Abstract
If strong cation exchange chromatography (SCX) is combined with ion-pair chromatography, then the solute could be retained selectively with the power of mixed separation modes. This combination is termed selectivity enhanced strong cation exchange chromatography (SE-SCX). Macroporous polystyrene-divinylbenzene (PS/DVB) resin with sulfonate coating that conveys ion exchange and reversed phase characteristics was employed. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was utilized as a selectivity modifier and an ion-pair reagent. This separation strategy is exploited for a challenging simultaneous separation of peptide variants having similar isoelectric points (pIs) and comparable retention behaviour. Insulin variants were used as a model in this study. The selective separation of insulin and five structurally-related analogues namely; ASPART, LISPRO, GLULISIN, GLARGIN, and DETEMIR was conducted using gradient elution mode. Three eluents were used for the separation of the target compounds. Eluent A was a mixture of acetonitrile and 10 mmol L-1 SDSat ratio (1:1) and was kept at 20% through the run. Eluent B was 20 mmol L-1 KH2PO4 adjusted at pH = 4.0 and eluent C was eluent B plus 1 mol L-1 NaCl that was increased linearly till 80% at 20 min. It was found that the retention of the tested variants can be modeled mainly by electrostatic interaction that might be hydrophobically-assisted. The developed method was validated in accordance with ICH guidelines and was appropriate for the intended purposes. Finally, this study introduces SE-SCX as a new selective separation strategy for peptides and proteins that may open the door for novel mixed mode perspectives in protein analysis.