96-well sample plates

One example of a miniaturized LC/MS strategy is the use of 96-well sample plates (Kaye et al., 1996) for extraction. This sample extraction procedure combines batch sample processing within a miniaturized format. Increased sensitivity and decreased volume advances have fostered a new wave of scale-down models. Experiments that were formerly performed at the bench are, instead, performed at the microliter scale in the batch mode. For example, synthetic process research was traditionally performed manually with apparatus at the milliliter level. This approach involves the testing of a range of synthetic conditions for optimum yield and minimum impurity production. Now, process research conditions are tested in microliter levels to produce information on purity and structure (Rourick et al., 1996). This strategy requires fewer reagents and accelerates the evaluation of a wider range of conditions in a shorter time. Another example includes the direct analysis of samples from cell culture experiments (Kerns et al., 1997). 

Figure 8 Automated high-throughput RNA analysis by capillary electrophoresis. Typical batch processing profiles of a 96-well sample plate. Total RNA sample preparations from rice (traces 1-76 from top), arabidopsis (traces 77-95), and yeast (trace 96) 6 pL each in 96-well plate. Conditions 50-pm-i.d. capillary, =10 cm (L = 30 cm) sieving medium, 1% PVP (polyvinylpirrolidone, MW= 1.3 MDa), 4 M urea, 1 xTBE, 0.5 pM ethidium bromide =500 V/cm 25°C. RNA samples were diluted in deionized water and denatured at 65°C for 5 min prior to analysis. Sample tray was stored at 4°C in the CE instrument during processing. Injection vacuum (5 s at 3.44 kPa). Separation matrix was replaced after each run, 2 min at 551 kPa. (Reproduced with permission from Ref. 102.)...

Ishihama et al. [147] have describe a rapid screening method for determining pK values of pharmaceutical samples by pressure-assisted CE, coupled with a photodiode array detector. Each CE run was completed in less than 1 min, so a 96-well microtiter plate could be measured in one day. Determinations of the pKa values of 82 drugs illustrated this interesting new method. 

He et al. (2002) used an off-line HPLC/CE method to map cancer cell extracts. Frozen ovarian cancer cells (containing 107 cells) were reconstituted in 300 pL of deionized water and placed in an ultrasonic bath to lyse the cells. Then the suspension was centrifuged and the solubilized proteins were collected for HPLC fractionation. The HPLC separation was carried out on an instrument equipped with a RP C-4 column, 250 mm x 4.6 mm, packed with 5-pm spherical silica particles. Extracted proteins were dissolved in 300 pL of DI water, and lOOpL was injected onto the column at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. Buffer A was 0.1% TEA in water and buffer B was 0.1% TFA in acetonitrile. A two-step gradient, 15-30% B in 15 min followed by 30-70% B in 105 min, was used. The column effluent was sampled every minute into a 96-well microtiter plate with the aid of an automatic fraction collector. After collection, the fractions were dried at room temperature under vacuum. The sample in each well was reconstituted before the CE analysis with 10 pL deionized water. The... 

CombiCHEM System (Fig. 3.9) For small-scale combinatorial chemistry applications, this barrel-type rotor is available. It can hold two 24- to 96-well microtiter plates utilizing glass vials (0.5-4 mL) at up to 4 bar at 150 °C. The plates are made of Weflon (graphite-doped Teflon) to ensure uniform heating and are sealed by an inert membrane sheet. Axial rotation of the rotor tumbles the microwell plates to admix the individual samples. Temperature measurement is achieved by means of a fiber-optic probe immersed in the center of the rotor. 

We have developed chemiluminescent immunoenzymatic assays for (3-ago-nist drugs in the 96-well-microtiter-plate format. Such competitive assays have been used for determination of clenbuterol and of the overall content of p-agonist drugs in the sample. They matched the standard requirements of precision and accuracy, and were more sensitive compared to the conventional colorimetric methods. Moreover, CL detection was very rapid, making these assays suitable for screening analysis. 

