Study of the translational diffusion of macromolecules in beads of gel chromatography by the FRAP method

We measured the translational diffusion of fractions of dextrans labelled with fluorescein isothiocyanate, in Sephadex gel beads permeated by aqueous solutions of these molecules. The molecular weights of these fractions were between 5400 and 200,000 and measurements of their diffusion coefficients inside a gel bead (D) and in the free solution (D0), were performed using the fluorescence recovery after photobleaching method (FRAP). We also determined the coefficient of partitioning (Kav) of these fractions between the gel and the free solvent, with a new microfluorimetric method. We found that, for Sephadex G-50, G-75, G-100, G-150 and G-200 gels, Kav varied with the Stokes radius (rs) of the dextran molecules, in agreement with the formula of Laurent and Killander (J. Chromatogr. 14 (1964) 317). For Sephadex G-100, G-150 and G-200 gels, D/D0 varied with rs, according to the theory of Ogston et al. (Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 333 (1973) 297). In addition, these theories predict a relation linking D/D0 to Kav which was well verified. Our work is the first systematic study of the translational diffusion of macromolecules in a chromatography gel. These measurements should allow a better evaluation of the factors which influence the resolution in exclusion chromatography. In addition, the diffusion of macromolecules in gels may provide models for the diffusion of these molecules in the cytoplasm of living cells and in connective biological tissues.