Subcellular topology of rat liver methionyl-, leucyl-, and arginyl-tRNA synthetases

We have investigated the distribution of methionyl-, leucyl-, and arginyl- tRNA synthetases in primary liver fractions obtained by differential centrifugation of homogenates in isotonic sucrose: 78-93% of synthetase activities are recovered in the cytosolic fraction. Microsomes contain only 4.8%, 19.4%, and 6.4% of the methionyl-, leucyl-, and arginyl-tRNA synthetases activities, respectively. This proportion increases up to 11.3%, 26.1%, and 20.7%, respectively, when the homogenization medium is supplemented with 5 mM Mg2+ and 25 mM K+. The presence of protease inhibitors in the homogenization medium does not increase the proportion of synthetases recovered in microsomes. After subfractionation of microsomes by isopycnic centrifugation, the distributions of the 3 synthetases display a second peak overlapping that of at a density of 1.12. In addition, methionyl- and leucyl- tRNA synthetases display a second peak overlapping that of RNA. This suggests that a small proportion of these synthetases (0.7% and 5.71% of total activities, respectively) bind to the d domain of the ER. The Golgi complex, the plasma membranes, and the peroxisomes lack aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase activity. The 3 synthetases are readily detached from membranes when intact microsomes are washed with 250 mM sucrose alone or containing 5 mM PPi, or 320 mM KCl. The binding of methionyl-tRNA synthetases to microsomes was measured in vitro, at 4 degrees C, with a sample of the cytosolic fraction as a source of synthetase. Microsomes stripped of their bound polysomes display a binding capacity that is not significantly different from that of unstripped microsomes. Even in the presence of cations, the amount of synthetase bound to the membranes remained low by comparison with the cytosolic content.     

Incorporation and subcellular distribution of an unnatural phospholipid base-analog, N-isopropyl-ethanolamine, in rat liver.

An unnatural phospholipid, phosphatidyl-N-isopropylethanolamine, was isolated from rat liver after intraperitoneal injections of N-isopropylethanol-amine; it was identified on the basis of enzymic, chemical, and chromatographic analyses. Although this phospholipid was formed at the expense of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine, its fatty acid composition did not resemble either of these lipids. Microsomes, mitochondria, and plasma membranes contained significant amounts (up to 9%) of this unusual phospholipid. Radioisotope incorporation experiments suggest that the N-isopropylethanol-amine containing phospholipid is rapidly equilibrated between microsomes and mitochondria and more slowly with surface membranes.     

Localization and solubilization of a rat liver microsomal carnitine acetyltransferase.

Carnitine acetyltransferase activity had been previously shown to occur in peroxisomes, mitochondria, and a membranous fraction of rat and pig hepatocytes. When components of this third subcellular fraction (plasma membranes, components of the Golgi apparatus, and microsomes) were further separated, carnitine acetyltransferase fractionated with the microsomes. Microsomes isolated by three different methods (isopycnic sucrose density zonal centrifugation, high-speed differential centrifugation, and aggregation with Ca²⁺ followed by low-speed differential centrifugation) all contained carnitine acetyltransferase activity. The lability of carnitine acetyltransferase in microsomes isolated by different methods and in different isolation media is reported.When total microsomes were subfractionated into rough and smooth components, carnitine acetyltransferase activity was found to the same extent in both and was tightly associated with the microsomal membrane. The microsomal enzyme was rapidly inactivated in 0.25 m sucrose or 0.1 m phosphate, but was stable for at least 2 weeks in 0.4 m KCl. Extensive treatment with high ionic strength salt solutions, 1% Triton X-100, or a combination of the two was used to solubilize microsomal carnitine acetyltransferase activity.Carnitine octanoyltransferase activity was also found in the microsomal fractions isolated by three different methods, but no carnitine palmitoyltransferase was detected in the microsomal fractions. It is proposed that microsomal carnitine acetyl- and octanoyltransferases could be involved in the transfer of acyl groups across the microsomal membrane, thereby providing a source of acetyl and other acyl CoA's at sites of acetylation reactions and synthesis.     

