Phosphoglycolate phosphatase. Purification and properties.

Phosphoglycolate phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.18) was purified 1500-fold from field-grown tobacco leaves by acetone fractionation, DEAE-cellulose and molecular sieve chromatography, and preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Preparations were judged 90 to 95% homogeneous by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and by isoelectric focusing. The highest specific activity obtained was 468 mumol of phosphate released/min/mg of protein. The native protein has a molecular weight of 80,500 by Ferguson plot analysis and 86,300 by sedimentation velocity on sucrose density gradients. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels gave a molecular weight of 20,700, indicating the P-glycolate phosphatase is a tetramer with identical or near identical subunits. The enzyme, freshly purified or in crude homogenates, had a pI of 3.8 to 3.9 pH units by isoelectric focusing. Phosphosphoglycolate phosphatase from spinach leaves has a molecular weight of 93,000 and, unlike the enzyme from tobacco leaves, it is extremely unstable after DEAE-cellulose chromatography and is inactivated by lipase (EC 3.1.1.3). The phosphatase from both plants was stabilized by the addition of citrate or isocitrate in the buffers. Ribose 5-phosphate is a competitive inhibitor of phosphoglycolate phosphatase at physiological concentration, while other phosphate esters of the photosynthetic carbon cycle were without effect.     

Two apparent molecular weight forms of human and monkey phenylalanine hydroxylase are due to phosphorylation

Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel analyses of purified human and monkey liver phenylalanine hydroxylase reveal that the enzyme consists of two different apparent molecular weight forms of polypeptide, designated H (Mr = 50,000) and L (Mr = 49,000), each containing three isoelectric forms. The two apparent molecular weight forms, H and L, represent the phosphorylated and dephosphorylated forms of phenylalanine hydroxylase, respectively. After incubation of purified human and monkey liver enzyme with purified cAMP-dependent protein kinase and [gamma-32P]ATP, only the H forms contained 32P. Treatment with alkaline phosphatase converted the phenylalanine hydroxylase H forms to the L forms. The L forms but not the H forms could be phosphorylated on nitrocellulose paper after electrophoretic transfer from two-dimensional gels. Phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of human liver phenylalanine hydroxylase is not accompanied by significant changes in tetrahydrobiopterin-dependent enzyme activity. Peptide mapping and acid hydrolysis confirm that the apparent molecular weight heterogeneity (and charge shift to a more acidic pI) in human and monkey liver enzyme results from phosphorylation of a single serine residue. However, phosphorylation by the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase does not account for the multiple charge heterogeneity of human and monkey liver phenylalanine hydroxylase.     

Comparison of two forms of pig heart phosphoprotein phosphatase.

A phosphoprotein phosphatase (phosphoprotein phosphohydrolase, EC 3.1.3.16) was partially purified from pig heart using as substrate H2B histone which had been phosphorylated at Ser-32 and Ser-36 by adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate-dependent protein kinase (EC 2.7.1.37). The enzyme had a molecular weight of approx. 250 000 and was converted to a smaller form with a molecular weight of approx. 30 000 upon treatment with ethanol. Phosphorylase alpha (EC 2.4.1.1) and phosphorylated H1 histone also served as substrates for both forms of the enzyme. The conversion of the large form of the enzyme to the small form decreased the phosphohistone phosphatase activity to 25-50% with a concomitant 7-fold increase in the phosphorylase alpha phosphatase activity. Ser-36 phosphate was removed 6- and 15-fold more rapidly than was Ser-32 phosphate by the large and small forms of the enzyme, respectively. Among Ser-36-containing tryptic phosphopeptides derived from phosphorylated H2B histone, Lys-Glu-Ser(P)-Tyr-Ser-Val-Tyr was the shortest phosphopeptide which was dephosphorylated at a significant reaction rate with the phosphoprotein phosphatase. The Km values for phosphorylated H2B histone and the tryptic phosphopeptide were 23.7 micron and 187.1 micron, respectively, with the large form, and 81.4 micron and 90.0 micron, respectively, with the small form of the enzyme.     

