Isolation and characterization of highly purified mosquito oostatic hormone

Oostatic hormone, the hormone that inhibits vitellogenesis in mosquitoes, was purified 7,000-fold with a recovery of 70% from the ovaries of the mosquito Aedes aegypti. The purification procedure included heat treatment and chromatography on ion exchange and gel filtration columns. The hormone is a small peptidelike molecule of molecular weight 2,200 at pH 4.5, which aggregates into larger molecular species of trimer and octamer at pH 7.0 as determined by gel filtration. The hormone is positively charged at pH 7.8 and has a low Rf at pH 9.4 on disc gel electrophoresis. Injection of purified oostatic hormone (9 ng) into female mosquitoes inhibited yolk deposition and vitellogenin synthesis. Activity of the oostatic hormone in the mosquito ovary increased rapidly following blood feeding and reached a maximum after 48 h. Oostatic hormone of A. aegypti injected into autogenous Aedes taeniorhynchus inhibited egg development. Repeated injections of dilute oostatic hormone at 24 h intervals partially arrested egg development, resulting in 60% reduction in the number of eggs laid. This hormone does not block release of egg development neurosecretory hormone (EDNH) from the mosquito brain but rather appears to act on the ovary.     

The role of the male accessory gland fluid in stimulating vitellogenesis in Aedes taeniorhynchus

Injection of 20-hydroxyecdysone (20-OH-ecdysone) at high concentrations (5.0 μg) into intact or decapitated female Aedes taeniorhynchus induced vitellogenin synthesis, whereas low concentrations (5.0 ng) were ineffective. Injections of male accessory gland fluid (MAGF), however, at a concentration that was equivalent to 0.25 of the content of a pair of accessory glands, into intact or decapitated A. taeniorhynchus induced viteliogenin synthesis only in intact females. Ovariectomized mosquitoes did not synthesize vitellogenin after MAGF injection or blood feeding. Females that were first injected with MAGF and decapitated 12 h later synthesized viteliogenin at a rate that was 80% of intact controls. Egg development neurosecretory hormone (EDNH) activity in the heads of ovariectomized or intact females injected with MAGF was 9.0 pmol/min/head and 2.5 pmol/min/head, respectively, indicating that MAGF does not stimulate the corpus cardiacum (CC) to release EDNH. Incubation of MAGF and EDNH with fat bodies failed to induce vitellogenin synthesis. These results indicate that in A. taeniorhynchus the MAGF induces the ovary to release corpus cardiacum stimulating factor, which then signals CC to release stored EDNH.     

Purification of rosmarinic acid synthase from cell cultures of Coleus blumei Benth

Rosmarinic acid synthase from cell cultures of Coleus blumei Benth. was purified to apparent homogeneity by fractionated ammonium sulfate precipitation (60–80% saturation), hydrophobic interaction chromatography, affinity chromatography and gel filtration. This purification procedure resulted in a 225-fold-enriched specific enzyme activity with a yield of 9%. The protein preparation was apparently pure according to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The apparent molecular mass determined by gel filtration and SDS-PAGE was 77 kDa, indicating that rosmarinic acid synthase is a monomeric enzyme.Abbreviations DTT dithiothreitol - HIC hydrophobic interaction chromatography - RA rosmarinic acid - RAS rosmarinic acid synthase - SDS-PAGE sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis The financial support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is gratefully acknowledged. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis was done with the help of Dr. Guy Bauw, University of Gent, Belgium.     

Purification and Characterization of S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine Nicotinic Acid-N-Methyltransferase from Leaves of Glycine max

Trigonelline (TRG), which act as a cell cycle regulator and a compatible solute in response to salinity and water-stress, is the N-methyl conjugate of nicotinic acid the formation of which is catalyzed by S-adenosyl-L-methionine nicotinic acid-N-methyltransferase. The enzyme was purified 2650-fold from soybean (Glycine max L.) leaves with a recovery of 4 %. The purification procedure included ammonium sulfate (45 – 60 %) precipitation, linear gradient DEAE-Sepharose chromatography, adenosine-agarose affinity chromatography, hydroxyapatite chromatography and gel filtration (Sephacryl-S-200). The purified enzyme preparation showed a major band with a molecular mass of 41.5 kDa in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis that is related to the enzyme activity. The native enzyme had a molecular mass of about 85 kDa as estimated by gel filtration. The K_m values for S-adenosyl-L-methionine and nicotinic acid were 31 and 12.5 M, respectively. The purified enzyme showed optimum activity at pH 6.5 and temperature of 40 – 45 °C. High concentration of dithiothreitol (10 mM) and glycerol (20 %) stabilize the enzyme during purification and storage. Hg²⁺ strongly inhibits enzyme activity.     

