A Bioseparation Apparatus with High-Pressure Fluid Injection and Fluid Sampling

A novel apparatus in which fluids may be injected and sampled at high pressure is described. Bioseparation applications of the apparatus were demonstrated in three model systems: (1) λDNA was eluted under pressure from an anion exchange column into a low-salt (0.25 M) buffer, thereby eliminating conventional time-consuming desalting procedures required for downstream analysis of the DNA; (2) RNA was separated under pressure from a RNA/DNA mixture, thereby enabling rapid differential preparation of nucleic acids; and (3) an antibody was purified from a protein mixture by affinity capture at one pressure and dissociation from the antigen binding partner at a second pressure, thereby enabling the immunoreactivities of both antibody and antigen to be preserved during the separation process.