Abstract
A comparative study of vertebrate plasma proteins was performed by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-D PAGE) without denaturing agents in order to obtain a perspective of the variation of plasma protein composition in different vertebrates. Plasma from raccoon, chicken, turtle, newt, goldfish and human was subjected to the analysis. The 2-D PAGE patterns offered information on vertebrate plasma proteins in their physiological conditions: their isoelectric point (pI), approximate molecular weight (M. W.) and quantity. Each vertebrate plasma protein showed a characteristic protein distribution, reflecting the evolutionary changes in DNA sequence and the expression of plasma protein. On the other hand, for some plasma proteins, the structural relationships between human and other vertebrates were suggested immunochemically. A series of spots detected at pI 6.2-8.3, M. W. 850-kDa, observed in the 2-D PAGE patterns of raccoon, chicken and turtle plasma was immunochemically stained by antihuman immunoglobulin M antibody. And, a series of spots detected at pI 4.8-5.5, M. W. 500-kDa in the patterns of raccoon, chicken and newt plasma was immunochemically stained by anti-human α2-macroglobulin antibody. These results indicate that a perspective of the variation of plasma protein composition in different vertebrates may be obtained by 2-D PAGE without denaturing agents.