Improved purification of Candida boidinii formate dehydrogenase

Formate dehydrogenase (FDH, EC 1.2.1.2) from Candida boidinii was purified to homogeneity. The two step procedure comprised anion exchange chromatography (2.9-fold purification, 85% step yield, elution with 35 mM KCl), followed by dye-ligand affinity chromatography on immobilized Cibacron Blue 3GA (1.4-fold purification, 75% step yield, elution with 0.15 mM NAD⁺/2 mM Na₂SO₃). The procedure afforded FDH at 63.8% overall yield and a specific activity of 7.2 units/mg. The purity of the final FDH preparation was evaluated by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), high performance gel filtration liquid chromatography (gfHPLC) and N-terminal amino acid sequencing. The analytical techniques showed the presence of a single polypeptide chain that corresponds to the molecular weight of 41 kDa (as determined by SDS-PAGE) and 81 kDa (as determined by gfHPLC).     

Inter-species cross-reactivity of the prothoracicotropic hormone of Manduca sexta and egg-development neurosecretory hormone of Aedes aegypti

The cross-reactivities of the big and small forms of prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH) from pupal brains of Manduca sexta and egg-development neurosecretory hormone (EDNH) from heads of adult Aedes aegypti were examined for PTTH by the in vitro Manduca prothoracic gland assay and for EDNH by the in vitro and in vivo Aedes ovary assays. The synthesis of ecdysone by both larval and pupal prothoracic glands of Manduca was increased in a dose-dependent manner by crude extracts of Aedes aegypti heads, reaching a maximum of approx. 3- and 2-fold, respectively. Gel filtration chromatography of the Aedes head extract revealed a peak of EDNH activity with an apparent mol. wt of 11 kD. This partially purified EDNH did not possess prothoracicotropic activity in the in vitro prothoracic gland assay, nor did any other fractions from the gel filtration column. Similarly, partially purified big and small PTTH did not activate Aedes atropalpus ovaries to synthesize ecdysone in vitro, nor did they cause ovarian maturation in vivo. Thus, it appears that the structural differences between PTTH and EDNH are sufficient enough to prevent functional cross-reactivity. The apparent discrepancy in the results obtained with the crude and partially purified EDNH and PTTHs raises questions about the reliability of bioassays for screening the presence and cross-reactivity of peptide neurohormones in crude extracts.     

An improved method for large scale purification of human holo-transcobalamin II

25 mg of human holo-transcobalamin II with a specific cobalamin-binding capacity of 0.95 mol cobalamin/mol TC II was purified from 122 kg Cohn fraction III with a yield of 73% and a purification factor of 9.34 · 10⁵. Consecutive purification steps comprised CM-Sephadex batchwise ion-exchange chromatography, affinity chromatography, using cyanocobalamin as a ligand, thermolabilly attached to 3.3′-diaminodipropylamine-substituted CH-Sepharose, and gel filtration. The high yield of the purification procedure was achieved by improving the stability of apo-transcobalamin II in the eluate of the CM-Sephadex, and by a few other modifications of a former procedure. In the latter, rapid denaturation of apo-transcobalamin II prohibited the use of long term affinity chromatography, which is obligatory for processing large amounts of Cohn fraction. In addition, subfractionation of transcobalamin II into smaller fragments which occurred in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in previous studies, was now reduced, indicating that proteolysis in the CM-Sephadex eluate had been prevented effectively.     

Purification and properties of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase from uterine tissue

Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase from calf myometrium has been purified to a homogeneous state for the first time, as can be evidenced from polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis data. The purification procedure included ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose, high pressure liquid chromatography on TSK 545 DEAE and gel filtration through Toyopearl HW-55. The molecular mass of the enzyme as determined by gel filtration and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis is 110 kD. The purified enzyme hydrolyzes cAMP and cGMP with Km = 30 microM and 18 microM, respectively.     

Brain pyridoxal kinase. Purification and characterization

Pyridoxal kinase has been purified 9000-fold from sheep brain. The purification procedure involves ammonium sulphate fractionation, DEAE-cellulose chromatography, affinity chromatography and Sephadex G-100 gel filtration. The final chromatography step yields a homogeneous preparation of high specific activity with a pI of 5. The molecular mass of the native enzyme was estimated to be approximately 80 kDa by 10-25% gradient polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Sephadex G-200 gel filtration. The subunit molecular mass was determined by sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS)/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to be 40 kDa compared with a series of molecular mass standards. This indicates that pyridoxal kinase is a dimeric enzyme. Further results obtained from electron microscopy, using a negative staining technique, provide evidence that pyridoxal kinase exists as a dispherical subunit structure.     