Streptococcal phosphoenolpyruvate: sugar phosphotransferase system: purification and characterization of a phosphoprotein phosphatase which hydrolyzes the phosphoryl bond in seryl-phosphorylated histidine-containing protein.

Histidine-containing protein (HPr) of gram-positive bacteria was found to be phosphorylated at a seryl residue (P-ser-HPr) in an ATP-dependent reaction catalyzed by a protein kinase (J. Deutscher and M. H. Saier, Jr., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 80:6790-6794, 1983). Here we describe the purification and characterization of a soluble enzyme of Streptococcus faecalis which splits the phosphoryl bond in P-ser-HPr. The enzyme has a molecular weight of ca. 7.5 X 10(4), as determined by its migration behavior on a Sephacryl S-200 column. On native polyacrylamide gels the purified enzyme produced only one protein band. On sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels we found one major protein band of molecular weight 2.9 X 10(4) and two minor protein bands of molecular weights 2.3 X 10(4) and 7 X 10(4). Fructose 1,6-diphosphate, which stimulated the ATP-dependent, protein kinase-catalyzed phosphorylation of HPr, had no effect on the phosphatase activity. Other glycolytic intermediates also had no effect. However, inorganic phosphate, which inhibited the ATP-dependent HPr kinase, stimulated the P-ser-HPr phosphatase. EDTA at a concentration of 0.1 mM completely inhibited the phosphatase. Divalent cations like Mg2+, Mn2+, and Co2+ overcame the inhibition by EDTA. Fe2+, Zn2+, and Cu2+ had no effect, whereas Ca2+ slightly inhibited the phosphatase. ATP was also found to inhibit the phosphatase. Under conditions in which ATP severely inhibited the phosphatase, ADP was found to have no effect on the enzyme activity. Besides P-ser-HPr of S. faecalis, the phosphatase was also able to hydrolyze the phosphoryl bond in P-ser-HPr of Streptococcus lactis, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Lactobacillus casei. Phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent o-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside phosphorylation, catalyzed by the S. aureus phosphoenolpyruvate:lactose phosphotransferase system, was about 150-fold decreased in the presence of P-ser-HPr of S. aureus, as compared with HPr. However, when P-ser-HPr was first incubated with P-ser-HPr phosphatase to allow complete hydrolysis of the phosphoryl bond, it had the same activity as HPr. Besides this cytoplasmic phosphoprotein phosphatase, we detected a membrane-bound phosphatase which also hydrolyzed the phosphoryl bond in P-ser-HPr.     

Protein band 3 phosphotyrosyl phosphatase. Purification and characterization

A phosphotyrosylprotein phosphatase has been purified from human red cell cytosol by successive DEAE cellulose, phosphocellulose and Red Procion-H3B-Sepharose chromatography. Overall purification was about 9000 with a yield of 30%. The enzyme was more than 95% pure as judged by SDS polyacrylamide gel. Its molecular weight was 17,000 and maximum activity was observed at pH 5.5. It was active towards both the phosphorylated tyrosine on the cytosolic fragment of the red cell protein band 3 and para-nitrophenyl phosphate. However the effects of ligands differ for the two substrates.     

Human liver acid phosphatases.

Human liver contains three chromatographically distinct forms of non-specific acid phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.2). Acid phosphatases I, II and III have molecular weights of greater than 200 000, of 107 000, and of 13 400, respectively. Following partial purification, isoenzyme II was obtained as a single activity band, as assessed by activity staining with p-nitrophenyl phosphate and alpha-naphthyl phosphate on polyacrylamide gels run at several pH values. With 50mM p-nitrophenyl phosphate as a substrate, enzymes II and III exhibit plateaus of activity over the pH range 3 - 5 and 3.5 - 6, respectively.Acid phosphatase II is not significantly inhibited by 0.5% formaldehyde. The activity of human liver acid phosphatase II and of human prostatic acid phosphatase towards several substrates is compared. The liver enzyme, is marked contrast to the prostatic enzyme, does not hydrolyze O-phosphoryl choline.     

