Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Exosomes and Microvesicles in Human Saliva for Lung Cancer.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell-derived microparticles present in most body fluids, mainly including microvesicles and exosomes. EV-harbored proteins have emerged as novel biomarkers for the diagnosis and prediction of different cancers. We successfully isolated microvesicles and exosomes from human saliva, which were further characterized comprehensively. Salivary EV protein profiling in normal subjects and lung cancer patients was systematically compared through utilizing LC-MS/MS-based label-free quantification. 785 and 910 proteins were identified from salivary exosomes and microvesicles, respectively. According to statistical analysis, 150 and 243 proteins were revealed as dysregulated candidates in exosomes and microvesicles for lung cancer. Among them, 25 and 40 proteins originally from distal organ cells were found in the salivary exosomes and microvesicles of lung cancer patients. In particular, 5 out of 25 and 9 out of 40 are lung-related proteins. Six potential candidates were selected for verification by Western blot, and four of them, namely, BPIFA1, CRNN, MUC5B, and IQGAP, were confirmed either in salivary microvesicles or in exosomes. Our data collectively demonstrate that salivary EVs harbor informative proteins that might be used for the detection of lung cancer through a noninvasive way.

Simple Chip Electrophoresis Titration of Neutralization Boundary with EDTA Photocatalysis for Distance-Based Sensing of Melamine in Dairy Products.

Melamine was sometimes adulterated to dairy products for false protein content increase in developing countries. However, a portable sensor has not been developed for on-spot determination of melamine in dairy products yet. Herein, a distance-based sensor was advanced for the quantification of melamine in dairy products based on chip electrophoretic titration (ET) of moving neutralization boundary (NB) and EDTA photocatalysis. In the chip sensor, EDTA, H2O2, and leucomalachite green (LMG) were added in the anode well. Under UV light, EDTA photocatalyzes H2O2 and colorless LMG as H2O and color malachite green (MG) with one positive charge. When applying an electric field, the MG in the anode well migrated into the channel and was neutralized with the base in the channel, resulting in colorless MG-OH and NB. If the melamine-content dairy sample was added into the EDTA-H2O2-LMG system, H2O2 reacts with melamine, leading to the decrease of MG. Thus, the higher the melamine content in dairy products, the shorter the distance of NB migration under the given time, implying a distance-based sensor of melamine. A series of experiments manifested the validity of ET-NB sensor for detection of melamine. Moreover, the results revealed the numerous merits of ET-NB sensor, such as good selectivity, high sensitivity (LOD down to 0.20 µM for milk and 0.10 µM for infant formula vs the FDA safety limits of 20 µM for milk and 8.0 µM for infant formula), good repeatability and recoveries (87-108% for milk, 90-107% for formula). Particularly, the cell phone-like sensor was portable, simple (no any pretreatment), rapid (within 15 min), as well as low cost, to evaluate the quality of dairy products. The developed sensor has great potential in on-spot detection of melamine in dairy products as well as other analytes, at which we are testing in our lab.

Comparison of antimicrobial peptide purification via free-flow electrophoresis and gel filtration chromatography.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are usually small and cationic biomolecules with broad-spectrum antimicrobial activities against pathogens. Purifying them from complex samples is essential to study their physiochemical properties. In this work, free-flow zone electrophoresis (FFZE) was utilized to purify AMPs from yeast fermentation broth. Meanwhile, gel filtration chromatography (GFC) was conducted for comparison. The separation efficiency was evaluated by SDS-PAGE analysis of the fractions from both methods. Our results demonstrated as follows: (i) FFZE had more than 30-fold higher processing capacity as compared with GFC; (ii) FFZE could achieve 87% purity and 89% recovery rate while in GFC these parameters were about 93 and 82%, respectively; (iii) the former had ∼2-fold dilution but the latter had ∼13-fold dilution. Furthermore, Tricine-SDS-PAGE, Native-PAGE, and gel IEF were carried out to characterize the purified AMPs. We found that two peptides existed as a pair with the molecular mass of ∼5.5 and 7.0 kDa, while the same pI 7.8. These two peptides were proved to have the antimicrobial activity through the standardized agar diffusion method. Therefore, FFZE could be used to continuously purify AMPs with high bioactivity, which will lead to its wide application in the clinical and pharmaceutical fields.

