A multivariate approach for the determination of isoelectric point of human carbonic anhydrase isoforms by capillary isoelectric focusing.

Human carbonic anhydrase (hCA) IX and XII are isoenzymes which are highly overexpressed in many cancer types. Recently, it has been shown that hCA IX contributes to the acidification of the tumor environment leading to chemoresistance with basic antitumoral drugs. The development of selective hCA inhibitors constitutes a new therapeutic axis. In order to elucidate the specific interactions between hCA and inhibitors, physico-chemical properties of hCA must be evaluated. This work reports the determination of the isoelectric point (pI) of a series of hCA isoforms by capillary isoelectric focusing. First, the method was optimized with synthetic UV-detectable pI markers using a central composite design. The separation was performed in a fused-silica capillary chemically derivatized with hydroxypropylcellulose and using a glycerol-water medium as the anticonvective gel. Three main factors (ampholyte content, focusing time and mobilization pressure) were optimized in order to obtain the best resolution, detection threshold and precision on the pI determination. Then, the model was validated through the analysis of standard proteins mixture having known pI values, before investigating the pI of hCA isoforms.