Minature Devices for Electrophoretic Sample Preparation

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): An "instant electrophoresis" (IE) device is being developed for low-cost, convenient, small-scale sample cleanup. The device, comprised of small units that snap together, fills a gap in the field of electrophoresis. This is because sample cleanup is expensive or impractical to perform with current electrophoresis devices. In Phase I, a process was developed to produce prototype IE devices simply and inexpensively, and these were used to purify (to >99% purity at 59-68% recovery) a charged dye from a mixture with a neutral dye. The device provided intrinsic collection chambers. This met the required Specific Aims for Phase I. In Phase II, several modes of IE will be developed, taking advantage of the diversity of ways in which electrophoretic separations can be performed. Applications will be demonstrated to promote the product with an emphasis on initial, partial cleanup of real samples, an area where electrophoresis has played little role. These applications will emphasize methods based on detection by mass spectrometry. This is a good match because the IE device is intended for purification of small samples, and analysis of small samples is a forte of mass spectrometry. The basic IE device from the Phase I project will be applied to a diversity of applications in Phase II. Some of these applications will be repeatedly tested and others will emerge, as the basic IE device undergoes modifications and additions in such features as size, choice of membranes, inclusion of gels, and availability of variants and physical accessories to broaden its usefulness. Commercially-important applications will be emphasized, in areas such as proteomics, drug metabolism, reagent purification, and derivatization. Potentially, the IE device will be used not only by those who already work routinely with electrophoresis, but also by those who would consider it only if it were a simple disposable technique. Chromatography has solid phase extraction and thin layer chromatography as disposable techniques that provide simple or partial purifications. This project brings a corresponding device to electrophoresis. A simple, low cost new tool will become available for removing interfering substances from samples ranging from human plasma to new drug candidates. It will permit the latest methods of analysis to be more effective in the diagnosis of disease and more rapid and sensitive for the development of better drugs for treatment.