A stable and convenient protein electrophoresis titration device with bubble removing system.

Moving reaction boundary titration (MRBT) has a potential application to immunoassay and protein content analysis with high selectivity. However, air bubbles often impair the accuracy of MRBT, and the leakage of electrolyte greatly decreases the safety and convenience of electrophoretic titration. Addressing these two issues a reliable MRBT device with modified electrolyte chamber of protein titration was designed. Multiphysics computer simulation was conducted for optimization according to two-phase flow. The single chamber was made of two perpendicular cylinders with different diameters. After placing electrophoretic tube, the resident air in the junction next to the gel could be eliminated by a simple fast electrolyte flow. Removing the electrophoretic tube automatically prevented electrolyte leakage at the junction due to the gravity-induced negative pressure within the chamber. Moreover, the numerical simulation and experiments showed that the improved MRBT device has following advantages: (i) easy and rapid setup of electrophoretic tube within 20 s; (ii) simple and quick bubble dissipates from the chamber of titration within 2 s; (iii) no electrolyte leakage from the two chambers: and (iv) accurate protein titration and safe instrumental operation. The developed technique and apparatus greatly improves the performance of the previous MRBT device, and providing a new route toward practical application.

An innovative ring-shaped electroeluter for high concentration preparative isolation of protein from polyacrylamide gel.

A ring-shaped electroeluter (RSE) was designed for protein recovery from polyacrylamide gel matrix. The RSE was designed in such a way that a ring-shaped well was used to place gel slices and an enrichment well was used to collect eluted protein samples. With HSA as model protein, the electroelution time was less than 30 min with 80% recovery rate, and the concentration of recovered protein was 50 times higher than that of conventional method. The RSE could be reused at least ten times. The developed device makes great advance towards economic electroelution of biomolecules (such as proteins) from gel matrix.

A new pre-column derivatization for valienamine and beta-valienamine using o-phthalaldehyde to determine the epimeric purity by HPLC and application of this method to monitor enzymatic catalyzed synthesis of beta-valienamine.

Valienamine and ß-valienamine are representative C7 N aminocyclitols with significant glycosidase inhibition activity that have been developed as important precursors of drugs for diabetes and lysosomal storage diseases, respectively. The quantitative analysis of these chiral compounds is crucial for asymmetric in vitro biosynthetic processes for converting valienone into valienamine epimers using aminotransferase. Here, we developed an efficient and sensitive method for separation and quantitative analysis of chiral valienamine using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) through o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) pre-column derivatization of the analytes. The epimers were derivatized by OPA in borate buffer (pH 9.0) at room temperature for 30 s, separated on an Eclipse XDB-C18 (5 µm, 4.6 × 150 mm) column, eluted with 22% acetonitrile at 30 °C for 18 min, and detected by a fluorescence detector using 445 nm emission and 340 nm excitation wavelengths. The average resolution of the epimers is 3.86, and the concentration linearity is in the range of 0.02-20 µg/ml. The method proved to be effective, sensitive, and reliable with good intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy, and successfully evaluated the enantiopreference and catalytic capability of the potential aminotransferases on an unnatural prochiral substrate, facilitating the design of an asymmetric biosynthetic route for optically pure valienamine and ß-valienamine.

Design of suitable carrier buffer for free-flow zone electrophoresis by charge-to-mass ratio and band broadening analysis.

