title: Design of a fraction collector for capillary array electrophoresis.
abstract: This paper describes a prototype instrument for high-throughput fraction collection with capillary array electrophoresis (CAE). The design of the system was based on a comprehensive collection approach, in which fractions from all capillaries were simultaneously collected in individual collection microwells in predefined time intervals. The location of the fractions in the microwells on the collection plate was determined by monitoring the individual zone velocities close to the end of each capillary. The collection microwell plate was fabricated from buffer-saturated agarose gel, which maintained permanent electrical contact with the separation capillaries during the collection process. Since the collection gel plate consisted of over 90% water, liquid evaporation from the collection wells was minimized. A 12-capillary array instrument was built with two-point detection using a side illumination scheme. The collection performance was demonstrated by reinjection of selected fractions of a double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) separation. The identity of collected DNA fragments was confirmed by PCR and sequencing.
authors.affiliation: Barnett Institute and Department of Chemistry, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Minarik
authors.forename: Karel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Klepárnik
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gilár
authors.forename: Frantisek
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Foret
authors.forename: Arthur W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Zoran
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sosic
authors.forename: Barry L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Karger
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes / Q000378:metabolism; D019075:Electrophoresis, Capillary / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000032:analysis; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D004247:DNA; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes