TEJASVI NAVADHITAMASTU

“Let our (the teacher and the taught) learning be radiant”

Let our efforts at learning be luminous and filled with joy, and endowed with the force of purpose

Dr. Prabhakar Singh

Department of Biochemistry
Faculty of Science, V.B.S. Purvanchal University, Jaunpur
PIN-222 003, (U.P.), INDIA.
Mobile No.: +91-9454695363
E-Mail: pruebiochem@gmail.com
 VEER BAHADUR SINGH PURVANCHAL UNIVERSITY JAUNPUR-222003

E –content
Course: M.Sc.
Subject: Biochemistry; Biotechnology, Microbiology, Environmental Science
Topic: Instrumentation and Analytical Techniques
Subtopic: ELECTROPHORESIS
Prepared by: Dr. Prabhakar Singh
Department : Biochemistry
Faculty : Science
Email: pruebiochem@gmail.com
Contact: +91-9454695363

Note-This E-content has been prepared as a reading material for students without any
commercial interest. Original contributors are acknowledged.
ELECTROPHORESIS
ELECTROPHORESIS

 The movement of charged particles(ions) in an electric field resulting

in their migration towards the oppositely charged electrode is known
as electrophoresis.

 Molecules with a net positive charge (cations) move towards the

negative cathode while those with net negative charge (anions)
migrate towards positive anode.

 Electrophoresis is a widely used analytical technique for the

separation of biological molecules such as plasma proteins,
lipoproteins and immunoglobulins.

 The rate of migration of ions in an electric field depends on several

factors that include shape, size, net charge and solvation of the ions,
viscosity of the solution and magnitude of the current employed.
 Principle of Electrophoresis
1. Under the influence of an electric field these charged particles will migrate either to the
cathode or to the anode, depending on the nature of their net charge. When a
potential difference (voltage) is applied across the electrodes, it generates a potential
gradient, E = V/d (V= Applied Voltage, d = Distance between the electrodes).

2. When this potential gradient E is applied, the force on a molecule bearing a charge of q
coulombs is, F = Eq newtons

3. It is this force that drives a charged molecule towards an electrode. However, there is
also a frictional resistance that retards the movement of this charged molecule. This
frictional force is a measure of the hydrodynamic size of the molecule, the shape of
the molecule, the pore size of the medium in which electrophoresis is taking place and
the viscosity of the buffer. Velocity will be

4. Where f is the frictional coefficient. More commonly the term electrophoretic mobility
(m) of an ion is used, which is the ratio of the velocity of the ion to field strength (n/E).

5. When a potential difference is applied, therefore, molecules with different overall

charges will begin to separate based on different electrophoretic mobilities. Even
molecules with similar charges will begin to separate if they have different molecular
sizes, since they will experience different frictional forces.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF ELECTROPHORESIS

Among the electrophoretic techniques, zone electrophoresis (paper,

gel), isoelectric focusing and immunoelectrophoresis are important and
commonly employed in the laboratory.

1- MOVING BOUNDARY ELECTROPHORESIS

2- ZONE ELECTROPHORESIS : [A]- Paper Electrophoresis , [B] Gel Electrophoresis

3- ISOELECTRIC FOCUSSING

4- IMMUNOELECTROPHORESIS
1- MOVING BOUNDARY ELECTROPHORESIS

 The original moving boundary electrophoresis, developed by

Tiselius (1933), is less frequently used these days.

 In this technique, the U-tube is filled with protein solution overlaid

by a buffer solution.

 As the proteins move in solution during electrophoresis, they form

boundaries which can be identified by refractive index.

2- ZONE ELECTROPHORESIS :
 A simple and modified method of moving boundary electrophoresis is the
zone electrophoresis.

 An inert supporting material such as paper or gel are used.

