The past few years have seen a rapid expansion in interest in the characterization of the entire complement of proteins, or proteome. Micro total analysis systems (μTAS) are an emerging promising method, offering rapid, sensitive and low sample consumption separations. I have demonstrated microchip capillary electrophoresis (CE) devices made of CaF2. New methods have been developed for micromachining enclosed capillaries in CaF2. CE analysis of fluorescently labeled amino acids was used to illustrate bioanalytical applications of these microdevices. Initial on-chip infrared spectroscopy results for qualitative analyte identification were achieved in microfluidic CaF2 channels. I have also shown the evaluation of poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) and thermoset polyester (TPE) microchips for use in protein profiling. To improve separation efficiency and reduce protein adsorption, dynamic coating and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) grafting using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) have been used in PMMA microdevices. Proteins, peptides and protein digests have been separated electrophoretically in these PMMA microchips. My results demonstrate that PMMA microdevices should be well suited as microfluidic systems for high performance separations of complex biological mixtures. In-channel ATRP has been developed for the surface modification of TPE microdevices. Characterization indicates that PEG-modified microchannels have much lower and more pH-stable electroosmotic flow, more hydrophilic surfaces and reduced nonspecific protein adsorption. CE of amino acid and peptide mixtures in these PEG-modified TPE microchips had good reproducibility. Phosducin-like protein and phosphorylated phosducin-like protein were also separated to measure the phosphorylation efficiency. My results show that PEG-grafted TPE microchips have broad potential application in biomolecular analysis. Cancer marker analysis is important for medical research and applications. I report a method that can covalently attach appropriately oriented antibodies of interest on monolith surfaces. To reduce nonspecific adsorption, protein solutions were used to effectively block the monolith surface. Selective preconcentration and elution of human chorionic gonadotropin have been performed in my affinity columns, demonstrating that this type of system should have promising applications in cancer marker detection.

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is an analytical chemistry approach that allows for the efficient separation by charge of diverse classes of compounds for analysis, including secondary metabolites. The goal of this work was to optimize a buffer system for plant tissue analysis using micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC), and by doing so to understand the role of buffer components in the performance of this form of capillary electrophoresis. In this experiment we implemented a factorial design to optimize buffer composition for separating plant tissue and secondary metabolites. The results of this experiment will be used to optimize a universal buffer for MEKC analysis that can be used on any variety of plant tissues. To determine the feasibility of this, a diverse set of plant secondary metabolite chemical standards in solution were tested as well as Helianthus annuus tissue to confirm the separation in a real biological sample. The results of this optimization yield insights into the utility of buffer components like electrolyte and pH for MEKC separation.

No description available.

Analysis of biological samples can be a difficult task. This thesis covers a broad aspect of the analytical areas of capillary electrophoresis (CE) and capillary electrochromatography (CEC) in combination with mass spectrometry (MS) that are of great importance for achieving fast, accurate and sensitive bioanalyses. A significantly time reduced and automated system for sample cleanup was developed to greatly simplify the pretreatment process of biological samples with a complex matrix. Desalting and preconcentration of species in urine was conducted and the limit of detection for the antidepressant escitalopram was lowered 10 times. This extraction devise was also successfully incorporated in a chip based platform for the possibility to be a part of multidimensional separation systems. The reduced risk of sample loss leads to improved detection limits, which are usually one the most challenging parts when working with bioanalyses. In the area of separation, a monomer surface with tailored hydrophobicity was developed to achieve rapid, high efficient separations of complex mixtures. Within five minutes a tryptic digest of a protein could be separated and then identified by a Mascot search. The applications addressed have been focused on medical conditions which are of highest interest for both physicians and patients. A high throughput analysis of the kynurenine metabolites with CE-MS offers a new method to rapidly examine samples from patients with neurological disorders. A screening study of possible biomarkers for the two different types of appendicitis, gangraenous and phlegmonous was conducted. Indicative patterns were found for both pre and post surgery of the two types of inflammation as well as between them. The divergences were traced back to the MS peaks obtained in the CE- and CEC-MS setups as possible biomarkers for the two forms of appendicitis. A preliminary study of polycystic ovary syndrome also offered some valuable results for future biomarker identification.

