Self-interaction chromatography of proteins on a microfluidic monolith.

A novel miniaturized system has been developed for measuring protein-protein interactions in solution with high efficiency and speed, and minimal use of protein. A chromatographic monolith synthesized in a capillary is used in the method to make interaction measurements by self-interaction chromatography (SIC) in a manner that, compared to column methods, is more efficient as well as more readily practicable even if only small amounts of protein are available. The microfluidic monolith requires much less protein for both column synthesis and the chromatographic measurements than a conventional SIC system, and in addition offers improved mass transfer and hence higher chromatographic efficiency than for previous SIC miniaturization systems. Protein self-interactions for catalase as a model protein, quantified by measurement of second virial coefficients, B(22), were determined by SIC and follow trends that are consistent with previously reported values. Different column derivatization conditions were studied in order to optimize the chromatographic behavior of the microfluidic system for SIC measurements. Chromatographic sensitivity can be further increased by using different column synthesis conditions.