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The principle of capillary electrophoresis and its application in the separation of biomolecules
Date: 2025-07-04Read: 0

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a liquid-phase separation technology driven by a high-voltage direct current electric field and separated through a capillary tube. Its core principle is based on the difference in migration rate of charged particles in the electric field to achieve efficient separation. In a capillary electrophoresis system, a quartz capillary with an inner diameter of 20-200 μ m is filled with a buffer solution. When a high voltage of 10-30 kV is applied, charged particles migrate under the action of an electric field, and their migration rate is determined by both electrophoretic mobility (related to molecular charge and size) and electroosmotic flow (EOF). Electroosmotic flow originates from the negative charge generated by the dissociation of silicon hydroxyl groups on the inner wall of capillaries, which attracts cations in the buffer solution to form a double layer. Under high pressure, it pushes the liquid to flow towards the cathode as a whole, and its rate is usually one order of magnitude higher than the electrophoretic mobility, becoming the main driving force for separation. Positively charged particles flow out first due to their migration in the same direction as electroosmotic flow, followed by neutral particles, and negatively charged particles flow out last, thus achieving component separation.

In the field of biomacromolecule separation, capillary electrophoresis has shown advantages. Its high resolution can distinguish the charge isomers of proteins, such as separating the charge variants of monoclonal antibody drugs through capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE), or separating protein variants with an isoelectric point difference of only 0.03 using capillary isoelectric focusing (CIEF). For nucleic acid analysis, CE can achieve high-sensitivity detection of bases and nucleotides, supporting DNA sequencing, PCR product analysis, and protein DNA interaction research. In addition, Micellar Electrokinetic Capillary Chromatography (MEKC) forms a micelle phase by adding surfactants, which can simultaneously separate charged and neutral molecules, making it suitable for chiral separation of small molecules such as amino acids and drugs. Compared with traditional liquid chromatography, CE has the characteristics of small sample size (nL level), fast analysis speed (several minutes to tens of minutes), and no need for a fixed phase, avoiding the problem of chromatographic column aging. It has become an analytical tool in fields such as biopharmaceuticals and genetic engineering.