Purification and amino-acid sequence of a nerve growth factor from the venom of Vipera russelli russelli.

Nerve growth factor (NGF) was purified from the venom of Vipera russelli russelli by Sephadex G-50 gel filtration, S-Sepharose column chromatography and Blue-Sepharose CL-6B column chromatography. The purified NGF was found to be a glycoprotein, whose apparent molecular mass was estimated to be about 17.5 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The amino-acid sequence was determined by a combination of conventional methods. The V. r. russelli NGF was composed of 117 amino-acid residues with one residue, Asn-21, being N-linked glycosylated and the molecular mass of its protein portion was calculated to be 13,280 Da.