The PO Protein of Chick Sciatic Nerve Myelin: Purification and Partial Characterization

Abstract: The PO protein of the myelin of chick sciatic nerve was isolated and purified by propanoic acid extraction of peripheral nervous system (PNS) myelin, delipidation, Sepharose CL-6B chromatography in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and preparative SDS-polyacrylamide gel electro-phoresis (PAGE). Approximately 15% of the PO protein in the sciatic nerve myelin was recovered in a homogeneous state. The purified protein monomer has an apparent molecular weight of 32.1K as determined by gel electrophoresis. The PO protein undergoes extensive aggregation during exhaustive dialysis and freeze-drying and yields stable dimers, trimers, and tetramers. The aggregation of the PO protein after freeze-drying is independent of the presence of a reducing agent (2-mercaptoethanol) in the solubilizing medium. The PO protein is a glycoprotein. The amino acid composition of the chick PO protein indicates a definite species difference when compared with mammalian PO proteins although the NH₂-terminal isoleucine residue seems to have been retained during evolution.