Two Original Experimental Setups for Staircase Frontal Affinity Chromatography at the Miniaturized Scale

Anal Chem. 2021 Dec 28;93(51):16981-16986. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.1c04772. Epub 2021 Dec 15.

Abstract

Frontal affinity chromatography is a powerful, underappreciated technique for the qualitative (screening) and quantitative (Kd determination) evaluation of biological interactions. Its development has been previously hampered by its sample consumption, limited throughput, and lack of dedicated instrumentation especially at a miniaturized scale. This work describes two original experimental devices allowing nano-frontal affinity chromatography titrations (nano-FAC) to be automatically implemented in the time-saving staircase mode. The first nano-FAC system utilizes a capillary electrophoresis device (7100 CE Agilent system) in the pressurization mode with in situ UV detection. The second nano-FAC experimental setup implements a nano-LC device (Ultimate 3000 Thermo) modified with a 10-port valve equipped with two superloops (loop volume, 5 μL) operating alternatively and automatically in a single run. The benefits and drawbacks of each approach are exemplified using two model protein-ligand interactions (concanavalin A-mannose and concanavalin A-glucose). The two methods result in concordant dissociation constants (Kd) and number of active site (Bact) values, obtained in a fully automated manner, with low sample consumption and good throughput.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Chromatography, Affinity
  • Electrophoresis, Capillary*
  • Ligands

Substances

  • Ligands