Affinity capillary electrophoresis: From binding measurement to combinatorial library screening

Affinity capillary electrophoresis is a new procedure for receptor-ligand binding studies. Since its introduction in the early 1990s, this method has proved valuable in chiral separation of racemates, the measurement of binding constants, the estimation of kinetic rate constants, the determination of stoichiometries, the investigation of electrostatic interactions, the estimation of effective charges and molecular weights of biomolecules, the characterization of enzymatic catalysis, and, most recently, combinatorial library screening in solutions. This technique demands small amounts of samples, involves no radiolabeled materials or chemically immobilized ligands, and does not require changes in spectroscopic characteristics upon binding. This paper reviews the most recent applications of affinity capillary electrophoresis in binding measurement and combinatorial library screening.