Determination of molecular masses:

The determination of molecular masses of proteins is one of the most oft-cited examples of size exclusion chromatography. The underlined principle is based on the basic mechanism of the technique. For most of the proteins, a good close relationship is observed between molecular mass and elution behaviour. A variety of commercially available gels have been used for the said purpose. The eluant generally used is buffer or saline. Long beds should be used for better accuracy and precision of measurement. With some gels calibration measurement data are available but it is recommended to make calibration curve with each bed. This technique is not as accurate as many other methods of mass measurement. But this method, based on size exclusion chromatography, has the advantages of rapid measurement, is easy to perform and requires fairly inexpensive experimental set up.