Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of proteins.

The high-resolution capacity of two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE) makes it an excellent tool for the analysis and characterisation of complex protein mixtures. The evolution of two-dimensional electrophoresis is briefly described. The various steps involved in 2-D PAGE, the identification and characterization of proteins separated by 2-D PAGE and the quantitative and qualitative analysis of 2-D patterns are discussed in detail and some new approaches are described. In the final section a brief outline of some of the biomedical applications of 2-D PAGE to screening of body fluids, genetic diseases, inborn errors of metabolism, cancer and neoplastic transformation are discussed.