Medical Definition of Isoelectric point
1.
The pH at which a protein carries no net charge. Below the isoelectric point proteins carry a net positive charge, above it a net negative charge. Due to a preponderance of weakly acid residues in almost all proteins, they are nearly all negatively charged at neutral pH. The isoelectric point is of significance in protein purification because it is the pH at which solubility is often minimal and at which mobility in an electrofocusing system is zero (and therefore the point at which the protein will accumulate).
This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology
(11 Mar 2008)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Isoelectric Point
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