Josai University Faculty of Science
Tokai University School of Medicine
Hiroshima University Faculty of Engineering
National Space Development Agency of Japan
出版者
宇宙開発事業団
出版者(英)
National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA)
Free flow electrophoresis of a nematode C. elegans DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) was carried out using a Free Flow Electrophoresis Unit (FFEU) on the spacelab of a space shuttle flight STS65/Colombia. The electrophoresis experiment were performed by payload specialists under microgravity. During the experiment, the house keeping data of the FFEU and the electrophoretic migration profiles by a UV (Ultraviolet) detector were down-linked and monitored at POCC (Payload Operations Control Center) of MSFC (Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama) according to the real-time down-link system. Separation profiles of migration markers observed as the three Dimensional Electropherogram (3DEP) were very stable in comparison with that obtained on the ground, indicating that disturbance of electrophoretic migration caused by thermal convection did not occur under microgravity. Furthermore, the 3DEP made it possible to assess the separation behavior of the samples and then to request the necessary sample fractions to be collected by payload specialists. Post-flight analyses of the component DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) of the fractionated samples revealed that the DNAs were separated effectively into two peaks: one of them contained seven folds of a DNA component estimated by a sod-4 gene probe against an unc-6 probe on linkage group three and ten, respectively, after the amplification by the PCR method. The others were the same in that ratio. These results suggested that this separation technique was suitable for separating biological macromolecules such as DNAs, and the separation efficiency of the FFE (Free Flow Electrophoresis) under microgravity environment was very high.