Capillary electrophoresis method with polymer tube coating
AssigneeApplied Biosystems, LLC
InventorJohn E. Wiktorowicz
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Abstract
A method for achieving desired electroosmotic flow characteristics in a capillary tube having charged surface groups. An electrolyte solution containing a compound effective to stably alter the charge of the tube walls is drawn into and through the tube during while the electroosmotic flow rate in the tube is being monitored, until a desired electroosmotic flow rate is achieved. The method can be used to optimize electrophoretic separation of charged protein or nucleic acid species in a capillary tube, and to produce capillary tubes with desired charge density properties.
Claims13
A method of separating macromolecules in a capillary electrophoresis tube whose inner wall has charged surface chemical groups, said method comprising
- drawing into a capillary tube, a solution containing a polyionic polymer having repeated subunits with charged chemical groups whose charge is opposite to that of the chemical groups of the tube's inner wall,
- by said drawings, binding the polyionic polymer to the tube's inner wall by ionic, non-covalent chemical group interactions with a binding stability sufficient to retain the polymer on the tube wall during electrtoosmotic movement through the tube of an electrolyte which does not contain the polymer,
- continuing said drawing until the tube's surface charged groups are substantially masked by the charge on the polymer,
- immersing the ends of the tube in anodic and cathodic reservoirs containing an electrolyte solution,
- introducing a sample containing macromolecules to be separated into one end of the tube,
- applying an electric field across the reservoirs with a polarity effective to fractionate said molecules in the sample on the basis of differential migration in the electric field.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.