In this work, charge-to-mass ratio (C/M) and band broadening analyses were combined to provide better guidance for the design of free-flow zone electrophoresis carrier buffer (CB). First, the C/M analyses of hemoglobin and C-phycocyanin (C-PC) under different pH were performed by CLC Protein Workbench software. Second, band dispersion due to the initial bandwidth, diffusion, and hydrodynamic broadening were discussed, respectively. Based on the analyses of the C/M and band broadening, a better guidance for preparation of free-flow zone electrophoresis CB was obtained. Series of experiments were performed to validate the proposed method. The experimental data showed high accordance with our prediction allowing the CB to be prepared easily with our proposed method. To further evaluate this method, C-PC was purified from crude extracts of Spirulina platensis with the selected separation condition. Results showed that C-PC was well separated from other phycobiliproteins that have similar physicochemical properties, and analytical grade product with purity up to 4.5 (A620/A280) was obtained.

Enhancing resolution of free-flow zone electrophoresis via a simple sheath-flow sample injection.

In this work, a simple and novel sheath-flow sample injection method (SFSIM) is introduced to reduce the band broadening of free-flow zone electrophoresis separation in newly developed self-balance free-flow electrophoresis instrument. A needle injector was placed in the center of the separation inlet, into which the BGE and sample solution were pumped simultaneously. BGE formed sheath flow outside the sample stream, resulting in less band broadening related to hydrodynamics and electrodynamics. Hemoglobin and C-phycocyanin were successfully separated by the proposed method in contrast to the poor separation of free-flow electrophoresis with the traditional injection method without sheath flow. About 3.75 times resolution enhancement could be achieved by sheath-flow sample injection method.

Retardation signal for fluorescent determination of total protein content via rapid and sensitive chip moving reaction boundary electrophoretic titration.

A novel concept and theory of moving reaction boundary (MRB) retardation signal (RMRB) was advanced for determination of total protein content via MRB electrophoretic titration (MRBET). The theoretical results revealed that the retardation extent of boundary displacment, viz., the RMRB value, was as a function of protein content. Thus, the RMRB value of a sample could be used to determine its total protein content according to the relevant calibration curve. To demonstrate the concept and theoretical results, a novel microdevice was designed for the relevant experiments of MRBET. The microdevice has 30 identical work cells, each of which is composed of five ultrashort single microchannels (5 mm). In the microdevice, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) was used to denote MRB motion and RMRB value for the first time, the polyacrylamide gel (PAG) containing protein sample was photopolymerized in microchannels, and the MRB was created with acid or alkali and target protein sample. As compared to the classic Kjeldahl method and conventional MRBET performed in glass tube, the developed titration chip has the following merits: good sensitivity (0.3-0.4 µg/mL vs 150-200 µg/mL of protein concentration, 0.6-0.8 ng vs 30-2000 µg of absolute protein content), rapid analysis (20-60 s vs 15-200 min), and portable low-power (15 V vs 200 V).

A new strategy for highly efficient single-drop microextraction with a liquid-gas compound pendant drop.

Herein, a simple assembly was designed via a capillary and a funnel-like cap to achieve liquid-gas compound pendant drop (CPD) microextraction with great convenience. Due to the increased contact area and adhesion force between the capillary tip and the drop, the proposed method provides considerable flexibility in producing CPDs with different air bubble sizes. Four pesticides were chosen as model analytes to evaluate the proposed method. By using a 1 µL chlorobenzene droplet containing a 1 µL air bubble at a stirring rate of 700 rpm, a 70 to 135-fold enrichment of pesticides was obtained within 3.4 minutes. As compared with a typical SDME, the proposed method showed a 2-fold increase of enrichment factors and a 4-fold decrease of extraction time. Improvement of the extraction efficiency could be ascribed to the increased surface area of the droplet, and the thin film phenomena further improved the extraction kinetics through effective agitation. The results indicate that CPD microextraction could serve as a promising sample pretreatment method for automated high-throughput analyses in a wide variety of research areas.

Negative-pressure-induced collector for a self-balance free-flow electrophoresis device.

