[Molecular weight of human alpha2-H-ferroglobulin subunits. Comparison with molecular weight of ferritin subunits]

alpha2 H globulin, a glycoferroprotein, was first demonstrated in the sera of patients with malignant diseases. This protein was isolated from cancerous human liver, and compared with ferritin, a ferroprotein showing some identical properties (presence of iron, high molecular weight, common antigenic determinants). However, physicochemical differences were observed between these two proteins. The study of protein dissociation was performed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate after reduction by mercaptoethanol. A similar molecular weight of 19 000 is obtained for subunits of these two proteins. This value agrees well with the results obtained by other authors for ferritin.