Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate-Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) Analysis of Palytoxin

Many natural products have been isolated from various marine organisms. These natural products, especially huge polyol and polyether compounds, are expected to be promising drug-leads. On the other hand, the accumulation of these compounds in fish and shellfish can cause food poisoning in humans. Therefore, the development of effective methods for the detection of these compounds is important from both academic and public health perspectives. We subjected palytoxin to an SDS-PAGE analysis, which is very easy, quick, and inexpensive, to determine whether this approach could be effective for detecting huge polyol natural products. Eventually, we were able to detect a band of palytoxin by SDS-PAGE analysis, which demonstrated that SDS-PAGE could be useful for detecting polyol and polyether compounds.