Routine electrophoresis (also known as zone electrophoresis) is performed on a rectangular slab gel. Several patient specimens and control(s) can be placed on one gel, and solutes separated in one run.
Routine electrophoresis is mostly used for the separation of proteins. A serum sample with normal plasma proteins yields five zones or bands of separated proteins: albumin, alpha-1-globulins, alpha-2-globulins, beta-globulins, and gamma-globulins. CSF and urine proteins can also be separated with routine electrophoresis. Other applications include the separation of isoenzymes, hemoglobins, and fragments of DNA and RNA.
A manual agarose gel electrophoresis of eight serum samples is pictured. After electrophoresis, the gel was stained with Ponceau S.
