Four Decades of Capillary Electrophoresis

Robert Weinberger, CE Technologies, Inc, NY, USA

While the pioneering work of Stellan Hjerten1 set the stage for the development of modern CE, this story will begin in the 1980s with the reports of Jorgenson and Lukacs2. That decade was an age of discovery as the attributes of CE were determined.  Separations of urinary porphyrins are used to describe the learning curve3. The 1990s was the decade of high aspirations.  Few small molecules escaped separation and the foundation for the human genome project was developed.  The first genome was sequenced by 2001.  The advent of ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) introduced in 2004 negated the advantages of CE for small molecules.  There were more disappointments when the CE separation of heparin and impurities4 was replaced by an inferior anion-exchange method.  The status of CE in the 2010s is alive and well.  CE is generally accepted for biotechnology derived proteins using size separations, isoelectric focusing and for carbohydrates.  CE mass spectrometry is beginning to mature and a variety of DNA and RNA applications are mature.  Sanger sequencing is still important, primarily for checking plasmid integrity.  The most important DNA application is for forensic human identification5. Clinical chemistry applications with emphasis on serum protein6 and hemoglobin separations will be discussed.

References:

[1]  Hjerten, S. (1967). "Free Zone Electrophoresis." Chromatogr. Rev. 9: 122-219.
[2]  Jorgenson, J. W. and K. D. Lukacs (1981). "Free-Zone Electrophoresis in Glass Capillaries." Clin. Chem. 27: 1551-1553.
[3] Weinberger, R., E. Sapp, et al. (1990). "Capillary electrophoresis of urinary porphyrins with absorbance and fluorescence detection." J Chromatogr 516(1): 271-285.
[4] Wielgos, T., K. Havel, et al. (2009). "Determination of impurities in heparin by capillary electrophoresis using high molarity phosphate buffers." J Pharm Biomed Anal 49(2): 319-326.
[5] Butler, J. M., E. Buel, et al. (2004). "Forensic DNA typing by capillary electrophoresis using the ABI Prism 310 and 3100 genetic analyzers for STR analysis." Electrophoresis 25(10-11): 1397-141
[6] Bossuyt, X. (2003). "Separation of serum proteins by automated capillary zone electrophoresis." Clin Chem Lab Med 41(6): 762-772.

---

Short Biography of Presenting Author

Dr. Robert Weinberger has been a consultant since 1991 in the field of High Performance Capillary Electrophoresis and related technologies. He is President of CE Technologies, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in contract research using HPCE. He has been the instructor of the American Chemical Society Short Course entitled "Capillary Electrophoresis of Biomolecules" for over 20 years and is the author of the textbook “Practical Capillary Electrophoresis”.  Several thousand students passed through his courses over the years. He has written nearly 100 columns and meeting reviews in American Laboratory and he is the author of over 50 papers, book chapters and patents in the fields of electrophoresis and liquid chromatography. He served as an expert witness in capillary electrophoresis patent litigation surrounding the human genome project and provided expert opinions concerning the purity of potentially contaminated heparin samples, drug substances and dietary supplements. Recent projects have involved separation of intact glycoforms of recombinant proteins.