Serum (blood)

Measuring the concentration of various molecules can be useful for many applications, such as determining the therapeutic index of a drug candidate in a clinical trial.

The sample is then centrifuged to remove the clot and blood cells, and the resulting liquid supernatant is serum.

[citation needed] Serum is also used in protein electrophoresis, due to the lack of fibrinogen which can cause false results.

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.

[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.