<p>This thesis describes the current status and novel aspects of the analysis of the molecules of life, i.e. peptides and proteins, using capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled to mass spectrometry (MS) via (sheathless) electrospray ionization (ESI). Early reports of sheathless CE-ESI-MS were plagued by limited lifetimes of the electrospray emitter. In this thesis, two new approaches, the Black Dust and the Black Jack methods, utilizing polymer-embedded graphite instead of noble metals are presented. These emitters have shown improved long-term stability and proven excellent for sheathless electrospray operation. Failure of an emitter is often caused by electrochemical reactions occurring at the emitter-liquid interface. The electrochemical properties of the graphite coated emitters were therefore evaluated by classical electrochemical methods, such as cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The graphite coated emitters showed excellent electrochemical stability and properties compared to noble metal and polymer configurations.</p><p>Analyte-wall interactions have long been known to cause problems in the CE analysis of biomolecules. This can be circumvented by internal modification of the capillary walls. Additionally, it is of outermost importance to have a stable and sufficiently high electroosmotic flow (EOF) to sustain the electrospray, when using a sheathless approach. New monomer and polymer coatings are presented for rapid and high-efficient CE-ESI-MS separations of peptides and proteins.</p><p>Furthermore, the use of CE-ESI coupled to Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICRMS) shows great potential for rapid proteomic probing of human cerebrospinal fluid. The results are comparable with more established techniques, such as liquid chromatography and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis coupled to MS. However, the CE-ESI-FTICRMS analysis has significantly lower sample consumption and faster analysis time compared to the other techniques. The applications and use of CE-ESI-MS is expected to have a bright future with continued growth as current trends of multidimensional hyphenation and microfabricated devices are further developed and explored.</p>

This thesis describes the current status and novel aspects of the analysis of the molecules of life, i.e. peptides and proteins, using capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled to mass spectrometry (MS) via (sheathless) electrospray ionization (ESI). Early reports of sheathless CE-ESI-MS were plagued by limited lifetimes of the electrospray emitter. In this thesis, two new approaches, the Black Dust and the Black Jack methods, utilizing polymer-embedded graphite instead of noble metals are presented. These emitters have shown improved long-term stability and proven excellent for sheathless electrospray operation. Failure of an emitter is often caused by electrochemical reactions occurring at the emitter-liquid interface. The electrochemical properties of the graphite coated emitters were therefore evaluated by classical electrochemical methods, such as cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The graphite coated emitters showed excellent electrochemical stability and properties compared to noble metal and polymer configurations. Analyte-wall interactions have long been known to cause problems in the CE analysis of biomolecules. This can be circumvented by internal modification of the capillary walls. Additionally, it is of outermost importance to have a stable and sufficiently high electroosmotic flow (EOF) to sustain the electrospray, when using a sheathless approach. New monomer and polymer coatings are presented for rapid and high-efficient CE-ESI-MS separations of peptides and proteins. Furthermore, the use of CE-ESI coupled to Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICRMS) shows great potential for rapid proteomic probing of human cerebrospinal fluid. The results are comparable with more established techniques, such as liquid chromatography and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis coupled to MS. However, the CE-ESI-FTICRMS analysis has significantly lower sample consumption and faster analysis time compared to the other techniques. The applications and use of CE-ESI-MS is expected to have a bright future with continued growth as current trends of multidimensional hyphenation and microfabricated devices are further developed and explored.

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a modern analytical technique, which is electrokinetic separation generated by high voltage and taken place inside the small capillaries. In this dissertation, several advanced capillary electrophoresis methods are presented using different approaches of CE and UV and mass spectrometry are utilized as the detection methods. Capillary electrochromatography (CEC), as one of the CE modes, is a recent developed technique which is a hybrid of capillary electrophoresis and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Capillary electrochromatography exhibits advantages of both techniques. In Chapter 2, monolithic capillary column are fabricated using in situ photoinitiation polymerization method. The column was then applied for the separation of six antidepressant compounds. Meanwhile, a simple chiral separation method is developed and presented in Chapter 3. Beta cycodextrin was utilized to achieve the goal of chiral separation. Not only twelve cathinone analytes were separated, but also isomers of several analytes were enantiomerically separated. To better understand the molecular information on the analytes, the TOF-MS system was coupled with the CE. A sheath liquid and a partial filling technique (PFT) were employed to reduce the contamination of MS ionization source. Accurate molecular information was obtained. It is necessary to propose, develop, and optimize new techniques that are suitable for trace-level analysis of samples in forensic, pharmaceutical, and environmental applications. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) was selected for this task, as it requires lower amounts of samples, it simplifies sample preparation, and it has the flexibility to perform separations of neutral and charged molecules as well as enantiomers. Overall, the study demonstrates the versatility of capillary electrophoresis methods in forensic, pharmaceutical, and environmental applications.

