Simultaneous PIXE and PIGE analysis of metalloproteins separated by cellulose acetate electrophoresis

Abstract The Fe and N distributions of myoglobin bands prepared by cellulose acetate electrophoresis were simultaneously measured by detecting the proton induced Fe K X-rays and the γ-rays of 2313 keV energy coming from the 14 N(p, p′ γ) 14 N nuclear reaction at about 4 MeV proton energy. In the case of unstained bands the Fe and N distributions were very similar in shape and the integrated γ- and X-ray yields were found to be proportional to the amounts of myoglobin supplied for electrophoresis. In the cases of stained samples no quantitative conclusions could be drawn as a consequence of the drastic denaturation of the proteins caused by the staining.