Uneven flow in free-flow electrophoresis (FFE) with a gravity-induced fraction collector caused by air bubbles in outlets and/or imbalance of the surface tension of collecting tubes would result in a poor separation. To solve these issues, this work describes a novel collector for FFE. The collector is composed of a self-balance unit, multisoft pipe flow controller, fraction collector, and vacuum pump. A negative pressure induced continuous air flow rapidly flowed through the self-balance unit, taking the background electrolyte and samples into the fraction collector. The developed collector has the following advantages: (i) supplying a stable and harmonious hydrodynamic environment in the separation chamber for FFE separation, (ii) effectively preventing background electrolyte and sample flow-back at the outlet of the chamber and improving the resolution, (iii) increasing the preparative scale of the separation, and (iv) simplifying the operation. In addition, the cost of the FFE device was reduced without using a multichannel peristaltic pump for sample collection. Finally, comparative FFE experiments on dyes, proteins, and cells were carried out. It is evident that the new developed collector could overcome the problems inherent in the previous gravity-induced self-balance collector.

Fast and selective determination of total protein in milk powder via titration of moving reaction boundary electrophoresis.

In this paper, moving reaction boundary titration (MRBT) was developed for rapid and accurate quantification of total protein in infant milk powder, from the concept of moving reaction boundary (MRB) electrophoresis. In the method, the MRB was formed by the hydroxide ions and the acidic residues of milk proteins immobilized via cross-linked polyacrylamide gel (PAG), an acid-base indicator was used to denote the boundary motion. As a proof of concept, we chose five brands of infant milk powders to study the feasibility of MRBT method. The calibration curve of MRB velocity versus logarithmic total protein content of infant milk powder sample was established based on the visual signal of MRB motion as a function of logarithmic milk protein content. Weak influence of nonprotein nitrogen (NPN) reagents (e.g., melamine and urea) on MRBT method was observed, due to the fact that MRB was formed with hydroxide ions and the acidic residues of captured milk proteins, rather than the alkaline residues or the NPN reagents added. The total protein contents in infant milk powder samples detected via the MRBT method were in good agreement with those achieved by the classic Kjeldahl method. In addition, the developed method had much faster measuring speed compared with the Kjeldahl method.

A simple chip free-flow electrophoresis for monosaccharide sensing via supermolecule interaction of boronic acid functionalized quencher and fluorescent dye.

Here, a simple micro free-flow electrophoresis (µFFE) was developed for fluorescence sensing of monosaccharide via supermolecule interaction of synthesized boronic acid functionalized benzyl viologen (ο-BBV) and fluorescent dye. The µFFE contained two open electrode cavities and an ion-exchange membrane was sandwiched between two polymethylmethacrylate plates. The experiments demonstrated the following merits of developed µFFE: (i) up to 90.5% of voltage efficiency due to high conductivity of ion-exchange membrane; (ii) a strong ability against influence of bubble produced in two electrodes due to open design of electrode cavities; and (iii) reusable and washable separation chamber (45 mm × 17 mm × 100 µm, 77 µL) avoiding the discard of µFFE due to blockage of solute precipitation in chamber. Remarkably, the µFFE was first designed for the sensing of monosaccharide via the supermolecule interaction of synthesized ο-BBV, fluorescent dye, and monosaccharide. Under the optimized conditions, the minimum concentration of monosaccharide that could be detected was 1 × 10(-11) M. Finally, the developed device was used for the detection of 0.3 mM glucose spiked in human urine. All of the results demonstrated the feasibility of monosaccharide detection via the µFFE.

Theoretical and experimental studies on isotachophoresis in multi-moving chelation boundary system formed with metal ions and EDTA.

