Differences in the demonstration of C3 polymorphism in high-voltage gel electrophoresis depending on agarose quality. Investigations of rare C3 variants in Behring agarose AGS 082.

Different batches of agarose may lead to migration differences in the demonstration of C3 polymorphism in high-voltage gel electrophoresis. We studied a particular batch (i.e. AGS 082) which caused two basic phenomena concerning mobility and electrophoretic position of C3 phenotypes: 1. C3 variants migrate to the cathode, apparently due to a positive net charge of the protein caused by this agarose batch. 2. The relative mobility of slow and fast bands is virtually reversed. Previously obtained results are controlled and verified by further investigations on rare C3 variants. The possible causes of the net charge differences of the C3 proteins in various agarose batches are discussed.