A practicallaboratory method for cell electrophoresis in an agarose sol

Abstract

AbstractThe method presented in this article was developed specifically to be used for the electrophoretic separation of biological cells. This method uses low cost materials and ordinary clinical laboratory electrophoresis equipment. Results are reasonably fast; time of migration was 20 min using a constant current setting of 6 mA for a single 3 × 4 inch gel tray. The use of SeaPlaque agarose sol at 40 °C allows the cells to migrate freely, while the solidification of the agarose at the end of the migration period fixes the cells in place on the plate. Samples can be taken from any position on the plate while the sol is still liquid. With this method, differences in rate of migration of erythrocytes from selected species of mammals were demonstrated. The method was developed using erythorcytes for samples and without staining of gels or prestaining of samples. Sample sizes of 2000 to 4000 cells gave easily visible bands. Band of cells from some species migrated as much as 40 mm. Separations were done in polystryrene gel tryays. This technique will be tested in the near future for the separation of the various types of blood cells and for separating other cell mixtures, e. g., bacteria.