Automated elution electrophoresis: a potential clinical tool

An elution electrophoresis system in which a porous packed bed is used for separation and a flow photometer or colorimeter for continuous monitoring of the eluate may be capable of rapid, high-resolution analysis of serum proteins and other protein mixtures with very little manual labor. In a prototype of such a system we used a cooled separations column, 3 mm in diameter and 40 cm long, containing polyacrylamide beads. Samples are introduced, via a microsyringe, through a septum at the column midpoint. Typical analyses for serum proteins or serum isoenzymes require an electrophoresis time of about 30 min at 1200 V.