CAPILLARY ZONE ELECTROPHORESIS IN AGAROSE GELS USING ABSORPTION IMAGING DETECTION

A simple home-built electrophoretic unit and a commercially available charge-coupled device (CCD) camera with image acquisition and analysis software were used to study the separation process in zone electropho resis experiments in 4 cm long, round capillaries (inside diameter 0.2 mm). Several capillaries could be investigated simultaneously. The ab sorption imaging system was used not only to follow the course of the separation but also to study the interaction between biologically acti ve substances (proteins, detergents, enzymes and substrate). Since the system allows visual on-line observation of the separation one can ra pidly decide when the analysis is finished, which often shortens the a nalysis time. The electrophoresis method presented is suitable also fo r preparative runs, since direct visualizations of a solute zone allow s it to be excised and then used for further studies.