Preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of nuclear RNA

A method is described for the separation of nuclear RNA by preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Separation is performed on a slab gel. The elution chamber system is rectangular. Total nuclear RNA can be fractionated into the prominent RNA species 4 - 7S, 18S and 28S RNA. The less prominent RNA, especially the high molecular weight precursor molecules of ribosomal RNA 45S (Mr = 4.1 X 10(6)) and 32S (Mr = 2.1 X 10(6)) can be separated from the total nuclear RNA without contamination by other RNA. The time needed for a preparative run is 260 min.