Division of Analytical Biosciences, Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR), Gorlaeus Laboratories, Einsteinweg 55, Leiden, 2333CC, The Netherlands.
Anal Chem. 2014 May 6;86(9):4078-87. doi: 10.1021/ac403764e. Epub 2014 Apr 16.
Isotachophoresis (ITP) and electric field gradient focusing (EFGF) are two powerful approaches for simultaneous focusing and separation of charged compounds. Remarkably, in many EFGF methods, isotachophoretic hallmarks have been found, including observations of plateau concentrations and contiguous analyte bands. We discuss the similarities between ITP and EFGF and describe promising possibilities to transfer the functionality and applications developed on one platform to other platforms. Of particular importance is the observation that single-electrolyte isotachophoretic separations with tunable ionic mobility window can be performed, as is illustrated with the example of depletion zone isotachophoresis (dzITP). By exploiting the rapid developments in micro- and nanofluidics, many interesting combinations of ITP and EFGF features can be achieved, yielding powerful analytical platforms for sample preparation, biomarker discovery, molecular interaction assays, drug screening, and clinical diagnostics.
等电聚焦（ITP）和电场梯度聚焦（EFGF）是两种强大的用于同时聚焦和分离带电化合物的方法。值得注意的是，在许多 EFGF 方法中，已经发现了等电聚焦的特征，包括观察到的平台浓度和连续的分析物带。我们讨论了 ITP 和 EFGF 之间的相似性，并描述了将在一个平台上开发的功能和应用转移到其他平台的有希望的可能性。特别重要的是观察到可以进行具有可调离子迁移率窗口的单电解质等电聚焦分离，这可以用耗尽区等电聚焦（dzITP）的例子来说明。通过利用微纳流控技术的快速发展，可以实现 ITP 和 EFGF 特征的许多有趣组合，为样品制备、生物标志物发现、分子相互作用分析、药物筛选和临床诊断提供强大的分析平台。
