Structural Biochemistry/Cellulose Acetate Electrophoresis
Overview
[edit | edit source]Cellulose acetate electrophoresis utilizes native protein charge to separate proteins based on their isoelectric point.
How it Works
[edit | edit source]A sample protein is dotted on the marked center of a cellulose acetate strip and the strip is placed in barbital buffer of a desired pH and voltage is applied across the strip. The proteins that migrate towards the anode have a pI greater than the pH of the buffer while proteins that migrate towards the cathode have a pI less than the pH of the buffer. Positively charged proteins migrate towards the cathode while negatively charged proteins migrate toward the anode.
Application
[edit | edit source]Cellulose acetate electrophoresis can be useful in identifying multimeric proteins formed by different isoforms since each ratio of isoforms will have a different charge due to the different amino acid structure.