The simplest technique is the use of the 96-well collection plate format (analogous to the format used in SPE) in conjunction with a liquid handling robotic system it follows the same principle as bulk scale LLE. However, immobilization of the aqueous plasma sample on an inert solid support medium packed in a cartridge or in the individual wells of a 96-well plate and percolating a water-immiscible organic solvent to extract the analyte from this medium evoked significant enthusiasm from the pharmaceutical industry. 

Using the Tomtec Quadra 96 workstation, 0.1 mL of the ethyl acetate layer was transferred to a 96-well collection plate containing 0.4 mL of acetonitrile in each sample well. The solution was mixed 10 times by aspiration and dispersion on the Tomtec. The plate was then covered with a sealing mat and stored at 2 to 8°C until LC/MS/MS analysis. The HILIC-MS/MS system consisted of a Shimadzu 10ADVP HPLC system and Perkin Elmer Sciex API 3000 and 4000 tandem mass spectrometers operating in the positive ESI mode. The analytical column was Betasil silica (5 fim, 50 x 3 mm) and a mobile phase of acetonitrile water formic acid with a linear gradient elution from 95 5 0.1 to 73.5 26.5 0.1 was used for 2 min. The flow rate was 1.0 mL/min for the API 3000 and 1.5 mL/min for the API 4000 without any eluent split. The injection volume was 10 jjL and a run time of 2.75 min was employed. 

In our laboratories, a cycle time of 90 sec can be achieved with a dilution factor of 1 25 for a given sample concentration, allowing the purity and identity control of two and a half 384-well microtiter plates per day. The online dilution eliminated an external step in the workflow and reduced the risks of decomposition of samples in the solvent mixture (weakly acidic aqueous solvent) required for analysis. Mao et al.23 described an example in which parallel sample preparation reduced steps in the workflow. They described a 2-min cycle time for the analysis of nefazodone and its metabolites for pharmacokinetic studies. The cycle time included complete solid phase extraction of neat samples, chromatographic separation, and LC/MS/MS analysis. The method was fully validated and proved rugged for high-throughput analysis of more than 5000 human plasma samples. Many papers published about this topic describe different methods of sample preparation. Hyotylainen24 has written a recent review. 

As shown, the system incorporates an integrated plate changer that accommodates plates for analysis as well as plates for collecting fractions of interest. Plates can be of different formats for sampling and collection, for example, a 384-well plate could be used for samples and a 96-well plate for collection (of course, the same plate type may be used for both sampling and collection). The system also incorporates a dedicated rinse station at the fraction collection end. The number of fractions and the time intervals for collection are defined by the user and automatically controlled by the software. In this way, analytes can be isolated and collected using /.tPLC. Collected fractions can, for example, be injected onto MS instrumentation with minimal cycle time by employing a flow injection analysis approach. 

To evaluate compound solubility, a /.iPLC system equipped with a cartridge containing 24 parallel columns (80 x 0.5 mm (inner diameter equivalent)) was employed. Sets of calibration standards were prepared for 24 compounds at different concentrations (in a 50 50 CH3CN H20 solvent). A maximum standard concentration of 500 jt/M was selected to maintain the amount of DMSO co-solvent in all samples and standards below 5% v/v to minimize possible solubility enhancements due to the presence of DMSO when working with stock solutions provided at 10 mM in DMSO. Standards were added to the appropriate wells of a 384-well plate. The plate was covered with a heat seal foil and transferred to the /./PI.C system for analysis. Figure 6.26 depicts the process for preparation of standards 95 /./I. of a buffer of desired pH were added to the appropriate wells. An additional 5, uL of each compound at a concentration of lOmM (in DMSO) was added to the corresponding wells. The plate was shaken for 90 min and centrifuged at 4000 rpm for 3 min. 

To demonstrate the ability of the system to perform a matrix experiment as described above, concentrations of enzyme, substrate, and ATP were varied across the 24 wells in a row of an SBS 384-well microtiter plate. Results of these types of evaluations for the optimization of an assay for a protein kinase A and Kemptide system were presented by Wu et al.12 All the reactions were carried out in lOOmM HEPES, pH 7.4, lOmM MgCl2, lOmM DTT, and 0.015% Brij-35. No quenching agent was used. A sample from each of the 24 wells was analyzed in parallel every 6.5 min as the 24 enzymatic reactions progressed. 

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