In my opinion AAA is still an important tool in bioanalytical lab.
One just has to be creative and patient. I bet many investigators
don't realize full potential of AAA, I mean, like protein
identification from 2-D gels and sometimes even aa modifications,
like nitro-TYR determination, etc. Plus we receive increasing amount
of requests for free AAA.
One doesn't need to have a dedicated system like ABI to do high
sensitivity AAA, good HPLC system will do it. The main problem, the
most expensive part, is the RP column. We have used in the past
Waters Pico-Tag column, but Waters managed to increase its price to
almost $900. Recently we discover cheap and reliable alternative to
Pico-Tag column, a narrow-bore column that allow us to separate all
20 aa at much lower cost.
It's to ealy to write-off AAA as an analytical tool. We need
to educate other investigator about its application and usage.
Regards,
ma
M. Alterman, Ph.D.
Director,
Biochemical Research Service Laboratory
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045
Phone: (913)-864-4166
(913)-864-4247 lab
FAX: (913)-864-5396
http://www.idl.ukans.edu/anylresc/brsl/brsl.html