Purification and characterization of glutamate decarboxylase from Neurospora crassa conidia.

L-Glutamate decarboxylase, an enzyme under the control of the asexual developmental cycle of Neurospora crassa, was purified to homogeneity from conidia. The purification procedure included ammonium sulfate fractionation and DEAE-Sephadex and cellulose phosphate column chromatography. The final preparation gave a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels with a molecular weight of 33,200 +/- 200. A single band coincident with enzyme activity was found on native 7.5% polyacrylamide gels. The molecular weight of glutamate decarboxylase was 30,500 as determined by gel permeation column chromatography at pH 6.0. The enzyme had an acidic pH optimum and showed hyperbolic kinetics at pH 5.5 with a Km for glutamic acid of 2.2 mM and a Km for pyridoxal-5'-phosphate of 0.04 microM.     

A new purification procedure for bovine milk xanthine oxidase: effect of proteolysis on the subunit structure.

A new purification procedure for bovine milk xanthine oxidase is reported. The enzyme so obtained is of the highest purity and shows little evidence of degradation. The enzyme displays a single protein band on either polyacrylamide gels or on sodium dodecyl sulfate-urea polyacrylamide gels. Sedimentation equilibrium studies indicate a native molecular weight of 303,000 and a subunit molecular weight of approximately 150,000. The latter value is in good agreement with the minimum molecular weight of 157,000 calculated from dry weight determination and flavin analysis. In contrast, purification of xanthine oxidase from pancreatin-treated cream yields a protein which displays two subunits corresponding to molecular weights of 92,000 and 39,000 as determined by dodecyl sulfate-urea polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Pancreatinized enzyme has a greater mobility than unproteolyzed enzyme on polyacrylamide gels. Exposure of milk xanthine oxidase to pancreatin before isolation or after purification yields the same result.     

Phosphorylation of RNA polymerase I augments its interaction with autoantibodies of systemic lupus erythematosus patients

Purified RNA polymerase I was phosphorylated by the endogenous protein kinase or dephosphorylated by alkaline phosphatase and used as antigen in a radioimmunoassay with sera from systemic lupus erythematosus patients or serum from an immunized rabbit. Enzyme incubated in the absence of ATP or phosphatase served as control. Three to seven times more of the autoantibodies in the patients' sera reacted with phosphorylated RNA polymerase I than with control enzyme. The reactivity of the dephosphorylated enzyme with lupus autoantibodies was only 50-60% of that observed with control enzyme. Neither phosphorylation nor dephosphorylation of the enzyme had an effect on its reaction with the rabbit antibodies. The effect of phosphorylation on the reaction of each RNA polymerase I subunit (S1-S8; Mr = 190,000-17,000) with the patients' antibodies was determined by an immunoblot procedure following resolution of the subunits on polyacrylamide gels. Prior phosphorylation of the enzyme resulted in a dramatic increase in binding of each patient's antibodies to all polymerase subunits with the exception of S4. Anti-S4 antibody was not detected with either phosphorylated or control enzyme. Strikingly, antibodies in each patients' sera reacted with S6 only after its phosphorylation. Similarly, anti-S5 antibodies in the serum of one patient were only detected with phosphorylated RNA polymerase I. The present data suggest that at least a significant fraction of the anti-RNA polymerase I autoantibodies in the sera of systemic lupus erythematosus patients might be directed against phosphorylated sites on the enzyme and that phosphorylation may have a role in the production of this and other autoimmunogenic nuclear components which are hallmarks of this disease.     

Effect of limited proteolysis on activity and phosphorylation of rabbit muscle glycogen synthetase.