In this paper, a general mode and theory of moving chelation boundary based isotachophoresis (MCB-based ITP), together with the concept of decisive metal ion (DMI) having the maximum complexation constant (lg Kmax) with the chelator, were developed from a multi-MCB (mMCB) system. The theoretical deductions were: (i) the reaction boundary velocities in the mMCB system at steady state were equal to each other, resulting in a novel MCB-based ITP separation of metal ions; (ii) the boundary directions and velocities in the system were controlled by the fluxes of chelator and DMI, rather than other metal ions; and (iii) a controllable stacking of metal ions could be simultaneously achieved in the developed system. To demonstrate the deductions, a series of experiments were conducted by using model chelator of EDTA and metal ions of Cu(II) and Co(II) due to characteristic colors of blue [Cu-EDTA](2-) and pink [Co-EDTA](2-) complexes. The experiments demonstrated the correctness of theoretical deductions, indicating the validity of the developed model and theory of ITP. These findings provide guidance for the development of MRB-based ITP separation and stacking of metal ions in biological sample matrix and heavy metal ions in environmental samples.

Model creation of moving redox reaction boundary in agarose gel electrophoresis by traditional potassium permanganate method.

A novel moving redox reaction boundary (MRRB) model was developed for studying electrophoretic behaviors of analytes involving redox reaction on the principle of moving reaction boundary (MRB). Traditional potassium permanganate method was used to create the boundary model in agarose gel electrophoresis because of the rapid reaction rate associated with MnO(4)(-) ions and Fe(2+) ions. MRB velocity equation was proposed to describe the general functional relationship between velocity of moving redox reaction boundary (V(MRRB)) and concentration of reactant, and can be extrapolated to similar MRB techniques. Parameters affecting the redox reaction boundary were investigated in detail. Under the selected conditions, good linear relationship between boundary movement distance and time were obtained. The potential application of MRRB in electromigration redox reaction titration was performed in two different concentration levels. The precision of the V(MRRB) was studied and the relative standard deviations were below 8.1%, illustrating the good repeatability achieved in this experiment. The proposed MRRB model enriches the MRB theory and also provides a feasible realization of manual control of redox reaction process in electrophoretic analysis.

Determination of free acidic and alkaline residues of protein via moving reaction boundary titration in microdevice electrophoresis.

As two important physico-chemical parameters, the acidic and alkaline residues of protein are of evident significance for the evaluation of protein properties and the design of relevant separation and analysis. However, there is still no electrophoretic method used for the direct detection of free acidic and alkaline residues of protein. Herein, we developed the concepts of moving reaction boundary (MRB) and MRB titration, relevant MRB titration theory, and the method of microdevice electrophoresis for the determination of free acidic and alkaline residues of protein. In the MRB titration, the boundary was created with acid or alkali and target protein immobilized via highly cross-linked polyacrylamide gel (PAG). It was theoretically revealed that the number of free acidic or alkaline residues of protein was as a function of MRB displacement in the electrophoretic titration system. As a proof of concept, seven model proteins were chosen for the determination of acidic or alkaline residues of protein via MRB titration. The results showed that the numbers of free acidic and alkaline residues of proteins detected were in good agreement with those obtained from the relevant amino sequences in the NCBI database, demonstrating the feasibility of the developed concept, theory and technique. The general methodology of MRB titration has potential application for inexpensive, facilitative and informative protein structure analysis of free acidic or alkaline residues of protein.

Novel moving reaction boundary-induced stacking and separation of human hemoglobins in slab polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

We developed a novel polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) method to stack and separate human hemoglobins (Hbs) based on the concept of moving reaction boundary (MRB). This differs from the classic isotachophoresis (ITP)-based stacking PAGE in the aspect of buffer composition, including the electrode buffer (pH 8.62 Tris-Gly), sample buffer (pH 6.78 Tris-Gly), and separation buffer (pH 8.52 Tris-Gly). In the MRB-PAGE system, a transient MRB was formed between alkaline electrode buffer and acidic sample buffer, being designed to move toward the anode. Hbs carried partial positive charges in the sample buffer due to its pH below pI values of Hbs, resulting in electromigrating to the cathode. Hbs would carry negative charges quickly when migrated into the alkaline electrode buffer and be transported to the anode until meeting the sample buffer again. Thus, Hbs were stacked within a MRB until the transient MRB reached the separation buffer and then separated by zone electrophoresis with molecular sieve effect of the gel. The experimental results demonstrated that there were three clear and sharp protein zones of Hbs (HbA1c, HbA0, and HbA2) in MRB-PAGE, in contrast to only one protein zone (HbA0) in ITP-PAGE for large-volume loading (≥15 µl), indicating high stacking efficiency, separation resolution, and good sensitivity of MRB-PAGE. In addition, MRB-PAGE was performed in a conventional slab PAGE device, requiring no special device. Thus, it could be widely used in separation and analysis of diluted protein in a standard laboratory.

