Solid-phase iodination: in vitro labeling with 125I of proteins bound to nitrocellulose and substituted Sepharose.

A solid-phase iodination method is described which employs either nitrocellulose paper, phenyl- and octyl-Sepharose beads, or octyl hydroxylapatite as matrices to adsorb proteins. Nitrocellulose lends itself to cases where denaturation of the iodinated proteins due to the use of chaotropic reagents or strong acids for protein elution can be tolerated. On the other hand, substituted Sepharoses, preferably octyl-Sepharose, should be used when preservation of the biological activity of the iodinated protein molecules is required; immunoglobulins and protein A, for instance, could be recovered as functionally active molecules because they were extracted from the hydrophobic matrices under nondenaturing conditions. Both methods are advantageous if, for example, series of fractions from column chromatographies (including HPLC) are to be iodinated and subsequently analyzed by gel electrophoresis or bioassays. Furthermore, the amount of radioactive waste can be reduced considerably.