Micropreparative Gel Electrophoresis for Purification of Nanoscale Bioconjugates

Bioconjug Chem. 2024 Feb 21;35(2):154-163. doi: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.3c00388. Epub 2024 Feb 6.

Abstract

Conventional techniques for purifying macromolecular conjugates often require complex and costly installments that are inaccessible to most laboratories. In this work, we develop a one-step micropreparative method based on a trilayered polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (MP-PAGE) setup to purify biological samples, synthetic nanoparticles, as well as biohybrid complexes. We apply this method to recover DNA from a ladder mixture with yields of up to 90%, compared to the 58% yield obtained using the conventional crush-and-soak method. MP-PAGE was also able to isolate enhanced yellow fluorescence protein (EYFP) from crude cell extract with 90% purity, which is comparable to purities achieved through a more complex two-step purification procedure involving size exclusion and immobilized metal-ion affinity chromatography. This technique was further extended to demonstrate size-dependent separation of a commercial mixture of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) into three different fractions with distinct optical properties. Finally, MP-PAGE was used to isolate DNA-EYFP and DNA-GQD bioconjugates from their reaction mixture of DNA and EYFP and GQD precursors, samples that otherwise could not be effectively purified by conventional chromatography. MP-PAGE thus offers a rapid and versatile means of purifying biological and synthetic nanomaterials without the need for specialized equipment.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Chromatography, Affinity
  • DNA
  • Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
  • Proteins*
  • Quantum Dots* / chemistry

Substances

  • Proteins
  • DNA