Hyaluronic Acid (Polysaccharides)
The Application Notebook
Wyatt Technology Corporation
Hyaluronic acid (HA) is an ubiquitous, very high molar mass polysaccharide that has been of particular importance in opthalmic surgery. HA acts as a molecular "shock-absorber" and stabilizer for cells and its visco-elastic properties are valuable for separating tissue and maintaining shape. It is a critical component in tissue lubrication and is believed to play a leading role in wound repair. Finally, HA's property of non-pyrogenicity makes it an ideal sheath for implants, whose presence might cause the body to suffer an immune response.
Among the many benefits high molecular weight HA hold are:
- the maintenance of tissue space for surgery
- the protection of cells and tissue
- therapeutic effectiveness.
HA's therapeutic effectiveness depends critically on molecular weight: the higher the molecular weight, the longer its benefit. However, because of its visco-elastic properties, standards-based GPC analysis is inappropriate for characterizing HA. There exist no standards identical to HA and the desirability of altering experimental conditions renders conventional GPC/SEC impractical.
Combining a DAWN with HPLC separation, however, provides an ideal platform for absolute characterization, since the light-scattering measurements do not depend on pump speed, polymer standards, or molecular conformation.
Figure 1: From the molar mass versus time plot, subtle differences can be seen among the samples.
A DAWN was connected to a GPC/SEC line (100 mM NaN03 buffer, TSK-Gel G6000PW column, Optilab DSP refractometer, Waters 510 pump) and the data required to determine not only absolute molar mass, but also molecular size, was generated for a variety of HA products.
Figure 2: The differential molar mass distributions calculated by ASTRA immediately confirm the large differences among the three HA samples.
Figure 1 shows the molar mass versus time (with the 90° light-scattering chromatograms in the background) for the three samples, ranging from approximately 2 million to less than 200K Daltons. Figure 2 illustrates how profoundly different the samples are by revealing their differential molar mass distributions. These indicate that the samples will behave in different ways when used medically, depending on the content of their high molecular weight HA.
Wyatt Technology Corporation
6300 Hollister Avenue, Santa Barbara, California 93117, USA
Tel: +1 (805) 681 9009 fax +1 (805) 681 0123
E-mail: info@wyatt.com Website: www.wyatt.com
Analyzing Bone Proteins in Forensic Laboratories Using LC−MS/MS
November 4th 2024A recent study compared different workflows for extracting, purifying, and analyzing bone proteins using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS), including an in-StageTip protocol previously optimized for forensic applications, and two protocols using novel suspension-trap technology (S-Trap) and different lysis solutions. LCGC International discussed this work with Noemi Procopio of the School of Law and Policing and the Research Centre for Field Archaeology and Forensic Taphonomy at the University of Central Lancashire (UK), corresponding author of the paper that resulted from this study.
AI and GenAI Applications to Help Optimize Purification and Yield of Antibodies From Plasma
October 31st 2024Deriving antibodies from plasma products involves several steps, typically starting from the collection of plasma and ending with the purification of the desired antibodies. These are: plasma collection; plasma pooling; fractionation; antibody purification; concentration and formulation; quality control; and packaging and storage. This process results in a purified antibody product that can be used for therapeutic purposes, diagnostic tests, or research. Each step is critical to ensure the safety, efficacy, and quality of the final product. Applications of AI/GenAI in many of these steps can significantly help in the optimization of purification and yield of the desired antibodies. Some specific use-cases are: selecting and optimizing plasma units for optimized plasma pooling; GenAI solution for enterprise search on internal knowledge portal; analysing and optimizing production batch profitability, inventory, yields; monitoring production batch key performance indicators for outlier identification; monitoring production equipment to predict maintenance events; and reducing quality control laboratory testing turnaround time.
Profiling Volatile Organic Compounds in Whisky with GC×GC–MS
November 1st 2024Researchers from Austria, Greece, and Italy conducted a study to analyze volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in Irish and Scotch whiskys using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) Arrow with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC×GC–MS) to examine the organoleptic characteristics that influence the taste of spirits.