PLASMA AND PHAGOSOME MEMBRANES OF ACANTHAMOEBA CASTELLANII

Plasma membranes were isolated from the ameba Acanthamoeba castellanii by low-speed velocity centrifugation followed by equilibrium centrifugation in a sucrose gradient. The isolated membranes had a high ratio of sterol to phospholipid (0.98 moles/mole) and of phospholipid to protein (0.43 mg/mg). The plasma membranes had very low concentrations of DNA, RNA, lipid inositol, and glycerides. Glycolipids and glycoproteins were enriched in the plasma membranes relative to their concentrations in the whole cell. The plasma membranes were also judged to be of high purity by the absence, or very low level, of enzymatic activities considered to be indicative of other cell membranes, and by electron microscope examination. Alkaline phosphatase and 5'-nucleotidase activities were enriched in the plasma membranes 13-fold relative to the whole homogenate and had higher specific activities in the plasma membranes than in any other cell fractions. A Mg⁺⁺ adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) was enriched sixfold in the plasma membranes relative to the whole homogenate. The phospholipids of the plasma membranes contained more phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylserine and less phosphatidylcholine than did the phospholipids of the whole cells. There were differences in the fatty acid compositions of corresponding phospholipids in the plasma membranes and whole cells but no difference in the ratios of total saturated to unsaturated fatty acids. The membranes of phagosomes isolated from amebae that had ingested polystyrene latex had essentially the same phospholipid, sterol, and enzymatic composition as plasma membranes.     

Fractionation of liver plasma membranes prepared by zonal centrifugation

1. Plasma membranes were isolated from crude nuclear sediments from mouse and rat liver by a rate-dependent centrifugation through a sucrose density gradient contained in the ;A' type zonal rotor. 2. The membranes were further purified by isopycnic centrifugation, and characterized enzymically, chemically and morphologically. 3. When the plasma-membrane fraction of sucrose density 1.17g/cm(3) was dispersed in a tight-fitting homogenizer, two subfractions of densities 1.12 and 1.18 were obtained by isopycnic centrifugation. 4. The light subfraction contained 5'-nucleotidase, nucleoside diphosphatase, leucine naphthylamidase and Mg(2+)-stimulated adenosine triphosphatase activities at higher specific activities than unfractionated membranes. The heavy subfraction was deficient in the above enzymes but contained higher Na(+)+K(+)-stimulated adenosine triphosphatase activity. 5. The light subfraction contained twice as much phospholipid and cholesterol, and three times as much N-acetylneuraminic acid relative to unit protein weight as the heavy subfraction. Polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis indicated differences in protein composition. 6. Electron microscopy showed the light subfraction to be vesicular. The heavy subfraction contained membrane strips with junctional complexes in addition to vesicles.     

Analytical study of microsomes and isolated subcellular membranes from rat liver. VII. Distribution of protein-bound sialic acid

Detailed investigations by quantitative centrifugal fractionation were conducted to determine the subcellular distribution of protein-bound sialic acid in rat liver. Homogenates obtained from perfused livers were fractionated by differential centrifugation into nuclear fraction, large granules, microsomes, and final supernate fraction, or were used to isolate membrane preparations enriched in either plasma membranes or Golgi complex elements. Large granule fractions, microsome fractions, and plasma membrane preparations were subfractionated by density equilibration in linear gradients of sucrose. In some experiments, microsomes or plasma membrane preparations were treated with digitonin before isopycnic centrifugation to better distinguish subcellular elements related to the plasma membrane or the Golgi complex from the other cell components; in other experiments, large granule fractions were obtained from Triton WR-1339-loaded livers, which effectively resolve lysosomes from mitochondria and peroxisomes in density gradient analysis. Protein-bound sialic acid and marker enzymes were assayed in the various subcellular fractions. The distributions obtained show that sialoglycoprotein is restricted to some particular domains of the cell, which include the plasma membrane, phagolysosomes, and possibly the Golgi complex. Although sialoglycoprotein is largely recovered in the microsome fraction, it has not been detected in the endoplasmic reticulum-derived elements of this subcellular fraction. In addition, it has not been detected either in mitochondria or in peroxisomes. Because the sialyltransferase activities are associated with the Golgi complex, the cytoplasm appears compartmentalized into components which biogenetically involve the Golgi apparatus and components which do not.     