Purified rabbit skeletal muscle glycogen synthetase, in both the glucose-6-phosphate (P)-dependent (phosphorylated) and the glucose-6-P-independent (dephosphorylated) forms, was subjected to limited proteolysis by trypsin. Both forms could be degraded from their original subunit molecular weight of 85,000 to 76,000 and subsequently to 68,000, as determined with acrylamide-gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate. Degradation of the glucose-6-P-dependent form of the enzyme resulted in essentially no change in the activity when measured either in the presence or in the absence of glucose-6-P. Degradation of the glucose-6-P-independent form was associated with a progressive increase in glucose-6-P dependency. Phosphorylation of the glucose-6-P-independent form with the adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate-dependent protein kinase and subsequent digestion of the ³²P-labeled enzyme showed that the phosphate group was retained on these subunits. The protein kinase phosphorylated both the original subunit with molecular weight 85,000 and the partially digested subunit with molecular weight 76,000. Upon further digestion of the enzyme into a form having a subunit molecular weight of 68,000, the enzyme was unable to accept a phosphate group from ATP. By contrast with the phosphorylation reaction, the dephosphorylation reaction catalyzed by partially purified glycogen synthetase phosphatase is not stringent in terms of structural integrity of the synthetase. The phosphatase dephosphorylated the glucose-6-P-dependent form of glycogen synthetase equally well at various degrees of degradation.     

Purification and properties of 3-hexulosephosphate synthase from Methylomonas M 15.

3-Hexulosephosphate synthase, the first enzyme of the ribulose monophosphate cycle, was purified 15-fold from methanol-grown Methylomonas M 15. The purification procedure involved chromatography on DEAE-cellulose, Sephadex G-75, and DEAE-Sephadex A-50. The purified enzyme was more than 95% pure as judged by analytical polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The molecular weight was calculated to be 43000 from sedimentation equilibrium experiments. Electrophoresis in sodium dodecylsulfate gels gave a single band corresponding to a molecular weight of 22000. The enzyme catalyzes specifically the condensation formaldehyde with ribulose 5-phosphate to yield D-arabino-3-hexulose 6-phosphate. The Km values were found to be 1.1 mM for formaldehyde and 1.6 mM for ribulose 5-phosphate. A bivalent cation is essential for activity and stability of the enzyme, Mg2+ and Mn2+ serve best for this purpose. The optimum of pH for enzyme activity is 7.5--8.0.     

Purification and characterization of alkaline phosphatase from cultured rat ascites hepatoma cells.

Alkaline phosphatase of cultured rat ascites hepatoma cells has been purified by butanol extraction, DEAE-cellulose column chromatography, gel filtration through Sephadex G-200, concanavalin A-Sepharose affinity chromatography, and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Affinity chromatography confirmed the glycoprotein nature of alkaline phosphatase from cultured rat ascites hepatoma cells. Electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gels of various concentrations indicated a molecular weight of 290,000. The molecular weight of the subunit was estimated to be 72,000 by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. These findings suggest that alkaline phosphatase of cultured rat ascites hepatoma cells is a tetramer with a subunit molecular weight of 72,000.     

The purification and properties of L-histidine--2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase from Pseudomonas testosteroni.

1. Inducible L-histidine--2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase was purified some 170-fold from extracts of Pseudomonas testosteroni. 2. The preparation showed only one major component after electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gels, though additional minor bands were observed when samples concentrated on a DEAE-cellulose column were used. 3. The molecular weight of the enzyme was found to be approx. 70000 by chromatography on Sephadex G-200. 4. The purification scheme produced enzyme that was inactive in the absence of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate. 5. The equilibrium constant for the reaction L-histidine+2-oxoglutarate equilibrium imidazolylpyruvate+L-glutamate was 0.49. 6. The reaction mechanism was Ping Pong. 7. The enzyme was shown to have only low activity towards aromatic amino acids and was highly specific for 2-oxoglutarate.     

Purification and properties of alkaline phosphatase from boar seminal plasma

An alkaline phosphatase was purified from boar seminal plasma using adsorption to calcium phosphate gel, gel filtration, and ion-exchange chromatography. The preparation gave a single band on SDS polyacrylamide electrophoresis. The enzyme was a non-specific alkaline phosphatase that hydrolysed pyrophosphate slowly and had no phosphodiesterase activity. The pH optimum was 10 and the Km was approximately 0.2 mM with p-nitrophenyl phosphate as substrate. The enzyme was a zinc metalloenzyme as indicated by the loss of activity when treated with o-phenanthroline and the restoration of activity by zinc and magnesium ions. It also lost activity when treated with thiols. Molecular weight estimates from SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and gel filtration suggest that the enzyme is a tetramer of identical subunits, each of which has a molecular weight of 68,000.     

