Biosynthesis of intestinal microvillar proteins. Translational evidence in vitro that aminopeptidase N is synthesized as a Mr-115000 polypeptide.

A crude RNA fraction, prepared from pig small intestine, was found to be more efficient than a fraction enriched in polyadenylated RNA in directing translation of polypeptides with Mr greater than 100000 in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate system. Aminopeptidase N (EC 3.4.11.2) synthesized in vitro was immunopurified from the translation mixture and analysed by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. It was found to have an apparent Mr of 115000 regardless of whether the translation was performed in the absence or presence of proteinase inhibitors. This result contradicts the possibility of aminopeptidase N being synthesized as a large single-chain precursor polypeptide.     

Affinity purification and some molecular properties of human liver alkaline phosphatase.

Alkaline phosphatase from human liver was purified to homogeneity. The purification procedure included solubilization with butanol, fractionation with acetone, and chromatography on concanavalin A-Sepharose, DEAE-cellulose, Sephadex G-200 and DEAE-Sephadex. Purity was established by standard and sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. The isoelectric point of the protein was determined to be 4.0. Sephadex-gel filtration gave a mol.wt. of 146000, although a higher value was obtained in the presence of 100mM-NaC1. The subunit mol.wt. 76700, was determined by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. Neuraminidase treatment resulted in two enzyme-activity bands on isoelectric-focused gels with isoelectric points of 6.6 and 6.8. The desialylated enzyme gave only one protein band on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis with a subunit molecular weight indistinguishable from that of the non-neuraminidase-treated protein. The desialylated enzyme was more readily denatured by sodium dodecyl sulphate in the presence of mercaptoethanol than was the native enzyme.     

Heterogeneity of guinea-pig caseins synthesized and sequestered by cell-free protein-synthesizing systems.

1. Individual mRNA species encoding guinea-pigs caseins A, B and C, and alpha-lactalbumin, were purified by hydridization to recombinant milk-protein plasmid DNA immobilized on diazobenzyloxymethyl-paper or diazobenzyloxymethyl-cellulose. Addition of the purified mRNA species to a reticulocyte-lysate cell-free system, in the presence or absence of a dog pancreas microsomal membrane fraction, established a precursor-product relationship between the primary translation products and those sequestered within microsomal vesicles, as determined by polyacrylamide-gel analysis in one and two dimensions. 2. Three sequestered variants of sequestered casein A were identified, but only single forms of sequestered casein B and alpha-lactalbumin. Sequestered variants of casein C proved to be unexpectedly basic, and did not focus on the pH gradient utilized. 3. Comparative analysis of milk proteins synthesized in the reticulocyte-lysate and wheat-germ cell-free systems by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis demonstrated both quantitative and qualitative differences. In particular, marked but variable heterogeneity was apparent within the primary translation products of casein A and casein B. Pre-casein C did not focus. Limited N-terminal processing of the primary translation products was also evident. These observations are discussed in relation to (i) unscheduled post-translational modifications by cell-free protein-synthesizing systems and (ii) multiplicity of signal sequences. 4. Overall we demonstrate that complex precursor-product relationships between primary translation products and their sequestered variants, programmed in vitro by a mixed mRNA population, may be readily analysed by using individual mRNA sequences purified by hybridization to immobilized cloned complementary-DNA sequences.     

Isolation, purification and cell-free synthesis of calmodulin from the pig anterior pituitary gland.

Calmodulin was extracted and purified from pig anterior pituitary gland. The protein was characterized by its migration on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis in the presence of Ca2+ or EGTA, its U.V. spectrum between 240 and 290 nm and the activation of calmodulin-deficient cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase. The yield was 370 mg/kg wet wt. mRNA was also extracted from the same tissue and translated in a wheat-germ cell-free translation system. Translated calmodulin was identified by its heat-stability, its co-migration with authentic anterior-pituitary calmodulin on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, its acidic isoelectric point (4.15) on flat-bed isoelectric focusing, its Ca2+-dependent binding to fluphenazine-Sepharose 6B, and its co-elution from this gel with authentic unlabelled calmodulin with EGTA buffer. Calmodulin was not translated as a precursor form. In this tissue it was calculated that calmodulin accounted for 0.5-1% of the total translated protein.     

Characterization of pepsin-solubilized bovine heart-valve collagen.