Doenças infecciosas parasitárias consideradas negligenciadas representam um grande problema de saúde pública em muitos países e regiões. Os fármacos disponíveis na terapêutica são, em geral, tóxicos e de eficácia discutível. Portanto, a descoberta e o planejamento de novos quimioterápicos são extremamente necessários. Neste contexto, os pró-fármacos dendriméricos podem ser úteis. Porém, é necessário esforço adicional para viabilizar os custos, simplificar as estratégias de síntese e investigar os comportamentos de liberação. Ademais, é importante a melhoria dos métodos analíticos, dos métodos de purificação e identificação dos produtos de síntese, para a determinação das propriedades físico-químicas e atividade biológica, visando à efetiva aplicação desta tecnologia. Face ao exposto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar a identidade, pureza e liberação de dois potenciais pró-fármacos dendriméricos, baseados em 3- hidroxiflavona, planejados para serem ativos em doença de Chagas e leishmaniose. O primeiro, estruturalmente, contendo inositol como núcleo e ramos constituídos por éster da 3- hidroxiflavona com ácido málico e o segundo, estruturalmente contendo o dendrímero PAMAM-G0 (poliamidoamina de geração inicial) como transportador e ácido succínico como espaçante. Desenvolveram-se métodos adequados à determinação da 3-hidroxiflavona por HPLC-UV (Cromatografia líquida de alto desempenho, com detecção no ultravioleta) e MEKC (Cromatografia eletrocinética micelar). Comparando-se esses métodos, o método por HPLC foi mais sensível, preciso e exato na quantificação da 3-hidroflavona, enquanto o método por eletroforese capilar foi mais rápido e de menor custo. O éster da 3-hidroxiflavona com o ácido málico mostrou-se instável em soluções orgânicas, aquosas em diferentes pH e nas condições reacionais de diversas estratégias de síntese avaliadas, o que impediu a obtenção do dendrímero baseado em inositol como núcleo conforme proposto. Já o dendrímero PAMAM-G0 funcionalizado com 3-hidroxiflavona foi sintetizado, purificado e caracterizado com sucesso. Não se observou liberação da 3-hidroxiflavona a partir desse dendrímero em solução gástrica simulada (pH 1,2) e a mesma foi lenta em soluções tampão com pH entre 5,0 e 8,5, a 37,0 ºC. Ensaios de atividade biológica do PAMAM-G0-SUC-3-OH-FLAV em amastigotas de Trypanosoma cruzi, cepas Y(Curitiba) e Y(SS), comparativamente ao benznidazol e ao nifurtimox, mostraram atividade moderada e baixa seletividade. / Infectious parasitoses considered neglected diseases represent a great health problem for many countries and areas. Drugs available in the therapeutics are, generally, toxics and do not have good efficacy. So, the discovery and design of new chemotherapeutic agents are extremely needed. In this context, dendrimeric prodrugs may be useful. However, additional effort is required to make the costs accessible, to simplify the synthetic strategies and to investigate the behavior of cleavage. The improvement of analytical methods, purification methods and identification of synthetic products, in order to determine the physicochemical properties and bioactivity aiming to effectively implement this technology, is also required. Based on foregoing considerations, the objective of this work was to study the identity, purity and drug release of two potential dendrimeric prodrugs, based on 3-hydroxyflavone, designed to be active in leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. The first structurally contains myo-inositol as the core and branches consisting of esters from 3-hydroxyflavone with malic acid. The second structurally contains PAMAM-G0 dendrimer (initial generation polyamidoamine) as carrier and succinic acid as spacer. Suitable analytical methods for determining 3-hydroxyflavone by HPLC-UV (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) and MEKC (Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatography) have been developed. Comparing these methods, HPLC method showed more sensitivity, precision and accuracy in the quantification of 3-hydroxyflavone, while the capillary electrophoresis method was faster and less expensive. The ester of 3-hydroxyflavone with malic acid showed to be unstable in organic and aqueous solutions, at different pH and at reaction conditions of synthetic strategies evaluated, which prevented the obtaining of dendrimer based on mio-isositol as core. Notwithstanding, PAMAM-G0 dendrimer funcionalized with 3- hydroxyflavone was synthesized, purified and characterized successfully. There were no 3- hydroxyflavone releases from this dendrimer in simulated gastric fluid (pH 1.2) and a slow release was observed in buffer solutions with pH between 5.0 and 8.5, at 37.0 ºC. Submitted to biological assays in amastigotes of two strains of T. cruzi, Y(Curitiba) and Y(SS), compared to benznidazole e nifurtimox, PAMAM-G0-SUCC-3-OH-FLAV showed moderated activity and low selectivity index.