[Detection and analysis of moving reaction boundary-based electrophoresis distance using smartphone images].

Electrophoresis titration (ET) based on the moving reaction boundary (MRB) theory can detect the analyte contents in different samples by converting content signals into distance signals. However, this technique is only suitable for on-site qualitative testing, and accurate quantification relies on complex optical equipment and computers. Hence, applying this method to real-time point-of-care testing (POCT) is challenging. In this study, we developed a smartphone-based ET system based on a visual technique to achieve real-time quantitative detection. First, we developed a portable quantitative ET device that can connect to a smartphone; this device consisted of five components, namely, an ET chip, a power module, a microcontroller, a liquid crystal display screen, and a Bluetooth module. The device measured 10 cm×15 cm×2.5 cm, weighed 300 g, and was easy to hold. Thus, it is suitable for on-site testing with a run time of only 2-4 min. An assistant mobile software program was also developed to control the device and perform ET. The colored electrophoresis boundary can be captured using the smartphone camera, and quantitative detection results can be obtained in real time. Second, we proposed a quantitative algorithm based on ET channels. The software was used to recognize the boundary migration distance of three channels, a standard curve based on two given contents of the standards was established using the two-point method, and the content of the test sample was calculated. Human serum albumin (HSA) and uric acid (UA) were used as a model protein and biosample, respectively, to test the performance of the detection system. For HSA detection, different HSA solutions were mixed with a polyacrylamide gel (PAG) stock solution, phenolphthalein was added as an indicator, and sodium persulfate and tetramethyl ethylenediamine (TEMED) were used to promote polymerization to form a gel. For UA detection, agarose gel was filled into the ET channel, the UA sample, urate oxidase, and leucomalachite green were added into the anode cell and incubated for 20 min. ET was then performed. The fitting goodness (R2) values of HSA and UA were 0.9959 and 0.9935, respectively, with a linear range of 0.5-35.0 g/L and a log-linear range of 100-4000 µmol/L. The limits of detection for HSA and UA were 0.05 g/L and 50 µmol/L, respectively, and the corresponding relative standard deviations (RSDs) were not greater than 2.87% and 3.21%, respectively. These results demonstrate that the detection system has good accuracy and sensitivity. Clinical samples collected from healthy volunteers were used as target blood samples, and the developed system was used to measure serum total protein and UA levels. Serum samples from five volunteers were selected, standard curves of total serum protein and UA were established, and the test results were compared with hospital standard testing results. The relative errors for serum total protein and UA were less than 6.03% and 6.21%, respectively, and the corresponding RSDs were less than 3.72% and 5.84%, respectively. These findings verify the accuracy and reliability of the proposed detection system. The smartphone-based ET detection system introduced in this paper presents several advantages. First, it enables the portable real-time detection of total serum protein and UA. Second, compared with traditional ET strategies based on colored boundaries, it does not rely on optical detection equipment or computers to obtain quantitative detection results; as such, it can reduce the complexity of the operation and provide portability and real-time metrics. Third, the detection of two biomarkers, serum total protein and UA, is achieved on the same device, thereby improving the multitarget detection potential of the ET method. These advantages render the developed method a promising detection platform for clinical applications and real-time POCT.

[Determination of human serum total protein via electrophoresis titration and capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection].

