In this work we evaluated a novel microreactor prepared using a surface modified, high surface-to-volume ratio multi-lumen fused silica capillary (MLC). The MLC investigated contained 126 parallel channels, each of 4 μm internal diameter. The MLC, along with conventional fused silica capillaries of 25 μm and 50 μm internal diameter, were treated by (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) and then modified with gold nanoparticles, of ∼20 nm in diameter, to ultimately provide immobilisation sites for the proteolytic enzyme, trypsin. The modified capillaries and MLCs were characterised and profiled using non-invasive scanning capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (sC⁴D). The sC⁴D profiles confirmed a significantly higher amount of enzyme was immobilised to the MLC when compared to the fused silica capillaries, attributable to the increased surface to volume ratio. The MLC was used for dynamic protein digestion, where peptide fragments were collected and subjected to off-line chromatographic evaluation. The digestion was achieved with the MLC reactor, using a residence time of just 1.26 min, following which the HPLC peak associated with the intact protein decreased by >70%. The MLC reactors behaved similarly to the classical in vitro or in-solution approach, but provided a reduction in digestion time, and fewer peaks associated with trypsin auto-digestion, which is common using in-solution digestion. The digestion of cytochrome C using both the MLC-IMER and the in-solution approach, resulted in a sequence coverage of ∼80%. The preparation of the MLC microreactor was reproducible with <2.5% RSD between reactors (n = 3) as determined by sC⁴D.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	multi-lumen capillary, trypsin reactor, LC-UV, LC-MS, peptides
Research Division:	Chemical Sciences
Research Group:	Other chemical sciences
Research Field:	Other chemical sciences not elsewhere classified
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding knowledge in the chemical sciences
UTAS Author:	Currivan, SA (Dr Sinead Currivan)
UTAS Author:	Wilson, R (Dr Richard Wilson)
UTAS Author:	Sanz Rodriguez, E (Dr Estrella Sanz Rodriguez)
UTAS Author:	Upadhyay, N (Mr Nirved Upadhyay)
UTAS Author:	Nesterenko, PN (Professor Pavel Nesterenko)
UTAS Author:	Paull, B (Professor Brett Paull)
ID Code:	128957
Year Published:	2018
Web of Science® Times Cited:	9
Deposited By:	Chemistry
Deposited On:	2018-10-29
Last Modified:	2022-08-29
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