Serum liver cancer ferritin

Hepatoma ferritin (HF) is a ferritin isolated from liver cancer cells. Ferritin consists of 24 subunit empty protein shells and 4500 iron atoms. The 24 subunits of ferritin are divided into two types, H and L. The H subunit is larger and is more acidic in myocardial ferritin; the L subunit is smaller and alkaline, and higher in hepatocyte ferritin. The molecular weight of ferritin is about 450kD. Hepatoma cells contain a kind of special ferritin that is not found in normal liver cells and fetal liver in early pregnancy. It has a high H subunit content, is acidic, and has an isoelectric point of 5.1. This method uses monoclonal antibodies against HF to establish an ELISA method.