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Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Resolving Affinity Purified Protein Complexes by Blue Native PAGE and Protein Correlation Profiling
Published on: April 1, 2017
Mass spectrometry of proteins directly from polyacrylamide gels
R R Ogorzalek Loo1, T I Stevenson, C Mitchell
1Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-0674, and Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Research, Division of Warner-Lambert Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105.
Abstract:
The direct combination of thin-layer gel electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry has been demonstrated with good sensitivity and mass accuracy, offering potential advantages in speed and reduced complexity. Mass spectra have been obtained from isoelectric focusing, sodium dodecyl sulfate, and native gels with as little as 660 fmol of α- and β-chain bovine hemoglobin and 1 pmol of horse heart myoglobin loaded. CNBr digests were performed in situ, and the products were probed in-gel. Noncovalent complexes such as multimeric protein systems, enzyme inhibitor complexes, and protein-ligand complexes can also be characterized when gel electrophoresis is run under nondenaturing conditions. This approach shows promise for simplifying the interface between gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry.
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