<p>Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) was explored as a means for physicochemical and biopharmaceutical characterisation of small drug molecules. Special attention was paid to the characterisation of acid-base and lipophilic properties of drug compounds by analysing their migration behaviour in different CE systems. The thesis comprises an overview of the field together with separate studies on the different topics.</p><p>The utility of CE for the determination of pK_a of labile drug compounds was investigated. A general methodology was developed comprising key steps such as the use of a stabilising sample diluent, electromigration injection, and analyte characterisation by UV-Vis spectroscopy. The methodology was successfully applied for two sets of drug compounds, labile at low and high pH, respectively.</p><p>CE was also evaluated for experimental modelling of passive intestinal membrane permeability by studying analyte migration in liposomal, microemulsion and micellar electrolytes. Good correlation is reported between CE migration and Caco-2 cell absorption estimates and for in vitro inhibition of thrombin. Interestingly, a slightly better correlation was obtained for liposomal electrolytes.</p><p>The utility of liposomes in CE was further extended by developing a novel procedure for immobilising liposomes inside fused silica capillaries. This approach enabled direct on-line coupling of liposome CE to high sensitivity mass spectrometry. The utility of liposome-coated capillaries is demonstrated for estimating drug passive intestinal membrane permeability. Its use in biopharmaceutical drug profiling is discussed.</p><p>Utilising advanced molecular descriptors, commonly applied to in silico prediction of passive intestinal membrane permeability, migration of analytes in micellar CE systems could be well predicted. The novel approach was based on hierarchical multivariate analytics and use of molecular descriptors for both analytes and micellar media surfactants. Demonstrated results propose that the CE format could be useful to validate how representative molecular descriptors are for describing molecular behaviour in complex liquid media, e.g. physiological systems.</p>

<p>The analysis of low abundant biological molecules is often challenging due to their chemical properties, low concentration and limited sample volumes. Neuropeptides are one group of molecules that fits these criteria. Neuropeptides also play an important role in biological functions, which makes them extra interesting to analyze. A classic chemical analysis involves sampling, sample preparation, separation and detection. In this thesis, an enhanced solid supported microdialysis method was developed and used as a combined sampling- and preparation technique. In general, significantly increased extraction efficiency was obtained for all studied peptides. To be able to control the small sample volumes and to minimize the loss of neuropeptides because of unwanted adsorption onto surfaces, the subsequent analysis steps were miniaturized to a micro total analysis system (µ-TAS), which allowed sample pre-treatment, injection, separation, manipulation and detection. </p><p>In order to incorporate these analysis functions to a microchip, a novel microfabrication protocol was developed. This method facilitated three-dimensional structures to be fabricated without the need of clean room facilities. </p><p>The sample pre-treatment step was carried out by solid phase extraction from beads packed in the microchip. Femtomole levels of neuropeptides were detected from samples possessing the same properties as microdialysates. The developed injection system made it possible to conduct injections from a liquid chromatographic separation into a capillary electrophoresis channel, which facilitated for advanced multidimensional separations. An electrochemical sample manipulation system was also developed. In the last part, different electrospray emitter tip designs made directly from the edge of the microchip substrate were developed and evaluated. The emitters were proven to be comparable with conventional, capillary based emitters in stability, durability and dynamic flow range. Although additional developments remain, the analysis steps described in this thesis open a door to an integrated, on-line µ-TAS for neuropeptides analysis in complex biological samples.</p>