Detection of alkaline phosphatase activity after conventional isoelectric focusing by an indoxyl-tetrazolium salt technique

Alkaline phosphatase was solubilized from human and rat tissues using papain in the presence of TRITON X-100 and subjected to isoelectric focusing (IEF) in polyacrylamide or agarose gels. Up till now, usually 1- and 2-naphthylphosphates have been used as substrates in order to specifically stain molecular forms of this enzyme by the azo-dye technique. In this paper, the use of another histochemical substrate, 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indoxyl phosphate, in combination with tetrazolium salts [McGadey, J. (1970) Histochemie 23, 180-184] is presented. After hydrolysis, the released indoxyl moieties reduce tetrazolium salts to insoluble formazans at the zones of alkaline phosphatase activity. Zymogrammes showing molecular forms of alkaline phosphatase from 20 rat organs and the application of this staining technique for the detection of alkaline phosphatase activity in non-dialyzed human plasma after IEF are presented.     

Purification and some properties of ornithine decarboxylase from rat liver

Ornithine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.17) was purified to near homogeniety from livers of thioacetamide- and dl-α-hydrazino-δ-aminovaleric acid-treated rats by using three types of affinity chromatography with pyridoxamine phosphate-Sepharose, pyridoxamine phosphate-dipropylenetriamine-Sepharose and heparin-Sepharose. This procedure gave a purification of about 3.5·10⁵-fold with an 8% yield; the specific activity of the final enzyme preparation was 1,1·10⁶ nmol CO₂/h per mg protein. The purified enzyme gave a single band of protein which coincided with activity peak on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and also gave a single major band on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A single precipitin line was formed between the purified enzyme and an antiserum raised against a partially purified enzyme, on Ouchterlony immunodiffusion. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 105 000 by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis at several different gel concentrations; the dissociated subunits had molecular weights of 50 000 on SDS-polyacrylmide gels. The isoelectric point of the enzyme was pH 4.1.     

Purification and characterization of the IIIXtl phospho-carrier protein of the phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent xylitol:phosphotransferase found in Lactobacillus casei C183

The phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent xylitol:phosphotransferase system of Lactobacillus casei strain C183 requires a small, soluble, substrate-specific protein for catalytic activity. Designated enzyme IIIXtl (or IIIXtl), the protein was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity and characterized. IIIXtl, as purified, is a single polypeptide composed of 109 amino acid residues. It has an estimated molecular weight of 12,000 and is hydrophobic in nature. The hydrophobicity of IIIXtl is apparently due to the fact that the enzyme was isolated as the phosphorylated phosphocarrier protein. Removal of the phosphate group with alkaline phosphatase results in the loss of immunological cross-reactivity with anti-P-IIIXtl and an alteration in charge. The L. casei C183 IIIXtl is antigenically related to enzymes IIIXtl in Streptococcus avium and other, genetically distinct strains of L. casei.     

Activation of rat caudate tyrosine hydroxylase phosphatase by tetrahydropterins

Tyrosine hydroxylase phosphatase activity in rat caudate nucleus was separated into three peaks by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. [32P]Tyrosine hydroxylase phosphorylated by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase was dephosphorylated only by the major peak eluting at 0.3 M NaCl, while tyrosine hydroxylase phosphorylated by Ca2+-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase was also dephosphorylated by two calcium-inhibited phosphatases. The Vmax of the enzyme in the major DEAE peak was increased by 10 microM tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) from 0.78 to 5.0 fmol min-1 mg-1 while the Km was only slightly affected, increasing from 45 to 62 pM. The activation could not be reversed by dilution. On Sephadex G-200, the enzyme was found to consist of two major forms with molecular masses of 420 and 100 kDa. In contrast to the activation of liver phosphatases by freezing with beta-mercaptoethanol, activation by tetrahydrobiopterin was not associated with a shift in the molecular weight of the phosphatase to lower molecular weight forms. Other reduced pterins, including tetrahydroneopterin, 6-methyltetrahydropterin, and 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, also activated the enzyme, while oxidized pterins had no effect. GTP, the metabolic precursor of tetrahydrobiopterin, was a potent inhibitor of the phosphatase reaction, inhibiting by 65% at a concentration of 1 microM. These findings suggest a close regulatory interrelationship between the tetrahydrobiopterin synthetic pathway and catecholamine biosynthesis.     