Collagens extracted from heart valves by using limited pepsin digestion were fractionated by differential salt precipitation. Collagen types were identified by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, amino acid analysis and cleavage with CNBr. Heart-valve collagen was heterogeneous in nature, consisting of a mixture of type-I and type-III collagens. The identity of type-III collagen was established on the basis of (a) insolubility in 1.7 M-NaC1 at neutral pH, (b) behaviour of this collagen fraction on gel electrophoresis under reducing and non-reducing conditions, (c) amino acid analysis showing a hydroxyproline/proline ratio greater than 1, and (d) profile of CNBr peptides on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis showing a peak characteristic for type-III collagen containing peptides alpha1(III)CB8 and alpha1(III)CB3. In addition to types-I and -III collagen, a collagen polypeptide not previously described in heart valves was identified. This polypeptide represented approx. 30% of the collagen fraction precipitated at 4.0 M-NaCl, it migrated between beta- and alpha1-collagen chains on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and its electrophoretic behaviour was not affected by disulphide-bond reduction. All collagen fractions from the heart valves contained increased amounts of hydroxylysine when compared with type-I and -III collagens from other tissues. The presence of beta- and gamma-chains and higher aggregates in pepsin-solubilized collagen indicated that these collagens were highly cross-linked and suggested that some of these cross-links involved the triple-helical regions of the molecule. It is likely that the higher hydroxylysine content of heart-valve collagen is responsible for the high degree of intermolecular cross-linking and may be the result of an adaptive mechanism for the specialized function of these tissues.     

Separation and partial characterization of guinea-pig caseins.

1. Guinea-pig caseins A, B and C were purified free of each other by a combination of ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration. 2. Determination of the amino acid composition showed all three caseins to contain a high proportion of proline and glutamic acid, but no cysteine. This apart, the amino acid composition of the three caseins was markedly different, though calculated divergence values suggest that some homology may exist between caseins A and B. Molecular-weight estimates based on amino acid composition were in good agreement with those based on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. 3. N-Terminal analysis showed lysine, methionine and lysine to be the N-terminal residues of caseins A, B and C respectively. 4. Two-dimensional separation of tryptic digests revealed a distinctive pattern for each casein. 5. All caseins were shown to be phosphoproteins. The casein C preparation also contained significant amounts of sialic acid, neutral and amino sugars. 6. The results suggest that each casein represents a separate gene product, and that the low-molecular-weight proteins are not the result of a post-translational cleavage of the largest. All were distinctly different from the whey protein alpha-lactalbumin.     

Dog pancreatic microsomal-membrane polypeptides analysed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.

The two-dimensional polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis technique of O'Farrell [(1975) J. Biol. Chem 250, 4007-4021] was applied to resolve and analyse the polypeptide composition of dog pancreatic rough microsomal membranes, which were shown to be active in co-translational processing of preprolactin synthesized from pituitary mRNA in a translation system in vitro. About 100 polypeptides are resolved. Treatment of rough microsomal membranes with EDTA and high KCl concentration yielded membranes stripped of their ribosomes with retention of activity for translocation and processing. Stripped microsomal membranes showed a selective concentration of approximately 25 polypeptides in the membranes when analysed by two-dimensional polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. The two-dimensional electrophoretic profile was catalogued into polypeptides that are glycoproteins, those that contain free thiol groups disposed at the cytosolic surface of microsomal vesicles and those that are of secretory origin but have been entrapped in the microsomal preparation. Several secretory components, including amylase, procarboxypeptidases, lipase and anionic trypsinogen, were tentatively identified among the microsomal polypeptides. The rough and stripped microsomal membranes from dog pancreas show a characteristic set of seven major acidic polypeptides, which are also identifiable in microsomal-membrane preparations isolated from dog liver and rat liver. One of these polypeptides was identified as protein disulphide-isomerase (EC 5.3.4.1).     

Further characterization of rat liver mitochondrial fractions. Lipid composition and synthesis, and protein profiles.

1. Heavy and light mitochondrial fractions obtained by differential centrifugation were further characterized with respect to their lipid composition and synthesis and protein profiles, as seen by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. 2. The light mitochondrial fraction was rich in total lipids, phospholipids and cholesterol. The cardiolipin content, however, was low. 3. Rates of [3H]glycerol incorporation into phospholipids of heavy mitochondria and microsomal fractions were almost identical. On the other hand, incorporation into the individual phospholipids in light mitochondria was about 4-6 times higher. Incorporation into cardiolipin of light mitochondria was about 10-fold higher than in the heavy mitochondria. 4. Analysis of protein profiles by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis showed that the pattern obtained for the light mitochondria was similar to that for heavy mitochondria. However, the light fraction was relatively poor in high-molecular-weight proteins and rich in low-molecular-weight proteins. The microsomal protein profile was altogether different. 5. The significance of these findings is discussed in relation to mitochondrial biogenesis.     

