A bioseparation apparatus with high-pressure fluid injection and fluid sampling

A novel apparatus in which fluids may be injected and sampled at high press ure is described. Bioseparation applications of the apparatus were demonstr ated in three model systems: (1) lambda DNA was eluted under pressure from an anion exchange column into a low-salt (0.25 M) buffer, thereby eliminati ng conventional time-consuming desalting procedures required for downstream analysis of the DNA; (2) RNA was separated under pressure from a RNA/DNA m ixture, thereby enabling rapid differential preparation of nucleic acids; a nd (3) an antibody was purified from a protein mixture by affinity capture at one pressure and dissociation from the antigen binding partner at a seco nd pressure, thereby enabling the immunoreactivities of both antibody and a ntigen to be preserved during the separation process. (C) 1999 Academic Pre ss.