Application of Nanocomposite Polymer Hydrogels for Ultra-Sensitive Fluorescence Detection of Proteins in Gel Electrophoresis

Publication date: Available online 23 May 2017
Source:TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry
Author(s): Mohammad Zarei
Polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) are a special class of materials which nanoparticles (NPs) dispersed in a polymer matrix resulting in novel materials having unique physical and chemical properties. Successful combination of different properties of the NPs with the existing properties of polymers matrix became the goal of scientists. Gel electrophoresis is a gold standard analysis tool used as a routine and important separation technique for proteomics and genomics characterization of proteins and DNA samples. Various strategies were proposed for improving the parent method performance including incorporation of nanomaterials. This review focuses on the latest applications and achievements of using PNCs as separation medium in gel electrophoresis. For each type of nanomaterials, we describe different examples. Also, we propose strategies for improving the efficiency and influence of NPs in host polymer hydrogel matrix. Further, we discuss potential directions and issues worth exploring for application of novel PNCs in gel electrophoresis.

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