Cellular fractionation and isolation of the plasma membrane of Burkitt's lymphoma cells

A procedure for cellular fractionation and preparation of plasma membrane from a Burkitt's lymphoma cell line is described. This procedure involves homogenization with a Polytron in buffered isotonic sucrose, and separation of cellular fractions by differential and isopycnic centrifugation in sucrose. The isolated plasma membrane fraction contains 44% of the cellular cholesterol, 50% of the ouabain-sensitive (Na⁺ + K⁺)-ATPase activity, 43% of the γ-glutamyltranspeptidase activities and 16% of the phospholipid. This fraction contains only 3% of cellular protein and is contaminated with less than 4% of the total cellular activities of microsomal, lysosomal, mitochondrial, Golgi and soluble marker enzymes. The cholesterol : phospholipid molar ratio of the crude plasma membrane is 0.56. The membranes in this fraction are in the form of vesicles. Further purification of plasma membrane is achieved by sucrose density gradient centrifugation and results in a 25- to 30-fold enrichment of plasma membrane markers. Plasma membrane markers band in these gradients between 1.10 and 1.15 g/cm³.The distribution patterns in the cell fractions of 18 cellular constituents are quantitatively determined. Most constituents are found to distribute in a fashion consistent with the results obtained in other systems. Thymidine-5′-phosphodiesterase (phosphodiesterase I), esterase, nucleoside diphosphatase and glucose-6-phosphatase, however, are shown to be poor markers of membrane fractions in this system.Lactoperoxidase-catalyzed iodination was used to identify several plasma membrane proteins which are exposed at the surface. After separation of labeled polypeptides by sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis, the predominant labeled protein was identified as the heavy chain of IgM. Several lesser labeled proteins were observed.     

Separation of right-side-out-oriented subfractions from purified thymocyte plasma membranes by affinity chromatography on concanavalin A-sepharose

A method is described for the subfractionation of plasma membranes from thymus lymphocytes by means of affinity chromatography on concanavalin A-Sepharose. Thymus lymphocytes were disrupted by nitrogen cavitation, microsomal membranes isolated by differential centrifugation, and plasma membranes purified from microsomes by sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation. Plasma membranes were highly purified as indicated by marker enzymes and chemical analysis. To obtain membrane preparations suited for lectin-dependent affinity chromatography, sucrose was removed slowly by gradient dialysis. Plasma membranes were then equilibrated for 20 min at 4°C with concanavalin A-Sepharose, which allowed the separation of membranes into a fraction eluting freely (MF1) and a second fraction binding to the affinity absorbent (MF2), with a total recovery of about 90%. Increasing the temperature or binding time did not alter the fractionation of the plasma membrane into the two subfractions. Fractionation required the binding of matrix-bound concanavalin A to plasma membrane binding sites. Both plasma membrane subfractions proved to have preserved their original orientation (right-side out). The method described is suited to isolate different domains of the lymphocyte plasma membrane.     

Segregation of the polypeptide translocation apparatus to regions of the endoplasmic reticulum containing ribophorins and ribosomes. I. Functional tests on rat liver microsomal subfractions

A preparation of rat liver microsomes containing 70% of the total cellular endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membranes was subfractionated by isopycnic density centrifugation. Twelve subfractions of different ribosome content ranging in density from 1.06 to 1.29 were obtained and analyzed with respect to marker enzymes, RNA, and protein content, as well as the capacity of these membranes to bind 80S ribosomes in vitro. After removal of native polysomes from these microsomal subfractions by puromycin in a buffer of high ionic strength their capacity to rebind 80S ribosomes approached levels found in the corresponding native membranes before ribosome stripping. This indicates that in vitro rebinding of ribosomes occurs to the same sites occupied in the cell by membrane-bound polysomes. Microsomes in the microsomal subfractions were also tested for their capacity to effect the translocation of nascent secretory proteins into the microsomal lumen utilizing a rabbit reticulocyte translation system programmed with mRNA coding for the precursor of human placental lactogen. Membranes from microsomes with the higher isopycnic density and a high ribosome content showed the highest translocation activity, whereas membranes derived from smooth microsomes had only a very low translocation activity. These results indicate the membranes of the rough and smooth portions of the endoplasmic reticulum are functionally differentiated so that sites for ribosome binding and the translocation of nascent polypeptides are segregated to the rough domain of the organelle.     

