Separation of antithrombin III variants by micellar electrokinetic chromatography

The characterisation of proteins is still one of the most challenging analy tical tasks in modern bioanalysis. Due to the complex structure of proteins , several analytical techniques are often required to get sufficient inform ation. Antithrombin III (AT III), a high-molecular-mass plasma glycoprotein which is an important protease inhibitor and the main modulator of thrombi n activity, circulates in plasma in two isoforms, the so-called AT III-alph a (90-95%) and -beta (5-10%). Micellar electrokinetic chromatography was us ed to analytically separate these AT III variants, which differ in their af finity to the polysaccharide heparin. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All ri ghts reserved.