Difference Gel Electrophoresis

Sandra Murphy

Mass spectrometry-based protein methodologies have revolutionized the field of analytical biochemistry and enable the identification of hundreds to thousands of proteins in biological fluids, cell lines, and tissue. This methodology requires the initial separation of a protein constellation and this has been successfully achieved using gel-based techniques, particularly that of two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE). However, given the complexity of the proteome, fractionation techniques may be required to optimize the detection of low-abundance proteins, which are often under-represented, but which may represent important players in health and disease. Such subcellular fractionation protocols typically utilize density-gradient centrifugation and have enabled the enrichment of crude microsomes, the cytosol, the plasmalemma, the nuclei, and the mitochondria. In this chapter, we describe the experimental steps involved in the enrichment of crude microsomes from skeletal muscle using differential centrifugation and subsequent verification of enrichment by gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting, prior to comparative DIGE analysis.