The characterization of equine prealbumin (Pr) proteins by antigen-antibody crossed electrophoresis.

The characterization of equine prealbumin (Pr) proteins by antigen-antibody crossed electrophoresis. Acta vet. scand. 1979, 20, 180–190. — Selected equine Pr phenotypes from a total of 55 horses of mixed breeds were investigated. The horse sera were subjected to acid starch gel electrophoresis at pH 4.8, followed by right angle electrophoresis in agarose gels containing rabbit-produced anti-Pr protein. This technique gives peaks in the agarose gels corresponding to the Pr zones in acid gels.The investigation revealed patterns of the Pr protein which were more complex than those seen when using ordinary acid starch gel electrophoresis. The phenotypes FF, II and LL showed a total of eight peaks, each with three main peaks in the front. Ahead of these, the Pr II and Pr LL phenotypes each had a fourth small peak. The basic fast pattern for these two phenotypes therefore consisted of four bands. The Pr WW and Pr SS showed a similar picture as regards the fast moving peaks. The Pr NN type appeared with two peaks in the front, one small and one large and with two slow moving ones. The Pr UU type had four peaks, but only in the area of the main Pr U band in acid gels.Four heterozygous Pr phenotypes appeared as a combination of the corresponding homozygous phenotypes, the number and height of the peaks depending on positions and overlappings of these in the respective homozygotes. Thus the Pr FW phenotype showed a total of 10 peaks.The effect of variations in pH of the starch gel buffer was studied. The Pr NN and Pr FF phenotypes were run at pH 4.8, 5.0, 5.2 and 5.4. With increasing pH, the slow moving peaks weakened and moved closer to the fast ones. At pH 5.4 only one large fast moving peak remained.