Lab-on-a-chip electrophoresis is becoming increasingly useful for protein analysis, thanks to recent developments in this field. This review is an update of the review we published at the start of 2008 [Peng, Y., Pallandre, A., Tran, N. T., Taverna, M., Electrophoresis 2008, 29, 156-177]. The superiority of polymers for the manufacture of analytical microchips has been confirmed. This trend implies several modifications to the processes previously used with glass/silicon chips and requires a better understanding of the interfacial phenomena of these materials. Significant progress in chip-based techniques for protein analysis has been made in the last 2 years. In addition to advances in traditional electrokinetic modes, counter-flow gradient focusing techniques have emerged as useful methods not only for separation, but also for the online preconcentration of samples. This review, with more than 175 references, presents recent advances and novel strategies for EOF measurement, surface treatment, sample pretreatment, detection and innovations relating to the different modes of separation.

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A microdevice combining online preconcentration and separation of phosphopeptides was developed in a glass microchip. An ethylene glycol methacrylate phosphate (EGMP), acrylamide (AM) and bisacrylamide (BAA) based monolith was synthesized within microchannels through a photo-driven process. Morphological investigations revealed a homogeneous monolithic structure composed of uniform nodules (∼0.8 μm), with a large pore volume (0.62 cm g) and sufficiently high specific surface area (34.1 m g). These features make the monolith particularly interesting for preconcentration purposes. Immobilization of Zr ions on the phosphate groups present at the poly(EGMP-co-AM-co-BAA) monolith surface leads to immobilized metal affinity chromatography support. This monolith-Zr showed a great capacity to capture phosphopeptides. Successful preconcentration and separation of a mixture of ERK2 derived peptides differing only by their phosphorylation degree and sites could be achieved with signal enhancement factors between 340 and 910 after only 7 min of preconcentration. This integrated microdevice represents a novel approach for phosphoproteomic applications.