Glycoprotein Detection of 2-D Separated Proteins

The profile of the two-dimensional (2-D) separation of the protein complement (proteome) of eukaryotic cells and tissues typically contains obvious “trains” of spots that differ in pI and/or apparent molecular mass. These are usually isoforms of the same protein and result from a variety of posttranslational modifications. There is growing evidence that alterations to the glycosylation of a protein can be correlated with developmental and pathological changes; these changes can be visualized on the 2-D separation by alterations in the pattern of these glycoprotein isoforms.