The use of a hollow fiber membrane module in sample conditioning prior to electrophoresis

A new method to continuously change the buffer conditions in samples prior to electrophoresis by counter-current dialysis has been developed using a hollow fiber membrane module (VariPerm M, bitop, Witten). It is demonstrated that the collected fractions of a column eluate after hydrophobic interaction chromatography cannot be analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) due to the high content of ammonium sulfate. In contrast, when the hollow fiber membrane module is used for on-line desalting of the eluate during chromatography, it is possible to detect distinct bands on SDS-gels even after sample concentration by evaporation. Moreover, adding polyethyleneglycol 20,000 to the counter-current dialysis buffer the hollow fiber membrane module is suitable for combined on-line sample desalting and sample concentration of living organisms during free flow electrophoresis (FFE): a culture of Nitrosomonas eutropha which could not significantly be detected by FFE without conditioning was successfully analyzed when concentrated and desalted on-line during sample application.