Lithium dodecyl sulfate, sodium dodecyl sulfate-agarose gel electrophoresis for separating proteins according to molecular weight

Abstract

We have improved the agarose gel electrophoresis method reported previously for size-dependent separation of proteins. Good resolution in protein separation was achieved using a novel agarose gel, containing both sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and lithium dodecyl sulfate (LDS). The gel was divided into stacking and separating gels. We determined the optimal conditions for horizontal gel electrophoresis to be a voltage of 100V for the separating gel and 50V for the stacking gel, in an electrophoretic buffer solution of 25mM Tris-190mM glycine containing 0.03% LDS and 0.02% SDS (pH 8.3), which was also used to make the agarose gel. Separation of proteins in the molecular weight range 14.2-205K and of the proteins in human serum showed good resolution under these conditions. This method should be useful for clinical laboratories because it is simple and requires little bench space.