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Spatial open‐network formed by mixed triblock copolymers as a new medium for double‐stranded DNA separation by capillary electrophoresis
Author(s) -
Liu Tianbo,
Liang Dehai,
Song Liguo,
Nace Vaughn M.,
Chu Benjamin
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
electrophoresis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.666
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1522-2683
pISSN - 0173-0835
DOI - 10.1002/1522-2683(200102)22:3<449::aid-elps449>3.0.co;2-t
Subject(s) - copolymer , micelle , capillary electrophoresis , capillary action , materials science , electrophoresis , chromatography , polymer , chemical engineering , chemistry , aqueous solution , composite material , engineering
A mixture of two polyoxybutylene‐polyoxyethylene‐polyoxybutylene (BEB) triblock copolymers (B 6 E 46 B 6 and B 10 E 271 B 10 , respectively) was used as a new separation medium for separating double‐stranded DNA (dsDNA) fragments by capillary electrophoresis (CE). The two block copolymer mixtures were designed to form mixed flower‐like micelles in dilute solution and a homogeneous gel‐like open‐network with hydrophobic clusters as cross‐linking points at higher polymer concentrations. Being a polyoxyalkylene block copolymer gel, the separation medium has some special advantages, including the temperature‐dependent sol‐gel transition that makes sample injection easy, and the self‐coating of the inner capillary wall that makes experimental procedures simple and reproducible. Furthermore, it can shorten the elution time and further improve the separation resolution, especially for small dsDNA fragments, when compared with EPE‐type separation media, e.g. , F127 (E 99 P 69 E 99 , with P being polyoxypropylene) block copolymer gels formed by the closed packing of spherical micelles. Single base pair resolution can be achieved by using the new separation medium for dsDNA fragments up to over 100 base pairs.