Characterization of cercarial antigens by high resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis.

This technique has been developed for the separation of protein by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Due to its resolution and sensitivity, this technique is a powerful tool for the analysis and detection of proteins from complex biological sources. Proteins were separated according to isoelectric point by isoelectric focusing in the first dimension, and according to molecular weight by sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis in the second dimension. Since these two parameters are unrelated, it is possible to obtain an almost uniform distribution of protein spots across a two-dimensional gel. This technique has resolved about 20 different acidic components from cercarial Ag. So this technique provides a method for estimation of the number of proteins made by any biological system.