To obtain serum, a blood sample is allowed to clot (coagulation). The sample is then centrifuged to remove the clot and blood cells, and the resulting liquid supernatant is serum.[3]
Blood serum and plasma are some of the largest sources of biomarkers, whether for diagnostics or therapeutics. Its vast dynamic range, further complicated by the presence of lipids, salts, and post-translational modifications, as well as multiple mechanisms of degradation, presents challenges in analytical reproducibility, sensitivity, resolution, and potential efficacy. For analysis of biomarkers in blood serum samples, it is possible to do a pre-separation by free-flow electrophoresis that usually consists of a depletion of serum albumin protein.[6] This method enables greater penetration of the proteome via separation of a wide variety of charged or chargeable analytes, ranging from small molecules to cells.[citation needed]
Usage note
Like many other mass nouns, the word serum can be pluralized when used in certain senses. To speak of multiple serum specimens from multiple people (each with a unique population of antibodies), physicians sometimes speak of sera (the Latin plural, as opposed to serums).[citation needed] Etymologically serum is derived from the Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to flow, run”).
Nissum M, Foucher AL (August 2008). "Analysis of human plasma proteins: a focus on sample collection and separation using free-flow electrophoresis". Expert Review of Proteomics. 5 (4): 571–87. doi:10.1586/14789450.5.4.571. PMID18761468. S2CID207200988.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Blood_serum, and is written by contributors.
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