Purification and detection of multiple forms of histidine decarboxylase in rat gastric mucosa (author's transl)]

A specific histidine decarboxylase from rat gastric mucosa has been obtained at high purity and good yield (purification about 600-fold). The purification procedure included double (NH4)2SO4 fractionation, ion-exchange chromatography, preparative isoelectric focusing in a granulated gel and gel filtration. Only the specific histidine enzyme was obtained by that procedure; DOPA decarboxylase, a non-specific enzyme, was absent in our final preparation. Each step of the purification was visualized by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and analytical isoelectric focusing. The purified enzyme was apparently homogenous by criteria of electrophoresis and gel filtration and has a molecular weight of 94 000. Several protein bands appeared after isoelectric focusing and the enzyme activity was localized in 3 distinct peaks. The gastric enzyme consists of 3 active forms which could be distinguished by their isoelectric points: 5.4, 5.75 and 6. Moleculare weights estimated by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis were 97 000, 93 000 and 90 000, and no subunits were observed. Pyridoxal phosphate was required as a coenzyme and resolution of the holoenzyme agreed with a portion of the coenzyme tightly bound to the apoenzyme. The purified enzyme was stable at low ionic strength, near neutral pH; concentrated reducing agents inhibit the enzyme.     

Synthesis of 1-(2,6,6-Trimethyl-4-hydroxy-1-cyclohexen-1-yl)-1,3-butanedione

Streptococcus dysgalactiae IID 678, belonging to group C of the streptococci, secreted a large amount of hyaluronidase (hyaluronate lyase, EC 4.2.2.1) into a culture medium containing hyaluronic acid. The purification procedures of hyaluronidase were 70% ammonium sulfate precipitation, ECTEOLA-cellulose chromatography, phospho-cellulose chromatography, and gel filtration on Sephacryl S-300. The hyaluronidase was purified approximately 27,000-fold from the culture filtrate. The purified enzyme was homogeneous by SDS-poIyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The enzyme degradated only hyaluronic acid and chondroitin to zl 4,5-unsaturated disaccharides and did not act on other glycosaminoglycans containing sulfate groups, while the degradation rate of chondroitin was about 1/60 of that of hyaluronic acid. The optimum pH was wide, from pH 5.8 to pH 6.6, and the optimum temperature was 37°C. Fe^{2 +}, Cu^{2 +}, Pb^{2 +}, and Hg^{2 +} ions inhibited the activity strongly and Zn²⁺ inhibited it by half. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 125,000 by gel filtration and 117,000 by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The enzyme was different immunochemically from the hyaluronidase from Streptococcus pyogenes belonging to group A.     

The effect of the purity of the iodinated tracer on the specificity of a homologous assay of ovine follicle stimulating hormone

Six different chromatographic procedures were employed to separate the intact labelled ovine follicle stimulating hormone after iodination of a highly purified preparation. The immunoreactivity of the fractions was tested in the conditions of a double-antibody radioimmunoassay. A single point crossreaction was introduced to calculate the interference of luteinizing hormone in the assay. The results obtained after SDS electrophoresis of the hormone were compared with the results of the autoradiography of the fractions subjected to electrophoresis after labelling and purification. Intact hormone with both subunits present was recovered following chromatography on Blue Sepharose C1-6B or high resolution gel filtration on Ultrogel AcA-54.     

Purification of human erythropoietin.

Human erythropoietin, derived from urine of patients with aplastic anemia, has been purified to apparent homogeneity. The seven-step procedure, which included ion exchange chromatography, ethanol precipitation, gel filtration, and adsorption chromatography, yielded a preparation with a potency of 70,400 units/mg of protein in 21% yield. This represents a purification factor of 930. The purified hormone has a single electrophoretic component in polyacrylamide gels at pH 9, in the presence of sodium dodecylsulfate at pH 7, and in the presence of Triton X-100 at pH 6. Two fractions of the same potency and molecular size, by sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis, but differing slightly in mobility at pH 9, were obtained at the last step of fractionation. The nature of the difference between these two components is not yet understood.     

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.     

A simple purification method for the preparation of solubilized chlorophyllase from Chlorella protothecoides

A simple and rapid purification procedure is described for the routine preparation of large quantities of purified chlorophyllase (chlorophyll chlorophyllido-hydrolase, EC 3.1.1.14) from Chlorella protothecoides. The enzyme with specific activity of 960 nmol chlorophyll a hydrolyzed (mg protein)^?1 min^?1 was prepared by treating the homogenate with n-butanol, ammonium sulfate fractionations and gel filtration through Sephadex G-200 and Sepharose CL-6B, with a yield of 53% of activity based on the butanol extract. The enzyme preparation showed apparent homogeneity as judged by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The procedures take only 4 days and can be operated routinely without column repacking.     

