Capillary biomolecular separations

Capillary electrophoretic separations offer various modes, each with unique applications. These modes include capillary zone electrophoresis, capillary gel electrophoresis, capillary array electrophoresis, capillary isoelectric focusing, capillary isotachophoresis, micellar electrokinetic chromatography, and capillary electrochromatography.
Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) separates ionic components based on their electrophoretic mobility. It has been used to separate proteins, amino acids,...

Electrophoresis is a powerful analytical separation technique that relies on the differential migration of charged species when subjected to an electric field. The core strength of electrophoresis lies in its ability to separate high-molecular-weight species in complex mixtures. It has found widespread use in biochemistry, molecular biology, and analytical chemistry, allowing the separation of compounds like amino acids, nucleotides, carbohydrates, and proteins with excellent resolution.
There...

Capillary electrophoresis instrumentation typically consists of several key components. A high-voltage power supply generates the electric field necessary for the separation by connecting to an anode (the positively charged electrode) and a cathode (the negatively charged electrode) located in buffer reservoirs at each end of the capillary tube. The system includes a sample vial, a fused silica capillary tube coated with polyimide for mechanical strength through which the sample components...

In size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), also known as molecular-exclusion or gel-permeation chromatography, molecules are separated based on their sizes. This technique is important for separating large molecules such as polymers and biomolecules. The two classes of micron-sized stationary phases encountered in SEC are silica particles and cross-linked polymer resin beads. Both materials are porous, but their pore sizes vary significantly.
Silica particles offer advantages such as rigidity,...

Cell separation was first achieved in 1964 by S. H. Seal, who separated large tumor cells from the smaller blood cells using filtration. Two years later, Pohl and Hawk performed experiments on how cells respond differently to a nonuniform electric field based on the cell type. Such observations were the inception of cell separation methods, which allow isolating a single cell type from a heterogeneous sample.