Review on Capillary Iso-Electric Focusing (CIEF)

In late 2019 I was invited to submit a review on Capillary Iso-Electric Focusing for Wiley Series Encyclopedia of Analytical Chemistry. Since I am not so deeply involved in research in CIEF, and it was in the scope of the series, it was agreed that the manuscript could be tutorial-style, aimed to explain and help the readers to step into CIEF.

Abstract

Capillary isoelectric focusing (CIEF) has proven to be a very versatile separation method for characterization, identification, purity determination, and quantitation of amphoteric substances such as peptides and proteins. CIEF has become an indispensable and invaluable analytical tool in proteomics research, in the development of new biotherapeutics, and in quality and process control of their manufacturing.
The method is based on arranging and separating proteins according to their isoelectric point (pI), allowing to determine changes in the charge state of proteins after structural modifications such as deamidation, oxidation, isomerization, N-terminus modification, disulfide formation, and glycosylation.
Modifications that change biochemical characteristics of biotherapeutics such as their isoelectric point (pI) reduce their safety and long-term stability, influence drug efficacy, and increase undesired immunogenicity.

Here is the connection to the manuscript in the series. You will need a Wiley account for the Encyclopedia to access the paper. In case you do not have access but need a copy of the manuscript for private usage please contact me via the form.

Tutorial @ MSB2021 on Capillary Iso-Electric Focusing (CIEF)

At the 37th issue of the Microscale Separations and Bioanalysis symposium, I had the privilege to present a tutorial lecture on Capillary Iso-Electric Focusing. 

Abstract. Since the inception of iso-electric focusing (IEF) as a high-resolution electrophoretic technique for the separation of amphoteric substances by Tiselius and Vestenberg, it has become a prime methodology for the separation of protein mixtures.

A Tribute to Prof. K-P Hupe, Scientist, and Entrepreneur

Along with receiving the Pittcon Heritage Award 2021, Agilent Technologies in Waldbronn invited me to deliver a comprehensive presentation of the scientific works and the entrepreneurial endeavors of Prof. Peter Hupe at the first Agilent Infinity Lab LC virtual scientific conference, on June 22 and 23. Details of this conference can be found at the following location Agilent Virtual Event.

Pittsburgh Conference Heritage Award for Peter Hupe

As you may have learned otherwise, Prof. K-P. Hupe was honored with the Pittcon Heritage Award from the Science History Institute in Philadelphia. The award was presented at this year's virtual Pittsburgh Conference, Monday, March 8, 2021 The submission has been prepared in a joint effort of Fred Strohmeier and myself and with help from many others like Ron Majors and Dieter Hoehn.

The video registration of the award ceremony can be found here. The first speaker's recording is mono audio. Please use a headset with two loudspeakers.

The Development of HPCE at Hewlett-Packard in the eighties and the nineties

 At this year's virtual Pittsburgh Conference, I was invited to contribute to the Thirty-Second James L. Waters Symposium – Capillary Electrophoresis with an oral presentation on the development of High-Performance Capillary Electrophoresis instrumentation at Hewlett-Packard in the eighties and nineties of the last century. There were three more talks in this symposium by Norman Dovichi, Bob Weinberger, and Jeff Chapman. Program information is not available online anymore.

You can view the registration of the presentation here.

From September 1 to 4, the 36th International Symposium on Electroseparations and Liquid Phase Separation techniques took place at the University Paul Sabatier in Toulouse. Please check the website at https://www.itp2019.com for details on the scientific program and activities.

Like at other conferences, I was invited to arrange the review of posters for the Best Poster Award and the review of Oral Presentations by a Young Scientist (≤ 35 years) Award. You can find some more details at https://www.itp2019.com/awards.php and in the award presentation that is posted at this location. (be aware that depending on your browser settings, the document goes directly to your download folder and does not open). The picture on the next page shows all the awardees together with the symposium chairmen, the president of the AfSep, and me, chairman of the review boards

Chromatography Today is a magazine very much like LC.GC, publishing manuscripts on new developments in the field of gas and liquid phase separations. Manuscripts may be communications on the application of GC and HPLC in actual hot fields in the market, about new developments in instrumentation for GC and HPLC, data evaluation software, columns, and consumables for analysis and sample preparation, and about hyphenation with mass spectrometry and other detection systems. The magazine also accepts more elaborate papers about progress in separation science and tutorial style manuscript explaining new techniques without too much depth to the readership of Chromatography Today. 

The editor of Chromatography Today has asked me to arrange a focus issue on CE and CE-MS. A number of my peers have contributed to the focus issue. The focus manuscripts will be part of the digital issue of Chromatography Today which you will find here soon (March issue).

My contribution to the issue deals with iCIEF. I have intended to provide a tutorial contribution painting the concept of iso-electrofocusing from flat gel plate to capillary formate and more recently to the instrumental implementation in imaged capillary isoelectric focusing. I hope the manuscript will interest you.

I have made it available from this website for registered visitors from here (be aware that depending on your browser settings, the document goes directly to your download folder and does not open). If you have registered on my website please click the button "registered visitors" and enter your credentials. If you have forgotten your credentials or want to register please use the button "contact me" also on the top of the page.

It is my pleasure to announce the publication by Agilent Technologies of a 100-page guidebook on CE/MS. It is intended as a resource for novices and practitioners of CE/MS and has a focus on the Agilent CE/MS product and applications.

It is the intention of this guidebook to help novices to step into the practical application of CE/MS, and to provide current users with relevant information on method development and on diagnosis of practical problems. Towards this goal, the booklet is divided into two parts:

Part 1: Concepts of CE/MSDescription of the concept of CE/MS coupling with detailed emphasis to help understand the technique and to choose proper starting conditions. This part is my contribution.

Part 2: Practice of CE/MS Detailed description of the practice according to recommendations of Agilent that help to set up the CE instrument, the interface, the MS, and to provide current users with relevant information on method development and on the diagnosis of practical problems. Also, detailed guidelines to do system performance verification will be given. This second part is contributed by Agilent specialists mentioned on page 10 of the booklet. 

Leading experts in the field of CE/MS, Dr. Julie Schappler of Geneva University and Prof. Dr. Christian Neusüß have contributed with forewords.

The booklet is highly recommended especially for those who are considering applying CE/MS in their research. A click on the cover page will allow you to access the booklet from the Agilent website.