 It is geneally of two type based on supportive material –

[A]- Paper Electrophoresis , [B] Gel Electrophoresis
[A]-PAPER ELECTROPHORESIS
 In this technique, the sample is applied
on a strip of filter paper wetted with
desired buffer solution. The ends of the
strip are dipped into the buffer
reservoirs having electrodes.
 The electric current is applied allowing
the molecules to migrate sufficiently.
 The paper is removed, dried and
stained with a dye that specifically
colours the substances to be detected.
 The coloured spots can be identified by
comparing with a set of standards run
simultaneously.
 For the separation of serum proteins,
Whatman No. 1 filter paper, veronal or
tris buffer at pH 8.6 and the stains
amido black or bromophenol blue are
employed.
 The serum proteins are separated into
five distinct bands—albumin, D1-, D2-,
E- and J-globulins. Electrophoresis of plasma proteins
[B]-GEL ELECTROPHORESIS

 This technique involves the separation of molecules based on their size, in

addition to the electrical charge.

 The movement of large molecules is slow in gel electrophoresis (this is in

contrast to gel filtration).

 The resolution is much higher in this technique.

 Thus, serum proteins can be separated to about 15 bands, instead of 5 bands

on paper electrophoresis.

 The gels commonly used in gel electrophoresis are agarose and

polyacrylamide, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS).

 Polyacrylamide is employed for the determination of molecular weights of

proteins in a popularly known electrophoresis technique known as SDS-PAGE
AGAROSE GEL ELECTROPHORESIS
 The migration of the DNA molecules through the pores of the matrix must play
an important role in molecular-weight separations since the electrophoretic
mobility of DNA in free solution is independent of molecular weight.

 An agarose gel is a complex network of polymeric molecules whose average

pore size depends on the buffer composition and the type and concentration of
agarose used. DNA movement through the gel was originally thought to
resemble the motion of a snake (reptation). However, real-time fluorescence
microscopy of stained molecules undergoing electrophoresis has revealed more
subtle dynamics (Schwartz & Koval 1989, Smith et al. 1989).

 DNA molecules display elastic behavior by stretching in the direction of the

applied field and then contracting into dense balls. The larger the pore size of
the gel, the greater the ball of DNA which can pass through and hence the
larger the molecules which can be separated.

 Once the globular volume of the DNA molecule exceeds the pore size, the DNA
molecule can only pass through by reptation. This occurs with molecules about
20 kb in size and it is difficult to separate molecules larger than this without
recourse to pulsed electrical fields
AGAROSE
 Properties of agarose gel
1. Agarose gel is a three-dimensional matrix formed of helical agarose molecules in
supercoiled bundles that are aggregated into three-dimensional structures with
channels and pores through which biomolecules can pass.
2. The 3-D structure is held together with hydrogen bonds and can therefore be
disrupted by heating back to a liquid state. The melting temperature is different from
the gelling temperature, depending on the sources, agarose gel has a gelling
temperature of 35-42 °C and a melting temperature of 85-95 °C. Low-melting and
low-gelling agaroses made through chemical modifications are also available.

3. The pore size of a 1% gel has been estimated from 100 nm to 200-500 nm, and its
gel strength allows gels as dilute as 0.15% to form a slab for gel electrophoresis. Low-
concentration gels (0.1 - 0.2%) however are fragile and therefore hard to handle.

4. Agarose gel has lower resolving power than polyacrylamide gel for DNA but has a
greater range of separation, and is therefore used for DNA fragments of usually 50-
20,000 bp in size. The limit of resolution for standard agarose gel electrophoresis is
around 750 kb, but resolution of over 6 Mb is possible with pulsed field gel
electrophoresis (PFGE) A 0.9% agarose gel has pores large enough for the entry
of bacteriophage T4.
ELECTROENDOSMOSIS (EEO)
 The agarose polymer contains charged groups, in
particular pyruvate and sulphate. These negatively charged groups create a flow
of water in the opposite direction to the movement of DNA in a process
called electroendosmosis (EEO), and can therefore retard the movement of DNA
and cause blurring of bands.

 Higher concentration gel would have higher electroosmotic flow. Low EEO
agarose is therefore generally preferred for use in agarose gel electrophoresis of
nucleic acids, but high EEO agarose may be used for other purposes.

