A comparative study of the proteins of rat plasma, liver and hepatoma by agarose immunoelectrophoresis.

A convenient and selective microtechnique, agarose immunoelectrophoresis, was applied to a comparison of the antigens in rat liver and plasma, and in primary hepatoma induced in male Fischer strain rats with N-2-fluorenylacetamide or N-hydroxy-N-2-fluorenylacetamide. Of the many soluble proteins antigenic in this system, 3 were singled out for detailed study. The albumin in liver and hepatoma had a higher mobility than that in plasma. Extraction of the soluble fraction of rat liver with ether, or treatment with absorbing charcoal, yielded an albumin band with a mobility identical to that in plasma, suggesting that liver albumin carries absorbed molecules with electronegative charges. The transferrin arc from liver, plasma and hepatoma had identical mobility. One protein with low mobility was present in higher concentration in the soluble liver fraction of male than of female rats, but it was reduced in hepatoma of male rats. The "h(2)" proteins of liver were found in the cathodic region as 5 arcs, some of which were reduced, while others were not detectable in hepatoma.