Now that something is beginning to be known about the functions of the individual serum proteins there is need of a simple and satisfactory way of estimating their concentrations in normal and pathological conditions. It is difficult to do this by physico-chemical methods since serum is a mixture of so many different components. Methods such as electrophoresis distinguish about five main groups...

Pneumococcal capsular antigens can be detected in lung tissue by counter-current immunoelectrophoresis even when, following antibiotics, post-mortem bacterilogy suggests that Escherichia coli has replaced pneumococci. The results suggest that antipneumococcal therapy would benefit at least 55% of patients critically ill with lung infection and that the potentially toxic drugs directed at colifo...

Free and membrane-bound ribosomes have been isolated from a mouse plasma cell tumor secreting immunoglobulins, and allowed to synthesize proteins under cell-free conditions. Analysis of the products of synthesis by autoradiography of immunoelectrophoresis and peptide maps indicates that both types of ribosomes synthesize heavy and light immunoglobulin chains.

At least 10 of 11 demonstrable antigens in unheated culture filtrates of 12 vaccine strains of BCG were shared as determined in a reference antigen-antibody immunoelectrophoresis system. Filtrates from each of the BCG strains gave equivalent skin test reactions in homologously and heterologously sensitized guinea pigs. By these immunological parameters, the 12 BCG strains were remarkably similar.

We describe our experiences with quantitative immunoelectrophoresis, by both the procedure of Clarke and Freeman [din. Sci. 35, 403 (1968)1 and the small-scale modification of Davies et at. [Ibid. 40, 411 (1971)]. Difficulties encountered, aids in measuring and identifying the peaks, and data on the reproducibility of the two procedures are described. Finally, their applicability to cerebrospin...

Studies of four pregnancy-associated plasma proteins (PAPP's) were made on 206 plasma samples obtained from 175 pregnant women between 12 and 44 wk of gestation. The concentration of three PAPP's (A, C, and D) were assayed by quantitative crossed immunoelectrophoresis. They showed a gradual but small rate of increase during the 2nd trimester, which became more rapid in the 3rd trimester. PAPP-A...

Fibronectin was purified from human plasma by affinity chromatography under nondenaturing conditions. The method was based on the previously known binding of fibronectin to gelatin. The novel features of our method are the use of arginine in the elution of fibronectin from immobilized gelatin [Vuento & Vaheri (1978) Biochem. J. 175, 333-336] and the use of arginine-agarose as second affinity st...

A modified method is described for crossed immunoelectrophoresis in which the first-dimension separation has been carried out by sodium dodecyl sulfateepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The described method does not require nonionic detergents and is carried out after fixation and staining of the polyacrylamide gel. This permits more precise alignment of immunoprccipitatcs with polypeptide ba...