Semi-dry electroblotter

Details Semi-dry electroblotter Semi-dry electroblotter

2001-04-27

2003-07-15

Bell, Mark L. (Department: 1755)

Chemistry: electrical and wave energy

Apparatus

Electrophoretic or electro-osmotic apparatus

C204S600000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06592734

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semi-dry electroblotter, and more particularly to a semi-dry, electroblotter for transferring a gel after its electrophoresis onto a membrane enabling the electro-blotting process to be efficiently and effectively carried out within a short time, and eliminating the shortcomings of the traditional technology.
2. Description of the Related Art
The horizontal or vertical immersion tank for electrophoresis is specially designed for the separation and analysis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA), and protein in the biotechnology field. Its principle is to use electric current to drive the molecules to shift on the porous gel. When the molecules shift, they are separated from each other by means of the ionic charge and the size difference of the molecules. Such a process plays a very important role in the application of basic biotechnological theory.
The foregoing gel after electrophoresis forms a molecular mark, and since the molecular mark cannot be stored due to the fragile property of the gel, a semi-dry or a wet blotter is used to transfer the molecular mark onto a membrane in order to attain the purpose of storing the molecular mark for later experiments.
FIG. 1
shows the three-dimensional diagram of the structure of a traditional semi-dry electroblotter, which comprises an upper lid (
10
) and a lower block (
11
) of a container; an electrode plate (
12
) is disposed in the upper lid (
10
) and the lower block (
11
) for connecting to the cathode and the anode; a plurality of prewet transfer buffers are being held by the electrode plate (
12
) of the lower block (
11
); the gel (
14
) and the membrane (
15
) for the transfer are clamped between the plurality of transfer buffers, and the gel (
14
) is located on top of the membrane (
15
).
During the transfer, the cathode and the upper lid (
10
) of the electrode plate (
12
) form a negatively charged area when electric current is passed, and the anode forms a positively charged area with the electrode plate (
12
) of the lower block (
11
). When the upper lid (
10
) and the lower block (
11
) are closed, the weight of the upper lid (
10
) presses the transfer buffers (
13
), the gel (
14
), and the membrane (
15
) to attach to each other. Since the electrons travel from cathode to anode, the molecular marks on the gel can be transferred to the membrane.
FIG. 2
is a three-dimensional diagram showing the structure of another prior-art semi-dry electroblotter. Unlike the foregoing electroblotter, its upper lid (
10
) has a plurality of knobs (
16
), and the lower block (
11
) has a screw column (
17
). When the transfer buffers, gel, and the membrane are accommodated in sequence between the upper lid (
10
) and the lower block (
11
), the user can turn the knob (
16
) to bolt them to the screw column (
17
), such that the upper lid (
10
) and the lower block (
11
) clamp the transfer buffers, gel, and membrane together, and then the transfer is carried out by applying electric current to them as described above.
Although the foregoing two traditional semi-dry electroblotters can transfer the molecular mark, the gel (
14
) is fragile, the thickness of the DNA and RNA gel being about 8 mm-10 mm, and that of the protein being just 0.7 mm~1.5 mm. The difference of the thickness between the two is large. Furthermore, the force of clamping the transfer buffers (
13
), gel (
14
), and membrane (
15
) by the two traditional semi-dry electroblotters cannot be controlled. Therefore, overpressing the upper lid (
10
) occurs frequently during the transfer, which will damage the gel (
14
) between the upper lid (
10
) and the lower block (
11
), cause the whole process to fail. On the other hand, if the force between the upper lid (
10
) and the lower block (
11
) is not enough, it will easily produce an air bubble between the gel (
14
) and the membrane (
15
), which gives rise to poor conductivity because the attachment is not tight enough, and incomplete transfer of the molecular mark.
Additionally, there is another conventional wet electroblotter (as shown in FIG.
3
), which comprises transfer buffers (
13
), gel (
14
), and membrane (
15
) disposed inside a container (
20
). The container (
20
) is placed in the solution tank (
30
), and the cathode and anode of the electrodes are introduced to proceed with the transfer operation.
The wet electroblotter can attain the purpose of a transfer, but the container (
20
) for accommodating the transfer buffers (
13
), gel (
14
), and membrane (
15
) must be immersed completely into the solution tank (
30
). The operation and application are therefore inconvenient, and the voltage for the transfer cannot be too large, or else it may evaporate the solution and affect the experiment. Therefore it takes a relatively long time for the wet electroblotters to complete the transfer.
In view of the above shortcomings of the traditional electroblotters, they still need to be improved. In order to provide a more convenient way of performing the transfer operation, the present inventor actively performed research and development in the biotechnological equipment area and with years of practical experience of sales and marketing has developed an electroblotter that is more convenient, reliable, fast and practical than the conventional electroblotter, and yet that ensures the integrity of the gel.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Generally speaking, the electroblotter of the present invention comprises an upper block, and a corresponding lower block. A corresponding positioning member is disposed on each of the lateral sides of the upper block and the lower block, such that the upper block and the lower block will be coupled automatically when they are closed in a correct guiding position. An elastic member and an electrode plate are separately disposed in the interior of the upper block and the lower block, and the elastic member supports the electrode plate so that the electrode plate has an elastic reaction on the opposite direction when the electrode plate is pressed.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an electroblotter which applies an appropriate elastic pressure to the electrode plate using the above-mentioned elastic member to evenly clamp the gel, membrane, and the transfer buffers by means of the electrode plate of the upper block and the lower block in order to solve the incomplete transfer problem for the electroblotting process. Furthermore, since the electrode plate evenly holds the gel, membrane, and transfer buffers by the elastic member, it will not damage the gels easily even they are of different thicknesses.
Another objective of the present invention is provide an electroblotter which can increase the stability of coupling the upper block and the lower block by automatically guiding and latching the corresponding sides of the two blocks when they are closed in order to avoid damage to the gel caused by the manual operation. After the transfer, the upper block is pressed evenly to release the latching of the positioning member, and by means of the elasticity of the foregoing elastic member, the upper block and the lower block can be separated for quick disassembling or cleaning. It offers a very convenient operation for users.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3856656 (1974-12-01), Brink
patent: 5100626 (1992-03-01), Levin
patent: 5217592 (1993-06-01), Jones
patent: 5242568 (1993-09-01), Ehr et al.
patent: 5306468 (1994-04-01), Anderson et al.
patent: 5571667 (1996-11-01), Chu et al.
patent: 6193868 (2001-02-01), Hsu
patent: 6203679 (2001-03-01), Bouis et al.
patent: 6303389 (2001-10-01), Levin et al.

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