Purification of the Drosophila Kc cell juvenile hormone binding protein

The juvenile hormone binding protein (JHBP) from the cytosol of Drosophila melanogaster Kc cells has been purified with the use of a juvenile hormone photoaffinity analog, 10,11-epoxy (2E, 6E) farnesyl diazoacetate (EFDA). The purification procedure consists of five chromatographic steps and the end product of the purification procedure showed homogeneity by means of both native and SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Furthermore, using a racemic mixture of the natural hormone, [³H]juvenile hormone III (JH III), as the radioligand in this purification procedure, we demonstrate that the purified protein is likely the authentic intracellular JHBP.     

Purification and properties of the allophanate hydrolase from Chlamydomonas reinhardii

Allophanate hydrolase was purified to homogeneity from extracts of Chlamydomonas reinhardii grown phototrophically using urea as sole source of nitrogen. The following sequence of steps comprised the purification procedure: (1) protamine sulfate precipitation; (2) ammonium sulfate fractionation; (3) poly(ethylene glycol) fractionation; (4) batch-wise DEAE-cellulose adsorption; (5) Sepharose 6-B gel filtration; (6) hydroxyapatite chromatography. This procedure yielded an allophanate hydrolase preparation which was homogenous as judged by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The molecular weight, as determined by gradient polyacrylamide electrophoresis and gel filtration, was 110 000 and 100 000, respectively. The pH optimum of this enzyme was approximately 9.0, while the K_m for allophanate was 0.55 mM. Allophanate hydrolase was sensitive to N-ethylmaleimide but was protected from this inhibition by allophanate. Malonic acid, oxaloacetic acid, and acetoacetic acid were inhibitory to allophanate hydrolysis.     

Purification and chemical characterization of human hexosaminidases A and B.

N-Acetyl-beta-hexosaminidases A and B were purified to homogeneity from human placenta. In the initial step of purification, the enzymes were adsorbed on concanavalin A-Sepharose 4B and eluted from the column with alpha-methyl D-mannosides. Subsequent purification steps included DEAE-cellulose column chromatography, QAE-Sephadex [diethyl-(2-hydroxypropyl)aminoethyl-Sephadex] column chromatography, Sephadex G-200 gel filtration and preparative disc polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, followed by another QAE-Sephadex chromatography for the hexosaminidase A preparation, and DEAE-cellulose column chromatography, calcium phosphate gel chromatography, Sephadex G-200 gel filtration, QAE-Sephadex chromatography and CM-cellulose chromatography for the hexosaminidase B preparation. The purified preparations, particularly hexosaminidase A, had significantly higher specific enzyme activities than previously reported. The preparations moved on polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis as single protein bands, which also stained for enzyme activity. Sedimentation-equilibrium centrifugation indicated homogenous dispersion of the enzymes, and the molecular weight was estimated as about 110000 for both enzymes. Complete amino acid and carbohydrate compositions of the two isoenzymes were determined, and, in contrast with previous suggestions, no sialic acid was found in the enzymes.     

Purification and Some Properties of Tetanolysin

Tetanolysin was purified from the culture fluid of a strain of Clostridium tetani by ammonium sulfate fractionation, acetone precipitation and repeated gel filtration. Two hemolysins with different molecular weights were separated by gel filtration, and the smaller one, tetanolysin, was further purified. The purification raised the specific activity of tetanolysin 1,050-fold to 500 HU/μg of protein. The purified preparation gave a single, relatively broad band on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, in which the activity was roughly parallel with the protein concentration. However, on sodium dodecylsulfate-gel electrophoresis it gave two bands with nearly equal amounts of proteins, showing molecular weights of 53,000 and 48,000±3,000. Furthermore, isoelectric focusing revealed four peaks of the activity whose isoelectric pHs were 6.1, 5.6, 5.3, and 6.6 in decreasing order of the activity. These findings suggest that the preparation contains four hemolysins with different pis, which are classifiable into two groups by molecular size. The preparation was completely free of tetanus neurotoxin and proteases. Tetanolysin was more strongly inhibited by cholesterol and more rapidly adsorbed onto erythrocytes than θ-toxin of Cl. perfringens.     

Purification of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase from chicken liver and investigation of some kinetic properties

6-phosphogluconate (6PG) dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.44; 6PGD) was purified from chicken liver; some kinetic and characteristic properties of the enzyme were investigated. The purification procedure consisted of four steps: preparation of the hemolysate, ammonium sulfate precipitation, 2',5'-ADP Sepharose 4B affinity chromatography, and Sephadex G-200 gel filtration chromatography. Thanks to the four consecutive procedures, product having a specific activity of 61 U (mg proteins)(-1), was purified 344-fold with a yield of 5.57%. Optimum pH, stable pH, optimum temperature, and KM and Vmax values for NADP+ and 6PG substrates were determined for the enzyme. Molecular weight of the enzyme was also determined by Sephadex G-200 gel filtration chromatography and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). In addition, Ki values and inhibition types were estimated by means of Lineweaver-Burk graphs obtained for NADPH and CO2 products.