CAPILLARY SODIUM DODECYL-SULFATE GEL-ELECTROPHORESIS OF PROTEINS .2. ON THE FERGUSON METHOD IN POLYETHYLENE OXIDE GELS

Capillary sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) gel electrophoresis is demonstr ated to be a powerful new analytical method for the separation of prot ein molecules based on their molecular mass. Standard curves of logari thm molecular mass versus reciprocal relative migration time give the estimated molecular mass of sample proteins within the acceptable 10% error for most proteins. Larger errors are possible, however, when spe cial groups such as carbohydrates (glycoproteins) or lipids (lipoprote ins) are present due to a different ratio of binding SDS molecules. An automated Ferguson method is shown that corrects for this non-ideal b ehavior in capillary SDS-polyethylene oxide gel electrophoresis.