Isotopic Labelling of Biosynthetic Proteins

From a strict biochemical point of view a clear-cut definition of the role of the liver in the biosynthesis of any particular plasma protein can be made only when the particular protein has been clearly and cleanly isolated, as in the case of fibrinogen. The practical difficulties of effecting such isolations on a small scale from isotopic labeling studies of the plasma proteins, such as we have described, seriously militate against such a detailed demonstration at present. The use of fractionation techniques with greater resolving power such as acrylamide gel electrophoresis already show some promise in our laboratory toward affording a more definitive picture of the biosynthetic role of the liver and the nonhepatic tissues in plasma protein production. 

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