Objective To isolate and purify the subcomponents of guinea piginner ear antigens for further study on the autoimmunity of the inner ear1 Methods Inner ear tissues were homogenized in pho sphate buffered saline containing 011%SDS, and then frozen and defro sted repeatedly to extract inner ear antigens1 Preparative polyacrylamidegel electrophore sis was used to separate the subcomponents of inner ear antigens1 Following electrophore sis, the protein bands were localized by rapid staining and de staining1 Res ults The major protein bands were clearly distinct when 3mg of crude inner ear antigens was loaded, and the three major subcomponents (31, 42-45 and 60 kD proteins) accounted for about 25199%, 21191% and 21110%, respectively1 Conclusion Preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophore sis can be used to purify the major subcomponents of inner ear antigens1