Improved sample preparation method for high-performance liquid chromatography of deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates from cell culture extracts.

The accurate determination of deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates in cells is difficult owing to the high concentrations of interfering ribonucleoside triphosphates. The latter can be degraded to their respective bases by periodate oxidation of cell extracts. However, the large amount of bases so produced can interfere with subsequent high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) analysis. The use of a weak ion-exchange cartridge to partially purify and concentrate deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates in periodate-treated cell extracts, prior to HPLC, thus allowing accurate determination is described. The recovery of the deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates is greater than 95%, and greater than 90% of the interfering bases are removed.