Electrophoresis gels of enhanced selectivity
First Claim
1. A gel suited for use in electrophoretic separation of high molecular weight molecules comprising the free radical polymerization reaction product of a mixture of:
- at least one monomer; and
at least one vinyl cross linker reactive with said monomer and a polymer of said monomer sufficient to cross link said polymer; and
at least one preformed polymer;
wherein the concentration of a combination of said monomer and said cross linker is at least about 4% (w/v), and the concentration of said preformed polymer is about 0.005 to 2% (w/v);
wherein said gel selectively retards the electrophoretic migration rate of larger macro molecules, as compared to the migration rate of smaller macro molecules, from among DNA fragments of about 100 bp to 3,000 bp, by at least 5 fold as compared to the migration rates of the same molecules under the same conditions in a gel of substantially the same concentration and comprising the free radical polymer reaction product of a solution containing identical concentrations of said monomer and said cross linker but in the absence of said preformed polymer,provided that when the monomer is acrylamide, and the cross linker is N,N'"'"'-methylene-bis-acrylamide, the preformed polymer is not agarose.
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Abstract
Electrophoresis gels of enhanced selectivity are produced by adding a preformed polymer to a polymerization solution containing at least one monomer and at least one cross-linker. The polymer must be of such a chemical composition and molecular weight that its presence during free-radical polymerization results in a new topology of gel polymers, so that under the influence of an electric field, such as during electrophoresis, the passage of long DNA molecules through the gel is retarded proportionally more than the passage of the short ones. The polymer needs to be added at specific ratio to the monomer and the cross-linker, and the enhanced selectivity is achievable only within a certain range of ratios of polymer(s), monomer(s) and cross linker(s). That range is dependent on all three essential gel components, the polymer, the monomer and the cross-linker. Some gels possessing enhanced selectivity were able to resolve one base pair differences between DNA fragments in the 100 bp range with the gel length of less than 10 cm.
25 Citations
90 Claims
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1. A gel suited for use in electrophoretic separation of high molecular weight molecules comprising the free radical polymerization reaction product of a mixture of:
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at least one monomer; and at least one vinyl cross linker reactive with said monomer and a polymer of said monomer sufficient to cross link said polymer; and at least one preformed polymer; wherein the concentration of a combination of said monomer and said cross linker is at least about 4% (w/v), and the concentration of said preformed polymer is about 0.005 to 2% (w/v); wherein said gel selectively retards the electrophoretic migration rate of larger macro molecules, as compared to the migration rate of smaller macro molecules, from among DNA fragments of about 100 bp to 3,000 bp, by at least 5 fold as compared to the migration rates of the same molecules under the same conditions in a gel of substantially the same concentration and comprising the free radical polymer reaction product of a solution containing identical concentrations of said monomer and said cross linker but in the absence of said preformed polymer, provided that when the monomer is acrylamide, and the cross linker is N,N'"'"'-methylene-bis-acrylamide, the preformed polymer is not agarose. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method for preparing a gel suited for use in electrophoretic separation of high molecular weight molecules comprising the steps of:
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dissolving so much of at least one monomer, at least one vinyl cross linker, and at least one preformed polymer in a mutual solvent such that the concentration of said preformed polymer is about 0.005 to 2% (w/v) and the concentration of a combination of said monomer plus said cross linker is at least about 4% (w/v), wherein said monomer and cross linker contain vinyl groups, provided that when said monomer is acrylamide, and said cross linker is N,N'"'"'-methylene-bis-acrylamide, said polymer is not agarose; and free radical polymerizing and cross linking said monomer and said cross linker in said solution through said vinyl groups sufficient to form a gel; wherein said polymerization is carried out under conditions sufficient to form a gel which selectively retards the electrophoretic migration rate of larger macro molecules, as compared to the migration rate of smaller macro molecules, from among DNA fragments of about 100 bp to 3,000 bp, by at least 5 fold as compared to the migration rates of the same molecules under the same conditions in a gel of substantially the same concentration and composition comprising the free radical polymerization reaction product of a solution containing identical concentrations of said monomer and said cross linker but in the absence of said preformed polymer. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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61. A method of electrophoretic separation of large molecules of about the size and charge of DNA molecules which comprises:
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forming a gel comprising the polymerization reaction product of a mixture of; at least one monomer; and at least one cross linker reactive with said monomer and a polymer of said monomer sufficient to cross link said polymer; and at least one preformed polymer; wherein the concentration of a combination of said monomer and said cross linker is at least about 4% (w/v), and the concentration of said preformed polymer is about 0.005 to 2% (w/v); forming said gel into electrophoretic passageway means; disposing a mixture of said molecules at one end of said passageway means; and subjecting said mixture of molecules to an electrophoretic current and voltage for a time and at a temperature sufficient to cause said molecules to migrate through said gel a distance which is related to molecular weights of said molecules; wherein said gel selectively retards electrophoretic migration rates of larger macro molecules, as compared to migration rates of smaller macro molecules, from among molecules of about 100 bp to 3,000 bp, by at least 5 fold as compared to the migration rates of the same molecules under the same conditions in a gel of substantially the same concentration and composition comprising the free radical polymerization reaction product of said monomer and said cross linker but in the absence of said preformed polymer. - View Dependent Claims (62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90)
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Specification