-6-deoxy)-ß-cyclodextrin (ß-CD-NH(2)) and a neutral CD (trimethyl-ß-CD (TM-ß-CD) or dimethyl-ß-CD (DM-ß-CD)), were studied to illustrate this model and to offer an alternative to the separation of neutral enantiomers when ß-CD-NH(2) shows no or insufficient stereoselectivity. With a dual ß-CD-NH(2)/TM-ß-CD system at pH 2.3, arylpropionic acid enantiomers were baseline resolved and benzoin derivatives were partially resolved. For the arylpropionic acids, ß-CD-NH(2), which is not stereoselective, confers on them a nonzero mobility, while TM-ß-CD allows the chiral recognition. A study of the respective influence of ΤM-ß-CD and ß-CD-NH(2) concentrations was performed to determine the optimal conditions with respect to resolution. This theoretical approach allowed characterization of the intrinsic selectivity of neutral CDs for pairs of neutral enantiomers and therefore identification of the potential of neutral chiral agents for neutral enantiomers.

Use of neutral surfactants for the capillary electrophoretic separation of hydrophobically modified poly(acrylic acids).

Hydrophobically modified poly(acrylic acids) (HMPAs) are random copolymers of sodium acrylate and dodecyl acrylamide, containing 0-10% mol/mol of dodecyl grafts. The hydrophobic character of different HMPAs of average molecular weight 150,000 was studied by capillary electrophoresis (CE), using neutral surfactants as buffer additives. The differentiation of the electrophoretic mobilities of HMPAs with their hydrophobicity was achieved through the use of nonionic Brij 35 and zwitterionic DAPS surfactants. A nearly baseline separation of the precursor and three HMPAs derivatives was obtained in a poly(ethylene glycol)-coated capillary with a background electrolyte containing 10 mM N-dodecyl-N,N-dimethyl-3-ammonio-1-propanesulfonate (DAPS) and 10 mM borax (pH 9.2). In addition to CE experiments, the polymer-surfactant interactions were also investigated by means of quasi-elastic light scattering (QELS) and viscosimetric measurements. According to the latter results, the separation mechanism was interpreted as an expansion of the polymer coil in the presence of micelles and subsequent change of its frictional properties. A true micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) partitioning model was discarded on the basis of the relative sizes of the macromolecule and the micelles.

Capillary zone electrophoretic separation of C14-C18 linear saturated and unsaturated free fatty acids with indirect UV detection.

The baseline separation of eight saturated and unsaturated fatty acids of commercial interest was achieved in 15 min by counter-electroosmotic flow capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE), using dimethyl-beta-CD as a buffer additive. The background electrolyte consisted of 10 mM Tris-5 mM p-anisate (pH 8.1) and 1 mM dimethyl-beta-CD in a methanol-water (50:50, vol/vol) mixture. The presence of the cyclodextrin (CD) led to differential migration of critical pairs (i.e., fatty acids of common equivalent chain length or positional isomers). The absence of a highly absorbing chromophore moiety was circumvented through the use of p-anisate as a chromogenic co-ion in the carrier electrolyte. The conditions for indirect absorbance detection were optimized by taking into account the detector linearity and the spectral properties of both analytes and chromophore. A number of parameters influencing the resolution were also discussed, including overloading phenomenon and electroosmotic flow velocity modulation. Quantitative aspects of the method were tested through the analysis of three crude vegetable oils.

Quantitation of polymerase chain reaction-amplified DNA fragments by capillary electrophoresis and laser-induced fluorescence detection.

Quantitation of DNA fragments amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is needed for the determination of target DNA in molecular biology. Capillary electrophoresis in entangled polymer solution coupled to laser-induced fluorescence detection was assessed as an alternative technique to conventional slab gel methods to monitor competitive PCR, which consists of amplifying an internal standard fragment under the same conditions as the target fragment. The fluorescence signal was generated either through end-labeling of the fragments using 5'-fluorescein-labeled primers or through intercalation of ethidium bromide along the double strand. It is shown that the more accurate and reliable results were obtained using this latter pathway.

Separation and determination of warfarin enantiomers in human plasma samples by capillary zone electrophoresis using a methylated beta-cyclodextrin-containing electrolyte.

A methyl beta-cyclodextrin with a degree of substitution of 1.8 proved to be an effective chiral selector, among other cyclodextrins tested, for the separation of warfarin enantiomers by capillary electrophoresis. The operating conditions were optimized with respect to electrolyte composition (buffer pH, ionic strength, cyclodextrin concentration, methanol content) and applied voltage. The influence of a high ionic strength on the resolution was clearly shown. A baseline separation can be obtained in less than 15 min with an efficiency of ca. 250,000 theoretical plates. These conditions were applied to the determination of warfarin enantiomers in the plasma of patients under warfarin therapy. The limit of detection for the whole procedure (dichloromethane extraction followed by evaporation to dryness and capillary electrophoresis) was of the order of 0.2 mg/l (6.5.10(-7) M) of each enantiomer.