General Principles of Protein Fractionation

Abstract

Fractionation of plasma proteins has the following two purposes: 1) to isolate certain plasma components, clarifying the characteristics and functions of these components, and 2) to aid diagnosis and therapy in the field of clinical medicine by the knowledge attained through this research. Since the days of Hippocrates and Aristotle the problem of blood coagulation has occupied the attention of scientists. It is quite natural that research into the fractionation of plasma proteins has developed in relation to blood coagulation factors. Moreover, as described above, it is in response to clinical demands that attention has been focused on γ-globulin in relation to antibody reaction and that plasma protein was made for the purpose of therapy since World War II.