 The lower sulphate content of low EEO agarose, particularly low-melting point
(LMP) agarose, is also beneficial in cases where the DNA extracted from gel is to
be used for further manipulation as the presence of contaminating sulphates
may affect some subsequent procedures, such as ligation and PCR.

 Zero EEO agaroses however are undesirable for some applications as they may
be made by adding positively charged group and such groups can affect
subsequent enzyme reactions
MIGRATION OF NUCLEIC ACIDS IN AGAROSE GEL
 A number of factors can affect the migration of nucleic acids:
1. the dimension of the gel pores (gel concentration),
2. size of DNA being electrophoresed,
3. the voltage used,
4. the ionic strength of the buffer
5. the concentration of intercalating dye such as ethidium bromide if used
during electrophoresis

 For standard agarose gel electrophoresis, larger molecules are resolved better using
a low concentration gel while smaller molecules separate better at high
concentration gel. High concentrations gel however requires longer run times

 The movement of the DNA may be affected by the conformation of the DNA
molecule, for example, supercoiled DNA usually moves faster than relaxed DNA
because it is tightly coiled and hence more compact. In a normal plasmid DNA
preparation, multiple forms of DNA may be present

 Ethidium bromide which intercalates into circular DNA can change the charge,
length, as well as the superhelicity of the DNA molecule, therefore its presence in
gel during electrophoresis can affect its movement.
Migration anomalies

 "Smiley" gels - this edge effect is caused when the voltage applied is too high
for the gel concentration used.

 Overloading of DNA - slows down the migration of DNA fragments.

 Contamination - presence of impurities, such as salts or proteins can affect the

movement of the DNA

 Thermal effects: Most of the power generated during electrophoresis is

dissipated as heat. Heating of electrophoretic medium has effects as:

1. An increased rate of diffusion of sample and buffer ions leading to

broadening of the separated samples i.e. smiley band of DNA
2. The formation of convection currents, which leads to mixing of separated
samples.
3. Thermal instability of samples that are rather sensitive to heat. This may
include denaturation of proteins (and thus the loss of enzyme activity).
4. A decrease of buffer viscosity, and hence a reduction in the resistance of
the medium.
Mechanism of migration and separation

 The negative charge of its phosphate backbone moves the DNA towards
the positively charged anode during electrophoresis.

 However, the migration of DNA molecules in solution, in the absence of a

gel matrix, is independent of molecular weight during electrophoresis.

 The gel matrix is therefore responsible for the separation of DNA by size
during electrophoresis

 A widely accepted one is the Ogston model which treats the polymer
matrix as a sieve. A globular protein or a random coil DNA moves
through the interconnected pores, and the movement of larger
molecules is more likely to be impeded and slowed down by collisions
with the gel matrix, and the molecules of different sizes can therefore be
separated in this sieving process
General procedure
1. Casting of gel: The concentration of gel affects the resolution of DNA separation. For a standard
agarose gel electrophoresis, a 0.8% gives good separation or resolution of large 5–10kb DNA
fragments, while 2% gel gives good resolution for small 0.2–1kb fragments.
2. Loading of samples: The loading buffer contains a dense compound, which may be glycerol,
sucrose, or Ficoll, that raises the density of the sample so that the DNA sample may sink to the
bottom of the well. If the DNA sample contains residual ethanol after its preparation, it may float
out of the well. The loading buffer also include colored dyes such as xylene
cyanol and bromophenol blue used to monitor the progress of the electrophoresis.
3. Electrophoresis: Agarose gel electrophoresis is most commonly done horizontally in a submarine
mode whereby the slab gel is completely submerged in buffer during electrophoresis.
4. Since DNA is not visible in natural light, the progress of the electrophoresis is monitored using
colored dyes. Xylene cyanol (light blue color) comigrates large DNA fragments, while Bromophenol
blue (dark blue) comigrates with the smaller fragments. Less commonly used dyes include Cresol
Red and Orange G which migrate ahead of bromophenol blue.
5. A DNA marker is also run together for the estimation of the molecular weight of the DNA
fragments. Note however that the size of a circular DNA like plasmids cannot be accurately gauged
using standard markers unless it has been linearized by restriction digest, alternatively a
supercoiled DNA marker may be used.
6. Staining and visualization: DNA as well as RNA are normally visualized by staining with ethidium
bromide, which intercalates into the major grooves of the DNA and fluoresces under UV light. The
ethidium bromide may be added to the agarose solution before it gels, or the DNA gel may be
stained later after electrophoresis. Destaining of the gel is not necessary but may produce better
images. Other methods of staining are available; examples are SYBR Green, GelRed, methylene
blue, brilliant cresyl blue, Nile blue sulphate, and crystal violet
Buffers

