BIOLOGY OF GIANT PROTEINS OF PLASMODIUM - RESOLUTION ON POLYACRYLAMIDE-AGAROSE COMPOSITE GELS

The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum that infects humans encodes several extremely large proteins with molecular masses in the hundred s of thousands to megadalton range. Studies on thr structure, function and antigenicity of these 'giant proteins' are hindered by the inabil ity to resolve them effectively in conventional polyacrylamide gels. I n this report, Jochen Wiesner, Denise Mattei, Artur Scherf ann Michael Lanzer describe a convenient gel system, based on a composite polyacr ylamide-agarose matrix,which facilitates analysis of giant proteins.