| Abstract
| - A method for carrying out 2D gel electrophoresis in acapillary format is presented. In this method, separationin the first dimension is carried out in a 1D capillary, withthis system physically isolated from the capillaries thatprovide the separation in the second dimension. Aftercompletion of the first separation, the 1D channel isphysically connected to the 2D capillaries, and a secondseparation is carried out in an orthogonal set of parallelcapillaries. The ability of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)to support the fabrication of 3D microfluidic systemsmakes it possible to produce membranes that bothenclose the gel used in the first separation in a capillaryand provide passages for the proteins to migrate into thearray of orthogonal capillaries. The elastomeric nature ofPDMS makes it possible to make reversible connectionsbetween pieces of PDMS. The feasibility of this system isdemonstrated using a protein mixture containing fluorescein-conjugated carbonic anhydrase, fluorescein-conjugated BSA, and Texas Red-conjugated ovalbumin. Thiswork suggests one type of design that might form the basisfor a microfabricated device for 2D capillary electrophoresis.
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