 In general, the ideal buffer should have good conductivity, produce

less heat and have a long life.[29] There are a number of buffers
used for agarose electrophoresis; common ones for nucleic acids
include Tris/Acetate/EDTA (TAE) and Tris/Borate/EDTA (TBE).

 Tris-phosphate buffer has high buffering capacity but cannot be

used if DNA extracted is to be used in phosphate sensitive
reaction.

 TAE has the lowest buffering capacity but provides the best
resolution for larger DNA. This means a lower voltage and more
time, but a better product.
Application of agarose gel electrophoresis
1. Estimation of the size of DNA molecules following restriction enzyme digestion, e.g.
in restriction mapping of cloned DNA.

2. Analysis of PCR products, e.g. in molecular genetic diagnosis or genetic fingerprinting

3. Separation of DNA fragments for extraction and purification.

4. Separation of restricted genomic DNA prior to Southern transfer, or of RNA prior

to Northern transfer.

5. Agarose gels are easily cast and handled compared to other matrices and nucleic
acids are not chemically altered during electrophoresis. Samples are also easily
recovered. After the experiment is finished, the resulting gel can be stored in a
plastic bag in a refrigerator.

6. Electrophoresis is performed in buffer solutions to reduce pH changes due to the

electric field, which is important because the charge of DNA and RNA depends on
pH, but running for too long can exhaust the buffering capacity of the solution.
Further, different preparations of genetic material may not migrate consistently with
each other, for morphological or other reasons.
POLYACRYLAMIDE GEL ELECTROPHORESIS

 PAGE is used for separating proteins in size from 5 to 2,000 kDa due to the uniform
pore size in polyacrylamide gel. Pore size is controlled by modulating the
concentrations of acrylamide and bis-acrylamide powder used in creating a gel.

 Traditional DNA sequencing techniques such as Maxam-Gilbert or Sanger methods

used polyacrylamide gels to separate DNA fragments differing by a single base-pair
in length so the sequence could be read. Most modern DNA separation methods
now use agarose gels, except for particularly small DNA fragments. It is currently
most often used in the field of immunology and protein analysis, often used to
separate different proteins or isoforms of the same protein into separate bands.

 Typically resolving gels are made in 6%, 8%, 10%, 12% or 15%. Stacking gel (5%) is
poured on top of the resolving gel and a gel comb (which forms the wells and
defines the lanes where proteins, sample buffer and ladders will be placed) is
inserted. The percentage chosen depends on the size of the protein that one
wishes to identify or probe in the sample. The smaller the known weight, the
higher the percentage that should be used. Changes on the buffer system of the
gel can help to further resolve proteins of very small sizes
[Cl-] >[protein–SDS] >[glycinate] [Cl-] >[glycinate] >[protein–SDS]
ISOELECTRIC FOCUSSING GELS
2 D Gel Electrophoresis
IMMUNOELECTROPHORESIS
 This technique involves combination of the principles of electrophoresis and
immunological reactions. Immunoelectrophoresis is useful for the analysis of
complex mixtures of antigens and antibodies.

