Quantitative proteomicsQuantitative proteomics is an analytical chemistry technique for determining the amount of proteins in a sample. The methods for protein identification are identical to those used in general (i.e. qualitative) proteomics, but include quantification as an additional dimension. Rather than just providing lists of proteins identified in a certain sample, quantitative proteomics yields information about the physiological differences between two biological samples. For example, this approach can be used to compare samples from healthy and diseased patients.
Sample preparationIn analytical chemistry, sample preparation (working-up) refers to the ways in which a sample is treated prior to its analyses. Preparation is a very important step in most analytical techniques, because the techniques are often not responsive to the analyte in its in-situ form, or the results are distorted by interfering species. Sample preparation may involve dissolution, extraction, reaction with some chemical species, pulverizing, treatment with a chelating agent (e.g.
Matrix (chemical analysis)In chemical analysis, matrix refers to the components of a sample other than the analyte of interest. The matrix can have a considerable effect on the way the analysis is conducted and the quality of the results are obtained; such effects are called matrix effects. For example, the ionic strength of the solution can have an effect on the activity coefficients of the analytes. The most common approach for accounting for matrix effects is to build a calibration curve using standard samples with known analyte concentration and which try to approximate the matrix of the sample as much as possible.
MicroanalysisMicroanalysis is the chemical identification and quantitative analysis of very small amounts of chemical substances (generally less than 10 mg or 1 ml) or very small surfaces of material (generally less than 1 cm2). One of the pioneers in the microanalysis of chemical elements was the Austrian Nobel Prize winner Fritz Pregl.
AnalyteAn analyte, component (in clinical chemistry), titrand (in titrations), or chemical species is a substance or chemical constituent that is of interest in an analytical procedure. The purest substances are referred to as analytes, such as 24 karat gold, NaCl, water, etc. In reality, no substance has been found to be 100% pure in its quality, so a substance that is found to be most pure (for some metals, 99% after electrolysis) is called an analyte.
Debye–Hückel equationThe chemists Peter Debye and Erich Hückel noticed that solutions that contain ionic solutes do not behave ideally even at very low concentrations. So, while the concentration of the solutes is fundamental to the calculation of the dynamics of a solution, they theorized that an extra factor that they termed gamma is necessary to the calculation of the activities of the solution. Hence they developed the Debye–Hückel equation and Debye–Hückel limiting law.
Detection limitThe limit of detection (LOD or LoD) is the lowest signal, or the lowest corresponding quantity to be determined (or extracted) from the signal, that can be observed with a sufficient degree of confidence or statistical significance. However, the exact threshold (level of decision) used to decide when a signal significantly emerges above the continuously fluctuating background noise remains arbitrary and is a matter of policy and often of debate among scientists, statisticians and regulators depending on the stakes in different fields.
IsotachophoresisIsotachophoresis (ITP) is a technique in analytical chemistry used for selective separation and concentration of ionic analytes. It is a form of electrophoresis; charged analytes are separated based on ionic mobility, a quantity which tells how fast an ion migrates through an electric field. In conventional ITP separations, a discontinuous buffer system is used. The sample is introduced between a zone of fast leading electrolyte (LE) and a zone of slow terminating (or: trailing) electrolyte (TE).
Microscale chemistryMicroscale chemistry (often referred to as small-scale chemistry, in German: Chemie im Mikromaßstab) is an analytical method and also a teaching method widely used at school and at university levels, working with small quantities of chemical substances. While much of traditional chemistry teaching centers on multi-gramme preparations, milligrammes of substances are sufficient for microscale chemistry. In universities, modern and expensive lab glassware is used and modern methods for detection and characterization of the produced substances are very common.
