Affinity capillary electrophoresis: From binding measurement to combinatorial library screening

Affinity capillary electrophoresis is a new procedure for receptor-ligand b inding studies. Since its introduction in the early 1990s, this method has proved valuable in chiral separation of racemates, the measurement of bindi ng constants, the estimation of kinetic rate constants, the determination o f stoichiometries, the investigation of electrostatic interactions, the est imation of effective charges and molecular weights of biomolecules, the cha racterization of enzymatic catalysis, and, most recently, combinatorial lib rary screening in solutions. This technique demands small amounts of sample s, involves no radiolabeled materials or chemically immobilized ligands, an d does not require changes in spectroscopic characteristics upon binding. T his paper reviews the most recent applications of affinity capillary electr ophoresis in binding measurement and combinatorial library screening.