Analysis of human serum proteins by molecular weight dependent acrylamide gel electrophoresis.

The technique of acrylamide gel electrophoresis of sodium dodecyl sulfate treated protein mixtures has been applied to the analysis of human serum proteins in the 70,000 to 250,000 molecular weight range. After staining, the bands are well defined, the molecular weight is defined and, hence, the identity of each can be estimated from the migration distance. In ambiguous cases, the identification of a band is confirmed by an independent method. The procedure is particularly valuable in the study of the gammopathies. The immunoglobulins migrate as expected, in contrast to the problems often encountered in the Ornstein-Davis gel method. Furthermore, light chains migrate more rapidly, are well separated from other serum proteins and, therefore, are readily detected. Paraproteins from three patients with documented gammopathies have been studied and characterized using this method.