Characterization, purification and synthesis of spore-coat protein in Bacillus megaterium KM.

The spore-coat fraction from Bacillus megaterium KM, when prepared by extraction of lysozyme-digested integuments with SDS (sodium dodecyl sulphate) and urea, contains three N-terminal residues and a major component of apparent mol.wt. 17500. Electron microscopy of this fraction shows it to consist of an ordered multilamellar structure similar to that which forms the coat region of intact spores. The 17500-dalton protein, which has been purified to homogeneity, has an N-terminal methionine residue, has high contents of glycine, proline, cysteine and acidic amino acids and readily polymerized even in the presence of thiol-reducing agents. It is first synthesized between late Stage IV and early Stage V, which correlates with the morphological appearance of spore coat. Before Stage VI the 17500-dalton protein is extractable from sporangia by SDS in the absence of thiol-reducing reagents. Between Stage VI and release of mature spores the protein becomes resistant to extraction by SDS unless it is supplemented by a thiol-reducing reagent. In addition to that of the spore-coat protein, the timing of synthesis of all the integument proteins was analysed by SDS/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and non-equilibrium pH-gradient electrophoresis. Several integument proteins are conservatively synthesized from as early as 1h after the end of exponential growth (t1), which may reflect protein incorporation into the spore outer membrane.     

A simple method for purification of rat hepatic microsomal cytochrome b5.

Rat hepatic microsomal cytochrome b5 was purified to homogeneity by solubilization with the detergent Lubrol 12-A9 and chromatography on Fractogel TSK DEAE-650(S). The protein was obtained in high yield (52-87%) in 8 h, and only one polypeptide band, of Mr 16 600, was visible after sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis.     

Purification and characterization of a phospholipase A2 from the venom of the coral snake, Micrurus fulvius microgalbineus (Brown and Smith).

A phospholipase A2 was purified from the Mexican coral snake Micrurus fulvius microgalbieus (Brown and Smith). Gel filtration of the soluble crude venom on Sephadex g-50 resolved five fractions, of which fraction II had 98% of the total phospholipase activity. This fraction was rechromatographed on a CM-cellulose column that resolved eight fractions, four of which had an important phospholipase activity. The first fraction (II-1) was homogeneous by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and displayed a phospholipase specific activity of 920 units/mg of protein. The apparent molecular weight as determined by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis was approx. 14000. The amino acid analysis revealed the presence of 119 amino acid residues, with 12 half-cystines. the N-terminal sequence was shown to be Ser-Leu-Leu-Asx-Phe-Lys-Asx-Met-Ile-Glu-Ser-Thr..., which is homologous with that of phospholipases from other snake venoms.     

Studies on the formation of intrachain disulphide bonds in newly biosynthesised bovine prolactin. Role of protein-disulphide isomerase

Native disulphide-bonded prolactin (band III) was distinguished from reduced prolactin (band II) and intermediate unstable disulphide-linked conformations by: (a) faster mobility of the former in sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and (b) high-pressure liquid chromatography analyses of tryptic-digested peptides derived from prolactin in various conformations during its refolding pathway from reduced, unfolded to native conformation. The electrophoretic separation has been used to examine the state of disulphide bonding in newly synthesised prolactin translated from bovine pituitary mRNA in a rabbit reticulocyte translation system supplemented with nuclease-treated dog pancreatic microsomal membranes. The formation of correct disulphide pairing in prolactin (band III), synthesised in the in vitro translation system in the presence of pancreatic microsomes, required the presence of a thiol oxidant such as oxidised glutathione during the translation. The action of thiol oxidants on the in vitro biosynthesised and microsomally processed prolactin were both dose-dependent and catalytic; non-thiol oxidants such as NAD+ and NADP+ were ineffective. Examination of the time course of addition of oxidised glutathione to translating lysates showed that efficient and correct disulphide pairing in newly biosynthesised prolactin occurred when the oxidant was present co-translationally, but much lower yields of correctly disulphide-bonded prolactin were obtained when the oxidant was added after translation and processing were complete. The presence of protein-disulphide isomerase in dog pancreatic microsomes, employed in the in vitro translation system to process preprolactin, was demonstrated by (a) two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the membrane proteins, and (b) enzymic activity to accelerate reactivation of scrambled ribonuclease. Protein-disulphide isomerase activity was latent in intact microsomal vesicles, full activity being expressed upon sonication. A procedure has been devised to prepare pancreatic microsomal vesicles depleted of protein-disulphide isomerase which are active in processing and segregating in vitro biosynthesised prolactin. These membranes in the presence of low concentrations of oxidised glutathione are less active but in the presence of saturating levels of oxidised glutathione are fully competent in forming correct disulphide bridges in newly synthesised prolactin.     

