Clinical Biochemistry of Domestic Animals (Sixth Edition) - UMK ...

Chapter 5
Proteins, Proteomics, and the
Dysproteinemias
P. David Eckersall
Division of Animal Production & Public Health
Institute of Comparative Medicine
University of Glasgow
Glasgow, Scotland
United Kingdom
I. INTRODUCTION
II. CLASSIFICATION OF PROTEINS
A. Structural Classification
B. Chemical Classification
C. Physical Classification
III. METABOLISM OF PROTEINS
A. General
B. Synthesis of Proteins
C. Catabolism of Proteins
IV. PLASMA PROTEINS
A. Sites of Synthesis
B. Functions of the Plasma Proteins
C. Factors Influencing the Plasma Proteins
D. Handling and Identification of Proteins
V. METHODOLOGY
A. Total Protein
B. Fractionation of the Serum Proteins
C. Electrophoretic Fractionation of the Serum Proteins
D. Specific Protein Analysis
VI. NORMAL PLASMA AND SERUM PROTEINS
A. Albumin
B. Acute Phase Proteins
C. Complement Proteins
D. Immunoglobulins
E. Lipoproteins
F. Other Serum Proteins
G. Multiplex Assays, Protein Arrays, and Acute Phase
Index
VII. INTERPRETATION OF SERUM PROTEIN
PROFILES
A. Physiological Influences
B. The Dysproteinemias
REFERENCES
I . INTRODUCTION
Protein is the most abundant component of plasma. There
is in the region of 6 to 7 g/dl (60 to 70 g/liter) of protein
in plasma in comparison to 0.1 g/dl (1.0 g/liter) of glucose
(5.5 mmol/liter) or 0.35 g/dl (3.50 g/liter) of sodium
(150 mmol/liter). However, this large mass of protein
consists of many different individual protein molecules.
Complete analysis of this complex mixture of different
proteins is not possible at present in the diagnostic laboratory.
Proteins contain approximately 95% of all nitrogenous
material in blood in the form of chains of amino acids
linked by peptide bonds. Protein can be separated from the
nonprotein nitrogen (NPN) component of plasma by precipitation
with reagents such as trichloracetic acid. The
NPN consists of nucleic acids along with low molecular
weight compounds such as urea (50% of NPN), free amino
acids (25% of NPN), glutathione, and creatinine.
Analysis of serum protein is an area of clinical biochemistry
of domestic animals, which has seen a rapid advance
since the 1990s, and with current developments in analytical
technology and interpretation, the rate of advance is
likely to accelerate rather than decline. At the forefront of
these advances in the diagnostic application of serum protein
analysis has been the development of specific assays
for individual proteins. In particular, it has been recognized
that quantification of a group of serum protein called the
acute phase proteins (APP) can greatly assist the assessment
of infection, inflammation, and trauma in animals. These
advances are now being applied in clinical biochemistry laboratories
for the immediate benefit in the diagnosis, prognosis,
and monitoring of treatment of domestic animals.
In the future, technology may be developed to characterize
all proteins (the proteome) of serum, which would
Clinical Biochemistry of Domestic Animals, 6th Edition 117
Copyright © 2008, Elsevier Inc.
All rights reserved.