Highly purified plasma membranes from rat hepatocytes following rate-isopycnic zonal centrifugation

Plasma membranes from liver parenchymal cells were isolated by rate-isopycnic zonal centrifugation. A method is described for the Beckman size 15 zonal rotor. It involved preparation from a perfused liver of a parenchymal cell-enriched homogenate in isoosmotic sucrose. The nuclear fraction containing membranes was recovered by centrifugation. The resuspended pellet was applied on the gradient of the zonal rotor. The isolated membranes had the same isopycnic banding density as 37% sucrose (w/w). The specific activity of 5′-nucleotidase, a widely used plasma membrane marker, was 105 μmoles·(mg protein)^?1·h^?1 being enriched by a factor of 50 as compared with parenchymal cell homogenate. The plasma membrane fraction was free of the mitochondrial and lysosomal enzymes, succinate dehydrogenase and acid phosphatase. No DNA and 10 μg RNA per mg plasma membrane protein were found. The purity of the membranes and their morphological appearance were controlled by electron microscopy. The preparation consisting of large membrane sheets showed a considerable purification away from other cellular components. A comparison with similar methods indicates that plasma membranes of a higher degree of purity can be obtained from parenchymal cells.     

Proteins Specified by Herpes Simplex Virus IX. Contiguity of Host and Viral Proteins in the Plasma Membrane of Infected Cells

Artificial mixtures of plasma membrane vesicles produced by microcavitation from infected and uninfected cells band at the same density on isopycnic centrifugation in sucrose density gradient. However, after reaction with antiviral antibody, the density of the infected cell plasma membrane vesicles increases, and the infected and uninfected cell membranes are quantitatively separable on isopycnic centrifugation. Plasma membrane vesicles prepared from cells doubly labeled before and after infection with radioactive amino acids and reacted with antibody banded at a high density. Polyacrylamide gel electropherograms show that the vesicles reacted with antibody consist of both host- and virus-specific membrane proteins. Microcavitation does not disrupt viral envelopes since infectivity is not affected by this procedure. We conclude that viral and cellular proteins in the plasma membrane preparations are contiguous.     

Endosomes differ from plasma membranes in the phospholipid molecular species composition

125I-Labeled epidermal growth factor was incorporated into and highly concentrated in endosomes of Chinese hamster V79-UF cells during incubation at 37 degrees C for 8 min after binding to its receptors on the cell surface at 4 degrees C. From the labeled cells, endosomes were isolated by isopycnic centrifugation on a Percoll density gradient and then sucrose density gradients. The isolated endosomes were mostly free from contamination by Golgi, endoplasmic reticulum, lysosome, plasma membrane and mitochondria. Endosome membranes were found to differ from plasma membranes in the phospholipid composition. Sphingomyelin and phosphatidylserine were enriched in endosomes, compared with plasma membranes. Diacylphosphatidylcholine and diacylphosphatidylethanolamine were major phospholipids of the membranes in both organelles. The contents of molecular species of diacylphosphatidylcholine and diacylphosphatidylethanolamine with two monoenoic fatty acids were lower in endosomes than in plasma membranes. The differences in the polar head group and molecular species compositions of phospholipids between endosomes and plasma membranes did not change, regardless of whether or not the proportions of phospholipid molecular species in plasma membranes changed. The significance of the lipids in endosomes is discussed.     

Solubilization by lysolecithin and purification of the plasma membrane ATPase of the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

Purified plasma membranes of Schizosaccharomyces pombe were obtained by precipitation at pH 5.2 of a crude particulate fraction, followed by differential centrifugations and isopycnic centrifugation in a discontinuous sucrose gradient. The specific activity of the Mg2+-requiring plasma membrane ATPase activity (EC 3.6.1.3) was enriched from 0.3 mumol min-1 x mg-1 of protein in the homogenate to 26 in the purified membranes. The optimal conditions for solubilization of the ATPase activity by lysolecithin were found to be: 2 mg/ml of lysolecithin, a lysolecithin to protein ratio of 8 at pH 7.5, and 15 degrees C in the presence of 1 mM ATP and 1 mM ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. A 6- to 7-fold purification of the solubilized ATPase activity was obtained by centrifugation of the lysolecithin extract in sucrose gradient. Part of the ATPase activity which was inactivated during the centrifugation in the sucrose gradient could be restored by addition of a micellar solution of 50 microgram of lysolecithin/ml during the assay. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate of the purified enzyme showed only one band of Mr = 105,000 stained with Coomassie blue. Another ATPase component of apparent molecular weight lower than 10,000 was stained by periodic Schiff reagent but not colored by Coomassie blue. The purified enzyme was 85% inhibited by 50 micrometer N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide and 94% inhibited by 53 microgram of Dio-9/ml.     