 The complex proteins of biological samples (say human serum) are subjected
to electrophoresis. The antibody (antihuman immune serum from rabbit or
horse) is thenapplied in a trough parallel to the electrophoretic separation.

 The antibodies diffuse and, when they come in contact with antigens,
precipitation occurs, resulting in the formation of precipitin bands which can
be identified
ISOTACHOPHORESIS
Isotachophoresis (ITP) is a technique in analytical chemistry used for selective
separation and concentration of ionic analytes. It is a form of electrophoresis:
charged analytes are separated based on ionic mobility, a factor which tells how fast
an ion migrates through an electric field.

Isotachophoresis means migration with the same speed. Many "non physisists"
complain, that they do not understand isotachophoresis as easily as other biophysical
methods. The reason: several things occur simultaneously.

To understand the effects and the features of the technique, one should imagine the
four facts of isotachophoresis, which are equally important and which happen at the
same time:

1. Migration of all ions with the same speed

2. Separation of components as an "Ion train"
3. Zone sharpening effect
4. Concentration regulating effect
 In isotachophoresis (ITP), the separation is carried out in a discontinuous
buffer system. The ionized sample migrates between a leading electrolyte
with a high mobility and a terminating - sometimes called trailing - ion with a
low mobility, all of them migrating with the same speed.

 The different components are separated according to their electrophoretic

mobilities and form stacks: the substance with the highest mobility directly
follows the leading ion, the one with the lowest mobility migrates directly in
front of the terminating electrolyte.

 In ITP there is a concentration regulating effect which works against diffusion.

 In an anionic separation, the leading electrolyte will be at the anodal, and the
terminating electrolyte at the cathodal side. The sample is applied between
the two. The system also contains a common cationic counter-ion.

 A practical example: Chloride is the leading ion, Glycine is the terminating

ion, Tris is the counter ion.

 ITP is mostly applied for stacking of the samples during the first phase of disc
electrophoresis.
PULSED-FIELD GEL ELECTROPHORESIS
 At Columbia University in 1984, David C. Schwartz and Charles Cantor developed
a variation on the standard protocol by introducing an alternating voltage
gradient to improve the resolution of larger molecules. This technique became
known as pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).

 Pulsed field gel electrophoresis is a technique used for the separation of

large deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecules by applying to a gel matrix an
electric field that periodically changes direction.

 Standard gel electrophoresis techniques for separation of DNA molecules

provided huge advantages for molecular biology research. However, it was
unable to separate very large molecules of DNA effectively.

 DNA molecules larger than 15-20 kb migrating through a gel will essentially
move together in a size-independent manner. The development of PFGE
expanded the range of resolution for DNA fragments by as much as two orders
of magnitude.
PROCEDURE
 The procedure for this technique is relatively similar to performing a
standard gel electrophoresis except that instead of constantly running the
voltage in one direction, the voltage is periodically switched among three
directions; one that runs through the central axis of the gel and two that
run at an angle of 60 degrees either side.

 The pulse times are equal for each direction resulting in a net forward
migration of the DNA. For extremely large molecules (up to around 2 Mb),
switching-interval ramps can be used that increases the pulse time for
each direction over the course of a number of hours—take, for instance,
increasing the pulse linearly from 10 seconds at 0 hours to 60 seconds at
18 hours.

 This procedure takes longer than normal gel electrophoresis due to the
size of the fragments being resolved and the fact that the DNA does not
move in a straight line through the gel.
THEORY

 While in general small fragments can find their way through

the gel matrix more easily than large DNA fragments, a
threshold length exists above 30–50 kb where all large
fragments will run at the same rate, and appear in a gel as a
single large diffuse band.

 However, with periodic changing of field direction, the various

lengths of DNA react to the change at differing rates. That is,
larger pieces of DNA will be slower to realign their charge
when field direction is changed, while smaller pieces will be
quicker. Over the course of time with the consistent changing
of directions, each band will begin to separate more and more
even at very large lengths. Thus separation of very large DNA
pieces using PFGE is made possible
 APPLICATIONS

1. PFGE may be used for genotyping or genetic fingerprinting. It is commonly

considered a gold standard in epidemiological studies of pathogenic
organisms. Subtyping has made it easier to discriminate among strains
of Listeria monocytogenes and thus to link environmental or food isolates
with clinical infections.

