Capillary gel electrophoresis of nucleic acids in pluronic F127 copolymer liquid crystals

The liquid crystalline gel phases of solutions of Pluronic F127, a triblock copolymer, were recently introduced as an alternative to disordered soluti ons of random coil polymers as replaceable media for capillary gel electrop horesis (CGE). Pluronic F127, from BASF, is a copolymer of poly(ethylene ox ide) and poly(propylene oxide) with the approximate formula (EO)(106) (PO)( 70) (EO)(106). Polymer chains aggregate into spherical micelles in aqueous solutions, with poly(propylene oxide) chains creating a hydrophobic core su rrounded by brushes of hydrated poly(ethylene oxide) tails. Crowding at hig h concentrations promotes ordering of micelles. Solutions in the range of a bout 14-24 % polymer are self-supporting, gel-like cubic liquid crystals at 25-30 degrees C, but when cooled they become low viscosity liquids that ar e easily loaded into capillaries. This article reviews applications of Plur onic F127 media for capillary gel electrophoresis separations of nucleic ac ids of several types including oligonucleotides, double stranded DNA fragme nts, and supercoiled plasmid DNAs.