Electrophoretic analysis of proteins in bile

An overview on the applications and the contributions of electrophoretic te chniques to the analysis of biliary proteins is presented. The electrophore tic techniques include free-, paper-, agar-, acetate cellulose film- and st arch gel-electrophoresis, immunoelectrophoresis, sodium dodecyl sulfate pol yacrylamide gel electrophoresis and high resolution two-dimensional gel ele ctrophoresis. These techniques were applied in the separation and character ization of hepatic bile proteins, gallbladder bile proteins, gallstone prot eins, and finally vesicular and micellar proteins. The chief contribution o f electrophoresis to research in the field of cholesterol crystal and galls tone formation has been in the characterization of pro- and anti-nucleating proteins. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.