2. PFGE allows investigators to separate much larger pieces of DNA than

conventional agarose gel electrophoresis. In conventional gels, the current is
applied in a single direction (from top to bottom). But in PFGE, the direction of
the current is altered at a regular interval as shown in the animated gif below.

3. The gray box is the gel, the six sets of 4 black lines represent the 3 pairs of
electrodes. Initially, the gel is empty but soon Whole chromosomes mixed
with blue loading dye will be placed into the wells. Then the current will be
turned on and the direction of the current will change in a regular pattern.
This is repeated until the loading dye reaches near the end of the gel Then the
gel is soaked in a solution containing ethidium bromide which fluoresces
orange when bound to DNA.
 CONTOUR-CLAMPED HOMOGENEOUS ELECTRICAL-
FIELD (CHEF) ELECTROPHORESIS
 A major disadvantage of PFGE, as originally described, is that the samples do not
run in straight lines. This makes subsequent analysis difficult. This problem has
been overcome by the development of improved methods for alternating the
electrical field. The most popular of these is contour-clamped homogeneous
electrical-field (CHEF) electrophoresis (Chu et al.1986).
 In early CHEF-type systems the
reorientation angle was fixed at
120°. However, in newer systems,
the reorientation angle can be
varied and it has been found that for
whole-yeast chromosomes the
migration rate is much faster with
an angle of 106°.
 Fragments of DNA as large as 200–
300 kb are routinely handled in
genomics work and these can be
separated in a matter of hours using
CHEF systems with a reorientation
angle of 90° or less.
OFFGEL electrophoresis

 OFFGEL electrophoresis separates proteins or peptides

according to their isoelectric points, whereby the separated
components are recovered in liquid phase. Up- or
downstream sample processing steps such as immune
depletion, protein digestion and liquid chromatography can
be easily interfaced with this technique for multi-
dimensional separations of complex samples.

 With its new state-of-the-art web-based user interface

OFFGEL electrophoresis has just become even more intuitive
to use. Directly connect it to the supplied Netbook or
connect to your local area network to operate from any PC*
or iPhone
OFFGEL ELECTROPHORESIS – High resolution pI fractionation
based on proven IPG technology

The Agilent 3100 OFFGEL Fractionator performs isoelectric focusing of proteins or

peptides in immobilized pH gradient (IPG) gel strips. The technique applied by the
3100 OFFGEL Fractionator differs from conventional gel electrophoresis in that
sample components are recovered from liquid phase. This makesthe technology
directly compatible with liquid-phase workflows, for example LC-MS.

1. The IPG gel strip is rehydrated and seals tightly against the well frame.

2. The diluted sample is equally distributed into all wells in the frame, and a cover
seal is placed on top of the frame to prevent sample evaporation.

3. A high voltage is applied to the ends of the gel strip and the protein or peptide
molecules migrate through the gel until they reach a position where the pH
equals the pI of the molecule.

4. After fractionation, the separated proteins or peptides remain in the buffer

solution and can be easily removed using a pipette for subsequent downstream
processing.
References

1. Satyanarayana, U. “Biochemistry” 5th Edition, Elsevier India 2017,

ISBN: 9788131249406
2. Voet D, Voet J. .G “Biochemistry”, 4th Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,2010.
ISBN: 978-0-470-57095-1
3. David L. Nelson; Michael M. Cox “Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry”
Seventh Edition, Macmillan 2017, ISBN:9781464187957
4. Wilson, K., Walker, J. (eds.); Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000, 784
pp., ISBN 0‐521‐65873‐X (paperback)

All the original contributors of the concept and findings published are
gratefully acknowledged while preparing the e-content for the
students of Biochemistry and allied sciences.