Chromatography

Chromatography techniques are one of the most common analytical methods in biological and chemical laboratories. Among them, Liquid Chromatography (LC) relies on passing a liquid solvent containing the sample mixture through a column filled with an adsorbent material. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) differs from classic liquid chromatography because operational pressures are significantly increased through the use of pumps, while traditional liquid chromatography mostly depends on the force of gravity to push the mobile phase through the column. Gas chromatography (GC) is also a technique used to separate the chemical components of a sample and detect them, with one of the main differences being that a carrier gas plays the role of the mobile phase. Chromatography analytes include proteins, lipids, metabolites, and drugs.

As both liquid and gas chromatography workflows mostly require samples in a liquid state, tissues and cell samples often require a first step of homogenization to be compatible with chromatography platforms. It is essential to obtain efficiently and uniformly homogenized samples. Indeed, improper sample preparation can lead to clogging of chromatography columns, resulting in loss of valuable time or even damage to expensive equipment.

Bertin Technologies has developed the Precellys homogenizers, which make use of state-of-the-art bead-beating technology to turn tissue samples into homogenates compatible with chromatography analysis.

On this page, our experts list some of the best homogenization protocols for chromatography workflows.

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