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Cross Partition and Isoelectric Points of Proteins

Nature volume 228, pages 1329–1330 (1970)Cite this article

Abstract

AQUEOUS mixtures of dextran and polyethylene glycol give rise to liquid two-phase systems suitable for the partition of proteins1–5. The partition behaviour of proteins depends to a great extent on the ionic composition of the phase system and on the charge of the protein. Negatively charged materials, for example, have higher partition coefficients in sodium sulphate than in sodium chloride while the reverse holds true for positively charged materials5,6. It was found that when a protein was partitioned at different pHs in dextran–polyethylene glycol phase systems containing two different salt compositions two curves were obtained when partition coefficients were plotted against respective pHs5. These curves crossed close to the isoelectric point of the protein. We have now carried out such experiments on many different proteins and found the relationship between cross point and isoelectric point to be general.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Biochemistry, University of Umeå, Sweden

    PER-ÅKE ALBERTSSON

  2. UCLA Medical School, Los Angeles

    SHIGERU SASAKAWA

  3. Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Veterans Administration Hospital, Long Beach, California

    HARRY WALTER

Authors
  1. PER-ÅKE ALBERTSSON
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  2. SHIGERU SASAKAWA
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  3. HARRY WALTER
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ALBERTSSON, PÅ., SASAKAWA, S. & WALTER, H. Cross Partition and Isoelectric Points of Proteins. Nature 228, 1329–1330 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/2281329a0

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