VISUALIZATION OF SERUM-ALBUMIN ON ELECTROPHORETIC GELS USING THE SPECIFIC LIGAND BILIRUBIN

Serum albumin, when incubated with bilirubin prior to electrophoresis, was visualized as a yellow-colored band during the electrophoretic ru n and did not require any staining. Furthermore, free bilirubin served as a tracking dye. A minimum of 20 mu g of protein was detected very well by this method. The formation of a bilirubin-albumin complex did not affect the electrophoretic mobility as the protein complexed with bilirubin as well as free albumin moved with the same mobility. Only a single protein band was visualized by this method after electrophores is of human plasma. The method is simple, less time-consuming and may be used in identifying bilirubin-binding proteins in various biologica l samples. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science BN. All rights reserved.