ERIC Number: EJ913313
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Mar
Pages: 3
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9584
EISSN: N/A
Expression and Purification of Sperm Whale Myoglobin
Miller, Stephen; Indivero, Virginia; Burkhard, Caroline
Journal of Chemical Education, v87 n3 p303-305 Mar 2010
We present a multiweek laboratory exercise that exposes students to the fundamental techniques of bacterial expression and protein purification through the preparation of sperm whale myoglobin. Myoglobin, a robust oxygen-binding protein, contains a single heme that gives the protein a reddish color, making it an ideal subject for the teaching laboratory as students can follow the progress of the protein visually in real time. The purification uses both ion-exchange and size-exclusion chromatography, thus, introducing students to two of the most common separation methods. Students evaluate the quality of the purification via sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In most cases, this procedure produces sufficient quantities of pure protein for further laboratory exercises studying the properties of myoglobin. (Contains 4 figures.)
Descriptors: Undergraduate Study, Laboratories, Biochemistry, Laboratory Experiments, Animals, Laboratory Procedures, Hands on Science, Molecular Biology
Division of Chemical Education, Inc and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: eic@jce.acs.org; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A