Unusual phosphatase activity resistant to SDS and pronase treatments in Xenopus ovary.

An unusual phosphatase, which is resistant to treatment by 5% SDS and proteolytic enzymes, was isolated as two types, 1 and 2, from pronase-treated homogenates of Xenopus ovary. The molecular sizes of types 1 and 2 were estimated as about 140 kDa and more than 2 x 10(4) kDa, respectively, by gel filtration, but as 140 and 130 kDa as a catalytic unit, respectively, by electrophoresis, implying that whereas type 1 might be composed of catalytic unit alone, type 2 is a multicomponent complex consisting of a 130-kDa catalytic unit. Both activities were sensitive to nucleases but resistant to tested proteolytic enzymes. These findings suggest that the unusual phosphatase activity is attributable to a polynucleotide.