Gel electrophoresis device and method

• US 4,415,418 A
• Filed: 12/21/1981
• Issued: 11/15/1983
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/1980
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Gilles H.J. Turre, Jacques R. Labrude, Michel Hours
• Original Assignee: Gilles H.J. Turre, Jacques R. Labrude, Michel Hours
• Inventors: Turre, Gilles H. J., Hours, Michel, Labrude, Jacques R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Williams, Howard S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chapman, Terryence F.
• Application Number:
  US06/332,817
• Time in Patent Office: 694 Days
• Field of Search: 204/299 R, 204/180 G
• US Class Current: 204/466
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/44756 Apparatus specially adapted therefor

Abstract

Horizontal gel electrophoresis is carried out in a disposable device in the form of a rectangular upwardly open tray having a pair of elongated wells at opposite ends of the container receiving the electrodes which may be insertable or can form a permanent part of the unit. A raised flat form lying below the top of the tray is disposed between the two wells and, spaced from this platform and on opposite sides thereof, removable partitions are received so that, when the gel is cast over the platform between the two partitions, the latter can be removed to allow direct contact between the two ends of the gel slab and the buffer solutions in the wells, thereby eliminating narrow bridges or other like conduct paths between the electrode-immersing buffers and the electrophoresis general body.

Claims

1. An apparatus for effecting migration of a substance in a gel medium by horizontal gel electrophoresis which comprises:

an upwardly open tray formed with a support surface for said gel medium;

a pair of electrodes fixed in said tray on opposite sides of said support surface; and

a pair of removable partitions received in said tray between said electrodes and said support surfaces whereby said medium, originally confined by said partitions, directly contacts an electrolyte in which each of said electrodes is immersed upon removal of said partitions, said support surface being formed as a platform in said tray between wells for said electrolyte and receiving said electrodes, said support being provided with a grid visible through said gel medium and inset from opposite walls of said tray whereby migration distances can be readily read from said grid, said electrodes being formed at least along their surface in contact with said electrode of a nonoxidizable nonprecious metal, each of said electrodes having an end passing through one of said walls and formed with a male plug for electrical connection, the other end of each electrode passing through the opposite wall of said tray and being formed with a female jack adapted to receive a corresponding plug of another similar tray whereby said trays can be assembled in side-by-side relationship and electrically connected.

2. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said tray is molded in a single piece of synthetic resin material transparent at least to ultraviolet light, stable at sterilizing temperatures and chemically inert under the conditions of use, said apparatus further comprising a cover adapted to fit on said tray.

3. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said walls are formed with lugs adapted to guide a comb so that its fingers penetrate into said gel and on the cooling thereof form sample receiving recesses.

4. A method of gel electrophoresis, comprises:

(a) preparing a plurality of gel electrophoresis trays by casting an electrophoresis gel over a plate formed between a pair of movable partitions separating the plate from electrodes permanently fixed in each tray, cooling the gel, removing the partitions, and introducing a buffer electrolyte between a flank of the cooled gel and a respective electrode;

(b) assemblying the plurality of trays prepared as in step (a) by plugging outwardly extending formations of electrodes of one tray into sockets connected to the electrodes of an adjacent tray;

(c) placing samples on said gels of said trays;

(d) applying an electrophoresis voltage across the electrodes of the assembled trays to cause migration of said substances on the gels of said trays;

(e) determining the degree of migration of samples on said trays; and

(f) discarding said trays.

5. A disposable gel electrophoresis apparatus comprising:

an upwardly open tray formed integrally in one piece and with all thicknesses being the same, said tray having;

a pair of opposite end walls,

a pair of opposite longitudinal walls adjoining

said end walls, and

a floor surrounded by said walls, said floor defining a centrally located raised gel-receiving platform and a pair of lower floor portions between said platform and said end walls respectively;

a pair of removable partitions each received in said tray between said platform and a respective one of said end walls and subdividing the respective lower floor portion into a gel-receiving space adjacent said platform and an electrolyte-receiving space between the partition and the respective end wall;

a pair of electrodes each spanning said longitudinal walls in the respective electrolyte-receiving space whereby electrolyte in said electrolyte-receiving space is in direct contact with the respective electrode and a slab of said gel over the entire height and width of said gel-receiving space upon the removal of the respective partition; and

a lid fitting onto said tray.

6. The apparatus defined in claim 5 wherein each of said electrodes externally of said tray and adjacent one of said longitudinal walls a respective plug fitting and externally of said tray on the opposite longitudinal wall a respective jack fitting, said plug and jack fittings being interconnectable whereby said tray may be connected electrically with similar trays in a side-by-side assembly for energization in parallel from a common source.

7. The apparatus defined in claim 5 wherein said platform is a support surface visible through said gel and engraved with a graduated measuring grid allowing measurement of migration distances without removal of the gel from the tray.