Studies on the biosynthesis, assembly and secretion of vitellogenin, an oestrogen-induced multicomponent protein.

1. The process by which the egg-yolk protein precursor vitellogenin is biosynthesized, assembled and secreted by Xenopus laevis (South African clawed toad) liver was studied. It was previously shown in other laboratories that vitellogenin contains the two egg-yolk proteins lipovitellin (mol.wt. 140 000) and phosvitin (mol.wt. 35 000). 2. Evidence is presented which shows that Xenopus liver microsomal fractions synthesize precursors of vitellogenin. These precursors were solubilized from the membranes with detergent and analysed by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. This analysis indicated that there is only one precursor polypeptide, and this has mol.wt. approx. 200 000 +/- 20 000. This demonstrates that the egg-yolk proteins are translated as part of this larger polypeptide. 3. Experiments also demonstrate the existence of a microsomal proteinase which is able to cleave the precursor into smaller fragments. The nature of these fragments provided some indirect evidence that phosvitin and lipovitellin light chains are situated together within the precursor molecule. 4. These precursor data fit in well with structural studies on serum vitellogenin, since it has been shown that the latter protein consists of two identical subunits each with a mobility on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide gels identical with that shown by the microsomal precursor. This indicates that both the intracellular precursor and subunit of vitellogenin have similar (but not necessarily identical) molecular weights. 5. It was also shown that trypsin or chymotrypsin can cleave the serum vitellogenin into leucine- and serine-rich fragments which resemble lipovitellin and phosvitin respectively. Attention is, however, drawn to the fact that the serine-rich fragment is not identical with phosvitin, since it contains eight times more leucine than that expected for the authentic phosvitin molecule [Penning (1976) Ph.D. Thesis, University of Southampton].     

The subunit structure of jack-bean urease

1. Urease of specific activity 160-180 Sumner units/g. (Sumner, 1951) was purified from jack-bean meal. The preparation was pure on the basis of polyacryl-amide-gel electrophoresis and N-terminal studies. 2. By using both the 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene method and the phenyl isothiocyanate method a single N-terminal methionine residue was found. 3. A single C-terminal sequence -Tyr-Leu-Phe was found by studies with carboxypeptidase A, carboxypeptidase B and hydrazinolysis. 4. N-Bromosuccinimide cleavage showed that five unique tryptophan sequences were present: Trp-Ala, Trp-Glu, Trp-Gly, Trp-Met and Trp-Arg. 5. Polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulphate showed that urease had a subunit molecular weight of 76000. 6. The yield of N- and C-terminal amino acids, the number of tryptic peptides and tryptophan sequences and the above polyacrylamide-gel electrophoretic measurement all suggest that urease contains a single structural subunit of molecular weight 75000.     

Structural properties of homogeneous protein disulphide-isomerase from bovine liver purified by a rapid high-yielding procedure.

Protein disulphide-isomerase from bovine liver was purified to homogeneity as judged by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, two-dimensional electrophoresis and N-terminal amino acid analysis. The preparative procedure, a modification of that of Carmichael, Morin & Dixon [(1977) J. Biol. Chem. 252, 7163-7167], is much faster and higher-yielding than previous procedures, and the final purified material is of higher specific activity. The enzyme has Mr 57 000 as determined by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, both in the presence and in the absence of thiol compounds. Gel-filtration studies on Sephadex G-200 indicate an Mr of 107 000, suggesting that the native enzyme is a homodimer with no interchain disulphide bonds. Ultracentrifugation studies give a sedimentation coefficient of 3.5S, implying that the enzyme sediments as the monomer. The isoelectric point, in the presence of 8 M-urea, is 4.2, and some microheterogeneity is detectable. The amino acid composition is comparable with previous analyses of this enzyme from bovine liver and of other preparations of thiol:protein disulphide oxidoreductases whose relation to protein disulphide-isomerase has been controversial. The enzyme contains a very high proportion of Glx + Asx residues (27%). The N-terminal residue is His. The pure enzyme has a very small carbohydrate content, determined as 0.5-1.0% by the phenol/H2SO4 assay. Unless specific steps are taken to remove it, the purified enzyme contains a small amount (5 mol/mol of enzyme) of Triton X-100 carried through the purification.     

