DNA capillary electrophoresis in entangled dynamic polymers of surfactant molecules

Aqueous solutions of monomeric nonionic surfactants, n-alkyl polyoxyethylene ethers (C16E6, C16E8, C14E6), can be used as sieving matrixes for the separation of DNA fragments by capillary electrophoresis. Unlike ordinary polymer solutions, these surfactant solutions behave as dynamic polymers. By combining the "reversible gel" theory of DNA electrophoresis and the static and dynamic properties of wormlike surfactant micelles, a model is developed for describing the migration behavior of DNA molecules in these solutions. According to the model, the separation limit can be extended at low surfactant concentrations. Surfactant solutions as a separation medium provide many advantages over ordinary polymers, such as ease of preparation, solution homogeneity, stable structure, low viscosity, and self-coating property for reducing electroosmotic flow. More importantly, the properties of wormlike micelles (micelle size, entanglement concentration) can be adjusted by simply changing the monomer concentration, denaturant, and temperature to allow the separation of different size ranges of DNA fragments. Fast separation is achieved for DNA fragments ranging from 10 bp to 5 kb by using bare fused-silica columns. DNA sequencing fragments of BigDye G-labeled M13 up to 600 bases were separated within 60 min.