Protein electrophoresis
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In chemistry and medicine, protein electrophoresis is a method of analysing a mixture of proteins by means of gel electrophoresis, mainly in blood serum (blood plasma is not suitable).
Interpretation
There are two large classes of blood proteins: albumin and globulin. They are generally equal in proportion, but albumin is much smaller and lightly negatively charged, leading to an accumulation of albumin on the electrophoretic gel. A small band before albumin represents transthyretin (also named pre-albumin). Some forms of medication or body chemicals can cause their own band, usually small (see, however, paraprotein).
The globulins are classified by their banding pattern (with their main representatives):
- The alpha (α) band consists of two parts, 1 and 2:
- α1 - α1-antitrypsin, α1-acid glycoprotein.
- α2 - haptoglobin, α2-macroglobulin, α2-antiplasmin, ceruloplasmin.
- The beta (β) band - transferrin, LDL, complement
- The gamma (γ) band - immunoglobulin (IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG and IgM). Paraproteins (in multiple myeloma) appear in this band.