Serum total protein refers to the sum of all proteins in the serum, and its content determination is relevant to human health monitoring and disease diagnosis. However, existing detection techniques present a number of limitations; for example, the Kjeldahl method suffers from the negative effects of interfering substances such as non-protein nitrogen (NPN). Although the electrophoresis titration (ET) method has solved interference problems to some extent, the current ET technique relies on optical detection methods, which increases the tediousness of the operation. This study addresses the challenge of accurate serum total protein detection by combining the traditional ET technique with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C4D). The research contributions of this work are multifold. First, it presents the first development of an ET-C4D detection system, which consists of six components: an ET power module, an ET chip, a C4D sensing module, a detection module, a data acquisition card, and software. The developed system can capture the conductivity of substances in the channel using the software developed by our laboratory during ET. The detection system can be used to quantify the total protein content in human serum without the addition of specific labeling reagents or using optical detection equipment, and its running time is approximately 300 s. Second, this research proposes the corresponding principle of the system. Under an electric field, ion migration results in different pH levels before and after the boundary, leading to a protein surface charge difference. The maintenance of the electrical neutrality of the substances in the detection channel is related to the protein surface charge; therefore, the ion concentration distribution of the substances in the detection channel changes as the protein surface charge varies. A plot of conductivity as a function of running time showed an "inverted clock shape", first falling and then rising. Owing to the addition of different types and concentrations of proteins, the microenvironment of the entire system changes, resulting in different changes in conductivity. Third, the performance of the detection system was tested using human serum albumin (HSA) standard protein, which was mixed with polyacrylamide gel (PAG) mother liquor, riboflavin, etc., and irradiated under ultraviolet light for 10 min to form a gel. The ET experiments were then carried out. The shape of the conductivity curve was consistent with the proposed principle, and the higher the HSA concentration, the lower the conductivity curve trough, followed by a lagged time of the trough. Quantitative analysis of the conductivity signals showed that the linear range was 0.25-3.00 g/L, with a linearity of up to 0.98. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.01 g/L, the relative standard deviation (RSD) was 1.90%, and the relative error of the test values was <7.20%, indicating the good detection stability and sensitivity of the system. Clinical samples collected from healthy volunteers were used as target blood samples for serum total protein content measurement using our detection system. Blood samples from a volunteer were used to obtain a standard curve, and the serum samples of other four volunteers were selected for ET-C4D and biuret detection. The results showed that the relative errors between the two methods were within 4.43%, indicating the accuracy and reliability of the detection system. The advantages of the ET-C4D detection system proposed in this paper are as follows: (i) ET-C4D realizes the rapid detection of total serum protein content based on the ET technique; (ii) compared with the traditional protein ET technique, the ET-C4D method does not rely on specific labeling components or optical detection equipment, thereby reducing the complexity of the operation; and (iii) the output signal of ET-C4D can be used for quantitative analysis with excellent analytical performance and high accuracy. These merits highlight the potential of the developed system for clinical application and biochemical analysis.

Quantitative investigation of resolution increase of free-flow electrophoresis via simple interval sample injection and separation.

Interval free-flow zone electrophoresis (FFZE) has been used to suppress sample band broadening greatly hindering the development of free-flow electrophoresis (FFE). However, there has been still no quantitative study on the resolution increase of interval FFZE. Herein, we tried to make a comparison between bandwidths in interval FFZE and continuous one. A commercial dye with methyl green and crystal violet was well chosen to show the bandwidth. The comparative experiments were conducted under the same sample loading of the model dye (viz. 3.49, 1.75, 1.17, and 0.88 mg/h), the same running time (viz. 5, 10, 15, and 20 min), and the same flux ratio between sample and background buffer (= 10.64 × 10⁻³). Under the given conditions, the experiments demonstrated that (i) the band broadening was evidently caused by hydrodynamic factor in continuous mode, and (ii) the interval mode could clearly eliminate the hydrodynamic broadening existing in continuous mode, greatly increasing the resolution of dye separation. Finally, the interval FFZE was successfully used for the complete separation of two-model antibiotics (herein pyoluteorin and phenazine-1-carboxylic acid coexisting in fermentation broth of a new strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa M18), demonstrating the feasibility of interval FFZE mode for separation of biomolecules.