Summary
Ferritins from liver and spleen of bothβ-thalassaemia/haemoglobin E (HbE) and non-thalassaemic patients were purified by heating a methanol-treated homogenate, followed by molecular exclusion chromatography. The concentrations of ferritins in theβ-thalassaemia/HbE liver and spleen were calculated as 3.8 and 2.0 mg/g wet tissue. Theβ-thalassaemia/HbE ferritin iron/protein ratios were higher than those of normal ferritins. On PAGE, all ferritins gave a single major monomeric band with only very small differences in their mobility. Ferritins from thalassaemic patients also possessed bands corresponding to oligomers. On SDS/PAGE, all ferritins were resolved into two major subunits: H and L with L subunit predominating. While the isoferritin profiles of ferritins fromβ-thalassaemia/HbE liver and spleen were similar to each other and to those of normal liver and spleen, some extra bands were present in the acidic region. The microstructure of these pathological ferritins appears to result, to a large degree, from the particular nature and amount of iron loading present.
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Abbreviations
- PAGE:
-
polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
- SDS:
-
sodium dodecyl sulphate
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Tran, K.C., Webb, J., Macey, D.J. et al. β-Thalassaemia/haemoglobin E tissue ferritins. Biol Metals 3, 222–226 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01140583
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01140583