Electrophoresis and isoelectrofocusing coupled with agar diffusion for the characterization of antibodies and enzymes Review Article

Gel electrophoresis and gel isoelectrofocusing coupled with agar diffusion are used in a novel method devised for characterizing polyclonal isoantibodies and isoenzymes. Duplicate samples of the antibodies or enzymes are subjected to analysis on polyacrylamide gels. One finished gel is stained for protein and the other duplicate gel is embedded in fluid agar. When the agar solidifies the components in the unstained gel diffuse against the appropriate antigen. A precipitin arc forms opposite complementary antigen or antibody and locates the compound under study. The method has been applied for analysis of many antibody and enzyme preparations. Details are presented for anti-lactose antibodies, glucoamylase and anti-glucoamylase antibodies. The pure antibodies have been shown to consist of multi-molecular forms all specific for the same antigen.