SELECTIVE RELEASE OF CONTENT FROM MICROSOMAL VESICLES WITHOUT MEMBRANE DISASSEMBLY : I. Permeability Changes Induced by Low Detergent Concentrations

Rat liver rough microsomes treated with a series of desoxycholate (DOC) concentrations from 0.003 to 0.4% were analyzed by isopycnic sucrose density gradient centrifugation in media containing high or low salt concentrations. Tritium-labeled precursors administered in vivo were used as markers for ribosomes (orotic acid, 40 h), phospholipids (choline, 4 h), membrane proteins (leucine, 3 days), and completed secretory proteins of the vesicular cavity (leucine, 30 min). Within a narrow range of DOC concentrations (0.025–0.05%), the vesicular polypeptides were selectively released from the microsomes, while ribosomes, nascent polypeptides, and microsomal enzymes of the electron transport systems were unaffected. The detergent concentration which led to leakage of content was a function of the ionic strength and of the microsome concentration. At the lowest effective DOC concentration the microsomal membranes became reversibly permeable to macromoles as shown by changes in the density of the vesicles in Dextran gradients and by the extent of proteolysis by added proteases. Incubation of rough microsomes with proteases in the presence of 0.025% DOC also led to digestion of proteins from both faces of the microsomal membranes and to a lighter isopycnic density of the membrane vesicles.     

Phospholipid spin probes measure the effects of ethanol on the molecular order of liver microsomes

Ethanol, in vitro, is known to perturb the molecular order of the phospholipids in biological membranes, while chronic ethanol exposure, in vivo, leads to resistance to disordering. Such changes have usually been measured by electron spin resonance, utilizing fatty acid spin probes. The use of such probes is controversial, since their orientation in the membrane may not accurately represent that of individual phospholipids. We, therefore, compared ethanol-induced structural perturbations in the membranes of rat hepatic microsomes measured with the spin probe 12-doxylstearic acid (SA 12) with those assayed with various phospholipid spin probes. With SA 12, the addition of increasing amounts of ethanol (50-250 mM) in vitro caused a progressive decrease in the membrane molecular order, as measured by electron spin resonance (ESR). By contrast, microsomes obtained from rats chronically fed ethanol were resistant to the disordering effect of ethanol. Microsomes labeled with the phospholipid spin probes 1-palmitoyl-2-(12-doxylstearoyl)phosphatidylcholine, -phosphatidylethanolamine, or -phosphatidic acid also exhibited increased disordering with the addition of increasing amounts of ethanol. However, the effect noted with phospholipid spin probes was less than that observed with the fatty acid probe. Microsomes obtained from the livers of chronically intoxicated animals labeled with the phospholipid probes were also resistant to the disordering effects of ethanol in vitro. These results suggest that fatty acid spin probes are qualitatively valid for measuring membrane perturbations in biological membranes, ethanol affects all microsomal phospholipids, regardless of chemical dissimilarities (e.g., head-group structure), in a qualitatively similar fashion, and the fluidization of fatty acyl chains in microsomal membranes is comparable in different membrane phospholipids.     

The characterization of rat kidney plasma membranes prepared by zonal centrifugation

1. Plasma membranes were isolated from a 10000g-min pellet prepared from a renal cortical homogenate in 20mm-NaHCO(3) by isopycnic centrifugation in a linear sucrose gradient in an ;A'-type zonal rotor. 2. The preparation was characterized by electron microscopy, and alkaline phosphatase, 5'-nucleotidase, l-leucine beta-naphthylamidase and l-leucine p-nitroanilidase activities were found to be selectively associated with the renal plasma membrane. 3. The preparation had a high degree of purity, as indicated by the presence of low activities of marker enzymes associated with subcellular organelles. A preliminary chemical analysis indicated that the chemical composition resembled that of plasma membranes of other tissues. 4. Plasma membranes were also prepared from tubular fragments and their enzyme contents were found to be similar to those of plasma membranes prepared from cortical homogenates. 5. l-Leucine beta-naphthylamidase, l-leucine p-nitroanilidase and 5'-nucleotidase were not enriched to the same extent as alkaline phosphatase in the preparation of plasma membranes from tubular fragments. A possible explanation for this finding is discussed.     

