Development of Analytical Methods for Clarification of Biological Phenomena

A special issue of Separations (ISSN 2297-8739).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2018) | Viewed by 20427

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Grad Sch Pharm Sci, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Interests: HPLC; fluorescence; chemiluminescence; microfluidics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Clarification of biological phenomena relies on powerful analytical methods that can cope with quantitative or qualitative analysis of a large number of endogenous compounds in very different and complex matrices. Separation is considered one of the most important analytical methods. Chromatographic methods, especially HPLC, appear to be the most common because the techniques allow for the separation of quite complicated mixtures of analytes.

In this Special issue, the contribution of original research and review articles regarding separation techniques and analytical methods with high sensitivity and selectivity, which are applied to biological fluids, are welcome.

Dr. Makoto Tsunoda
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • chromatography
  • electrophoresis
  • mass spectrometry
  • metabolome
  • proteome
  • biological fluids

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 3930 KiB  
Article
Influence of a Pulsed Electric Field on Charge Generation in a Flowing Protein Solution
by Yuri D. Ivanov, Andrey F. Kozlov, Rafael A. Galiullin, Vadim Yu. Tatur, Vadim S. Ziborov, Sergey A. Usanov and Tatyana O. Pleshakova
Separations 2018, 5(2), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations5020029 - 21 May 2018
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2899
Abstract
It is known that a charge is generated in water and protein solutions upon their motion; this phenomenon is also observed in analytical systems for atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based fishing. At that, the efficiency of protein fishing correlates with the value of charge, [...] Read more.
It is known that a charge is generated in water and protein solutions upon their motion; this phenomenon is also observed in analytical systems for atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based fishing. At that, the efficiency of protein fishing correlates with the value of charge, generated upon the motion of the analyzed solution. Earlier, we demonstrated that a pulsed electric field can well be used for the enhancement of the efficiency of AFM-based fishing of low-abundant protein. In this paper, we have demonstrated the influence of a pulsed electric field on the stimulation of the electric charge generation in a solution of low-abundant proteins observed in the injector part of an AFM-based fishing system at 23 °C and 38 °C. Taking this effect into account is important for the development of novel highly sensitive flow-based diagnostic systems, as well as for the development of models describing the influence of a pulsed electric field on pathological processes in the body, hemodynamics, and physicochemical properties of solutions. Full article
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9 pages, 1147 KiB  
Article
Mass Spectrometric Determination of the Effect of Surface Deactivation on Membranes Used for In-Situ Sampling of Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF)
by Torgny Undin, Andreas P. Dahlin, Jonas Bergquist and Sara Bergström Lind
Separations 2018, 5(2), 27; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations5020027 - 7 May 2018
Viewed by 3525
Abstract
In this paper, a strategy for structured monitoring of surface modifications to control protein adsorption to membrane structures is presented. The already established on-surface enzymatic digestion (oSED) method combined with nano-liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis was employed for the analysis [...] Read more.
In this paper, a strategy for structured monitoring of surface modifications to control protein adsorption to membrane structures is presented. The already established on-surface enzymatic digestion (oSED) method combined with nano-liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis was employed for the analysis of proteins in ventricular cerebrospinal fluid (vCSF) from neurointensive care patients. Protein adsorption was studied by in-situ sampling in a temporally resolved manner on both immobilized native and Pluronic-deactivated membranes. Deactivation was significantly reducing the protein adsorption but it also induced novel selective properties of the surface. The proposed versatile strategy will facilitate protein-biomaterial, protein-polymer, protein-protein interaction studies in the future. Full article
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8 pages, 834 KiB  
Communication
Detection of Volatile Compounds Emitted from Nasal Secretions and Serum: Towards Non-Invasive Identification of Diseased Cattle Biomarkers
by Devin L. Maurer, Jacek A. Koziel, Terry J. Engelken, Vickie L. Cooper and Jenna L. Funk
Separations 2018, 5(1), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations5010018 - 12 Mar 2018
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 5929
Abstract
Non-invasive diagnostics and finding biomarkers of disease in humans have been a very active research area. Some of the analytical technologies used for finding biomarkers of human disease are finding their use in livestock. Non-invasive sample collection from diseased cattle using breath and [...] Read more.
Non-invasive diagnostics and finding biomarkers of disease in humans have been a very active research area. Some of the analytical technologies used for finding biomarkers of human disease are finding their use in livestock. Non-invasive sample collection from diseased cattle using breath and headspace of fecal samples have been reported. In this work, we explore the use of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from bovine nasal secretions and serum for finding biomarkers for bovine respiratory disease (BRD). One hundred nasal swabs and 100 serum samples (n = 50 for both ‘sick’ and ‘healthy’) were collected at the time of treatment for suspected BRD. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) was used to collect headspace samples that were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). It was possible to separate sick cattle using non-invasive analyses of nasal swabs and also serum samples by analyzing and comparing volatiles emitted from each group of samples. Four volatile compounds were found to be statistically significantly different between ‘sick’ and ‘normal’ cattle nasal swabs samples. Five volatile compounds were found to be significantly different between ‘sick’ and ‘normal’ cattle serum samples, with phenol being the common marker. Future studies are warranted to improve the extraction efficiency targeting VOCs preliminarily identified in this study. These findings bring us closer to the long-term goal of real-time, animal-side detection and separation of sick cattle. Full article
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Review

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38 pages, 27130 KiB  
Review
Challenges in Separations of Proteins and Small Biomolecules and the Role of Modern Mass Spectroscopy Tools for Solving Them, as Well as Bypassing Them, in Structural Analytical Studies of Complex Biomolecular Mixtures
by Marko Haramija
Separations 2018, 5(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations5010011 - 5 Feb 2018
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 7371
Abstract
State-of-the-art purification of biomolecules, as well as separation of complex omic mixtures, is crucial for modern biomedical research. Mass spectroscopy (MS) represents a technique that both requires very clean biomedical samples and can substantially assist liquid chromatography (LC) separations, using either LC-MS or [...] Read more.
State-of-the-art purification of biomolecules, as well as separation of complex omic mixtures, is crucial for modern biomedical research. Mass spectroscopy (MS) represents a technique that both requires very clean biomedical samples and can substantially assist liquid chromatography (LC) separations, using either LC-MS or LC-MS/MS methods available. Here, a brief overview of the applicability of LC-MS/MS methodology for structural analyses of complex omic mixtures without prior purification of each sample component will be given. When necessary bioinformatic tools are available, these can be carried out quite quickly. However, manual data analysis of such complex mixtures is typically very slow. On the other hand, the need for high-level purity of protein samples for modern biomedical research will be discussed. Often, modification of protein purification protocols is needed, or additional purification steps may be either required or preferred. In the context of mass spectroscopy-related biomedical research, purification of pmol and subpmol amounts of biomedical samples, as well as commercial availability of pmol amounts of purified standards will be discussed. Full article
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