Instrumentation for capillary electrophoresis and microchip electrophoresis.

Abstract

Carlos D. Garcia Emanuel Carrilho Capillary electrophoresis (CE) and microchip electrophoresis have matured into well-accepted methodologies. Although the techniques have seen incredible progress in terms of available methods and applications, these fields now face the great challenge of delivering truly inexpensive, simple, fast, and efficient analytical platforms. We believe this is not a trivial task that will require not only a sustained commitment to training scientists that can target more complicated matrices and samples relevant to emerging global problems, but also the development of software and hardware to support such ideas. In line with that goal, we present the 2014 Special Issue of Electrophoresis dedicated to Instrumentation for Capillary Electrophoresis and Microchip Electrophoresis. This issue, the third in the series that started in 2010 [Vol. 31, Issue 15], presents a variety of papers focusing on the analysis of different biologically active molecules with the common theme of developments in instrumentation. First and foremost, we would like to thank the contributors that submitted their work to this issue and our collegues that participated as reviewers providing invaluable feedback and allowing the selection of this group of high quality papers. Second, we would like to thank the Editor-in-Chief, Professor Ziad El Rassi, and the editorial team of the journal for their efforts and constant feedback. Last but not least, we would like to recognize the scientific community who has continued to support the initiative and recognizes the value of these contributions. To open this issue, we present five reviews focused on microfluidics for membrane proteins (Battle et. al.), fluoresecence correlation spectroscopy and microchannels (Ren et. al.), thermal lens detection in microdevices (Cassano et. al.), CE-MS for metabolomics (Rodrigues Robledo et. al.), and low-cost microfluidic platforms (de Jesus et. al.). In terms of hardware, the issue follows with three articles dedicated to the fabrication of microchips using laser engraving (Moreira Gabriel et. al.), a robotic platform for the detection of bacteria (Nejdl et. al.), and a procedure for the modification of PDMS (Silva et. al.), one of the most commonly used substrates for the fabrication of microchips. Sample preparation and fluid handling is the focus of the following three articles addressing hydraulic pumping ion capillaries (Yobas et. al.), high-speed CE injections (Fang et. al.), and the use of open-source platforms to control a series of microfluidic pumps (Costa et. al.). Separation and detection is addressed by papers targeting DNA polymorphisms (Yu et. al.), NACE-MS for metabolic studies (Karst et. al.), a battery-powered device for single cell analysis (Tsai et. al.), and a single-chip detector for CE (Drevinskas et. al.). Lastly, the issue is closed by three short communications discussing details related to a Peltier array for enzymology studies (Craig et. al.), a simple approach to compensate the suction caused by EIS in CE-MS (do Lago et. al.), and a paper-based microfluidic reactor (Ferrer et. al.). In conclusion, the 18 papers presented in this Issue highlight prominent examples of the importance of instrumentation to the advancement of capillary electrophoresis and related techniques. We envision that contributions from industry and funding agencies will soon increase the support needed to further promote initiatives linked to instrumentation for CE. Carlos D. Garcia Emanuel Carrilho