title: Contamination-free and automated composition of a reaction mixture for nucleic acid amplification using a capillary electrophoresis apparatus.
abstract: The acceptance of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as an amplification method in molecular diagnostics and the rapid development of capillary electrophoresis (CE) as an analysis method of those PCR products was a reason for us to investigate further integration of those two techniques. Using a fused-silica capillary as a pipette we were able to compose a PCR mixture in the CE apparatus. Because a capillary can be thoroughly rinsed and the CE apparatus is a closed system, the risk of contamination and therefore the occurrence of false positive results is minimized. The fact that a CE system can be fully automated contributes to a more reproducible and standardized PCR composition protocol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, University Hospital Nijmegen, Netherlands.
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Kuypers
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Linssen
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Lauer
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Mensink
mesh_terms: D001322:Autoanalysis; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D004340:Drug Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D019075:Electrophoresis, Capillary / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004996:Ethidium; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D011905:Genes, ras; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D009696:Nucleic Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000032:analysis; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D009696:Nucleic Acids; D009841:Oligonucleotides; D004247:DNA; D004996:Ethidium