Lipoprotein Patterns of Serum Obtained by Zone

For a number of years the lipoproteins of serum have been classified as alpha and beta types according to their electrophoretic mobility. Despite this designation very few studies of their electrophoretic properties have been reported. This is chiefly due to the fact that it is very difficult to determine exactly where the lipoproteins migrate when patterns of whole serum are obtained by the classical Tiselius method. Isolation of the lipoproteins can be achieved by chemical (1, 2) and ultracentrifugal methods (3, 4). However, even if turbidity and solubility problems in the electrophoretic separation of the isolated lipoproteins are overcome, some question remains as to whether the mobilities of these delicate complexes are the same in the isolated state as they are in whole serum. To circumvent these difficulties and to supplement the information obtained from the ultracentrifuge by Gofman, Lindgren and Elliott (3), Green, Lewis and Page (4), and Turner and associates (5) and that obtained from chemical fractionation by Lever and associates (2) and Russ, Eder and Barr (6, 7), the new technique of zone electrophoresis was applied to this problem. This method has the advantage that the electrophoretic components can be isolated directly so that lipid analyses can be carried out. The results obtained in the present study indicate that lipoprotein patterns can be obtained on whole serum and can be correlated in terms of relative electrophoretic mobility with the other proteins of serum.