Purification and characterization of a protein tyrosine kinase from bovine spleen

Protein tyrosine kinase was purified extensively from a 30,000 X g particulate fraction of bovine spleen by a procedure involving four column chromatographies: DEAE-Sepharose, polyamino acids affinity, hydroxylapatite, and Sephacryl S-200 molecular sieving. The purification resulted in more than 3,000-fold enrichment in [Val5]angiotensin II phosphorylation activity (specific activity 202 nmol/min/mg). All column chromatography profiles showed single protein tyrosine kinase activity peaks with the exception of that of affinity chromatography, where about 50% of the enzyme activity appeared with the breakthrough fraction; only the bound enzyme was further purified. Analysis by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography of a purified sample phosphorylated in the presence of [gamma-32P]ATP revealed the presence of a single phosphorylated polypeptide of molecular weight 50,000 which represents about 40% of total protein. Analysis by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under nondenaturing conditions showed that protein tyrosine kinase activity co-migrated with the phosphoprotein. Stoichiometry of the phosphorylation of the 50-kDa polypeptide was found to be 1.0 mol/mol. The purified sample did not appear to contain phosphotyrosine protein phosphatase activity. Both casein and histone could be phosphorylated by the purified sample, and the phosphorylation occurred only at tyrosine residue, suggesting that there was no protein serine and threonine kinase contamination.     

Purification and characterization of a protein tyrosine phosphatase which dephosphorylates the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor.

The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) is phosphorylated to a high stoichiometry on tyrosine residues both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, tyrosine phosphorylation has been shown to regulate the functional properties of the receptor. We report here the purification and characterization of a protein tyrosine phosphatase that dephosphorylates tyrosine-phosphorylated nAChR from Torpedo electroplax, a tissue highly enriched in the nAChR. The 32P-labeled tyrosine phosphorylated nAChR was used as a substrate to monitor the enzyme activity during purification. The protein tyrosine phosphatase activity was purified using three consecutive cation-exchange columns (phosphocellulose, S Sepharose Fast Flow, Bio-Rex 70), followed by two affinity matrices (p-aminobenzylphosphonic acid-agarose and thiophosphotyrosyl nAChR-Sepharose 4B). The enzyme activity was purified to homogeneity, with an overall purification of 25,000-fold and a yield of 20%. The purified enzyme had an apparent molecular mass of 43 kDa on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels and migrated as a monomer during Superose 12 chromatography. It had a neutral pH optimum and a specific activity of 18 mumol/mg of protein/min, with a Km of 4.7 microM for tyrosine-phosphorylated nAChR. The phosphatase was specific for tyrosine phosphorylated nAChR; it showed no activity towards the nAChR phosphorylated on serine residues by cAMP-dependent protein kinase. The enzyme also dephosphorylated 32P-labeled poly(Glu-Tyr) (4:1). However, it did not dephosphorylate p-nitrophenylphosphate. The tyrosine phosphatase was inhibited by ammonium molybdate (IC50 of 2 microM), sodium vanadate (IC50 of 150 microM) and the divalent cations Mg2+, Mn2+, and Ca2+ at millimolar concentrations, but not by 100 microM ZnCl or 10 mM NaF. Poly-(Glu, Tyr) (4:1) and heparin inhibited the enzyme activity at micromolar concentrations. These unique properties of the purified enzyme suggest that it may be a novel protein tyrosine phosphatase that specifically dephosphorylates the nAChR.