Affinity-based CE Studies to Facilitate Bioprobe Design and Microbe Detection.

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The Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry supports Prof. Christa Colyer and her group at Wake Forest University to develop rapid and sensitive assays based on capillary electrophoresis (CE) methodologies and employing rationally designed bioprobes for protein targets. Applications include quantitative assessment of the noncovalent binding properties of novel squarylium and triazolylcoumarin dyes towards proteins based on CE affinity, and comparison with solid phase microextraction methods (in collaboration with Dr. Hiroyuki Nakazumi of Osaka Prefecture University in Japan; David Silcott of S3I, LLC; and Dr. Janusz Pawliszyn of the University of Waterloo, Canada). Application of affinity CE to ligand-receptor interactions essential to the function of the B7 family of proteins involved in the regulation of immune responses is also being assessed (in collaboration with Dr. Lieping Chen of Johns Hopkins University). CE-based assays employing designed boronic acid-based bioprobes are being developed (in collaboration with Dr. Qian Wang and Dr. Karen Fox of the University of South Carolina) to identify carbohydrate-based residues unique to the surfaces of viral and bacterial agents of importance to human health and security, such as the influenza virus and Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) spores. Improved bacterial analysis will support differentiation and quantitation of various intact cyanobacteria species, their constituent phycobiliproteins, and their tetrapyrrole bilin pigments. This unique three-pronged CE methodology should enhance understanding of the role of cyanobacteria in the global carbon cycle.In conjunction with this research, Dr. Colyer is engaged in various community and academic outreach ventures, such as a summer research program for undergraduate students at High Point University and the creation of a workshop entitled "Electrophoresis Working Weekend" for the academic enrichment of faculty and students from regional colleges and universities. An international student exchange between Wake Forest University and Osaka Prefecture University in Japan will better prepare students for the increasingly interdisciplinary and globalized nature of scientific research. Additionally, a series of case studies based on research results will be developed to provide college-level instructors with the resources necessary to teach modern separation science and biosensing methods. This series of case studies, to be called "Separation Shorts," will be submitted for publication in the peer-reviewed collection of the NSF-funded National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science.