Identification of inherited protein variants in individual erythrocytes.

Inherited electrophoretic variations of hemoglobin, carbonic anhydrase, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in individual erythrocytes were separated by electrophoresis in ultrathin agar gels. By staining the electropherograms with specific fluorescein-conjugated antibodies against hemoglobins, relative proportions of two hemoglobins within individual erythrocytes can be estimated. The findings suggested that the intracellular proportions of HbA and HbS in heterozygotes are heterogeneous within a given population of cells. By this method cells containing hemoglobin F (F cells) as well as a minor variant of hemoglobin F were identified. This tool potentially offers an approach to monitoring distribution of inherited variants in individual erythrocytes for a large number of proteins.