Haemocyanins

This chapter discusses electrophoretic techniques that have played a significant role in detecting and studying subunit heterogeneity. Charge heterogeneity is not readily detectable by other techniques. It plays a major role in the subsequent purification and characterization of the constituent subunits of mollusk and arthropod hemocyanins. The synergistic combination of immunology and electrophoresis in immunoelectrophoresis is very useful in identifying homology in subunit mixtures and in determining the uniqueness of an electrophoretically identified bond. This technique continues to be important in current studies, focusing on the specific interactions and mechanisms of assembly of high-molecular–weight proteins. One of the most important characteristics that have made hemocyanins very useful tools in studying protein assembly is the ease of purifying the electrophoretically identified constituent subunits from a number of species.