Different arrangements of phagolysosome membranes which depend upon the particles phagocytized : Observation with markers of the two sides of plasma membranes

Phagolysosome vesicles containing either polystyrene latex (PLP), or PLP plus bovine serum albumin (PLP-BSA), or paraffin oil emulsified with BSA (POE-BSA) were prepared from guinea pig polymorphonuclear leukocytes (gp-PMNL). They were compared using the specific markers of the two sides of the plasma membrane of gp-PMNL characterized previously [1, 2]. Anticell surface IgG (Anti-C-S IgG) which binds exclusively to the outer side of plasma membranes [1] was found to bind to the cytoplasmic side of all three types of phagolysosomes. Anti-100000 g sup IgG which binds exclusively to the cytoplasmic side of plasma membranes of gp-PMNL [1] did not bind to the cytoplasmic side of these phagolysosomes, as shown by immunoferritin technique. On the other hand, influenza virus, which is a marker of the outer surface of plasma membranes [1] bound to the cytoplasmic side of POE-BSA phagolysosomes but not PLP or PLP-BSA phagolysosomes, as demonstrated by electron microscopy. The content of myosin, another marker of the cytoplasmic side of plasma membranes [2], differed in these phagolysosomes, as shown by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis: it was very low in PLP- and POE-BSA phagolysosomes but high in PLP-BSA phagolysosomes. Myosin was found on the cytoplasmic side of PLP-BSA phagolysosomes by the improved immunoferritin technique reported previously [3]. These phagolysosomes, containing different particles and having different arrangements of membrane components, showed different efficiencies of fusion with lysosomes. The possible mechanism of the specific fusion of phagosomes with lysosomes was discussed in relation to these different features of phagolysosomal membranes.     

The calcium accumulation in a microsomal fraction from porcine coronary artery smooth muscle. A study of the heterogeneity of the fraction

1. Microsomes prepared from the combined media and intima of pig coronary artery, take up Ca in an ATP-dependent way. This uptake is stimulated by oxalate. 2. Conditions have been determined to optimize the preparation of the microsomes in terms of their Ca accumulation activity. Careful homogenization of the tissue mince in 0.25 M sucrose by means of a Potter-Elvehjem homogenizer gives microsomal preparations with the highest specific activity for Ca accumulation. 3. Arguments are presented to support the hypothesis that, even in the absence of oxalate, Ca accumulation occurs into the lumen of the vesicles, and that these vesicles have a low Ca permeability. 4. Density gradient analysis shows that the microsomal fraction prepared from pig coronary artery media and intima is composed of vesicles that are heterogeneous in enzymatic composition. 5. Adenylate cyclase appears to be a predominantly plasma membrane-bound enzyme. Rotenone-insensitive NADH-cytochrome c reductase and choline phosphotransferase, two putative markers for internal membranes, give distinct banding patterns on on isopycnic centrifugation, indicating different intracellular localization. 6. There is a difference between the density gradient distribution pattern of Ca uptake measured in the presence or absence of oxalate. The latter coincides more closely with plasma membrane markers. The former resembles more the distribution of rotenone-insensitive NADH-cytochrome c reductase.     

Calmodulin-binding proteins in granule and plasma membranes from bovine chromaffin cells

Calmodulin-binding proteins in chromaffin granule membrane and chromaffin cell plasma membranes have been investigated and compared. Chromaffin granules were purified by centrifugation over a 1.7 M sucrose layer. Plasma membranes were obtained in a highly purified form by differential and isopycnic centrifugation. Enzymatic determinations of 5'-nucleotidase, a generally accepted plasma membrane marker, showed a 40-50-fold enrichment as compared to the cell homogenate. Marker enzyme studies demonstrated only minimal contamination by other subcellular organelles. After solubilization with Triton X-100, calmodulin-binding proteins were isolated from chromaffin granule membranes and plasma membranes by affinity chromatography on a calmodulin/Sepharose 4B column. On two-dimensional polyacrylamide gelelectrophoresis a prominent protein (Mr = 65,000, pI ranging from 5.1 to 6) consisting of multiple spots, was present in the calmodulin-binding fraction from chromaffin granule membranes as well as from plasma membranes. Besides this 65 kDa protein both fractions had at least four groups of proteins in common. Also, proteins typical for either preparation were observed. In the calmodulin-binding protein preparations from chromaffin granule membranes a prominent spot with Mr = 80,000 and a pH ranging from 5.0 to 5.7 was present. This protein was enzymatically and immunologically identified as dopamine-beta-monooxygenase.