Feasibility of electrophoresis of a subcellular-sized particle in polymer solutions, using automated horizontal gel apparatus.

Electrophoresis in polymer solutions of a fluorescently labeled polystyrene carboxylate particle of 46.5 nm radius was carried out in a horizontal gel electrophoresis apparatus with intermittent scanning of the migration path. Polymers of the order of 10(6) (dextran, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyacrylamide and polyethyleneglycol) and 10(5) (hydroxyethylcellulose, polyethyleneglycol) M(r) were used. In each application, bands formed, became symmetric and narrowed with increasing polymer concentration. The decrease in dispersion coefficients, D', with polymer concentration was sharpest with the polymers of M(r) 10(6); but significant differences in the effectiveness of polymers within that group also exist which are not accounted for. Provided that the demonstrated feasibility of banding in concentrated polymer solutions will allow for separations similar to those achieved at low polymer concentrations in CZE, the method promises to overcome the inherent shortcomings of capillary electrophoresis in polymer solutions with regard to inaccessibility of bands for immunological and affinity detection as well as to preparative scale and preparative instrumental complexity.