Purification of the enzyme NADPH: protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase.

A procedure for the purification of the enzyme NADPH:protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase is described. This involves fractionation of sonicated oat etioplast membranes by discontinuous-sucrose-density-gradient centrifugation, which gives membranes in which the enzyme is present at a high specific activity. The enzyme is solubilized from the membranes with Triton X-100, followed by gel filtration of the extract; enzyme activity is eluted in fractions corresponding to a mol.wt of approx. 35000. Sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis of the enzyme-containing fractions from gel filtration shows two peptides, of mol.wts. approx. 35000 and 37000.     

Characteristics of a copper-dependent cross-linking reaction between two forms of cytochrome P-450 in rabbit-liver microsomal membranes.

alpha-Lactalbumin was purified to apparent homogeneity from mouse milk by combined use of gel filtration, chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and hydroxyapatite, and concanavalin A-Sepharose affinity chromatography. Mouse alpha-lactalbumin exists in several species with different charges and in two molecular-size forms. The smaller form, which constituted over 90% of total alpha-lactalbumin, included two major and two minor species, each of which showed different electrophoretic mobility on polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, but gave the same single band on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis in two different buffer systems and over the range 10-15% acrylamide concentrations. The molecular weight was estimated as 14 100. The two major species of the smaller form had the same amino acid composition and contained no significant amount of carbohydrate. The larger form of alpha-lactalbumin, consisting of two species with different charges, was present in a small amount (less than 10%) in the milk and was isolated by its ability to interact with concanavalin A-Sepharose. Each of the two species also gave the same single band of apparent mol.w.t 18 500 on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. However, this value may be anomalous, since this larger form appears to be glycosylated, and glycoproteins can behave anomalously on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide gels by binding less sodium dodecyl sulphate. All species of mouse alpha-lactalbumin from milk were active in the lactose synthase reaction and showed identical immunological properties, as determined by the mono-specific antibody prepared against the small major species. The presence of both the larger and the smaller forms, each in a percentage concentration similar to that found in milk, was also demonstrated in alpha-lactalbumin induced by hormones in organ cultureof pregnant-mouse mammary gland.     

Identification of three antigens in human brain associated with similar antigens on human leukaemic cells.

Monoclonal antibodies prepared against a non-T and non-B acute-lymphocytic-leukaemia cell line were tested for reactivity against human brain tissue. Several of the monoclonal antibodies were found to react specifically with brain fractions. Three antigens, 44H4, 44D7 and 44D10, were identified in white matter. Although 44D10 was absent from grey matter, the levels of 44H4 and 44D7 antigens present in grey matter were 2- and 4-fold higher respectively than in white matter. Fractionation of white matter indicated that all three antigens were absent from the multilamellar compact myelin, but associated with a membrane fraction of higher density. All three antigens, which required detergent for solubilization from the membranes, were purified by affinity to monoclonal antibodies and/or were analysed by immunoblotting. The 44H4 and 44D10 antigens were single polypeptide chains with Mr 94000 and 80000 respectively when resolved by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. Monoclonal antibody 44D7 reacted with a complex of a Mr greater than 120000 under non-reducing conditions in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate. This complex dissociated on reduction into four bands with Mr values of 80000, 57000, 47000 and 41000. The brain antigens are present on proteins similar to, or identical with, those isolated from acute-lymphocytic-leukaemia cells.     

Membranes of chromaffin granules. Isolation and partial characterization of two proteins

Membranes of chromaffin granules were isolated from the adrenal glands of four different species. The solubilized membrane proteins could be resolved into several bands by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis (alkaline and acid gel systems). Two major protein components appeared to be common to the chromaffin granule membranes of ox, horse, pig and man. The various membrane proteins of bovine chromaffin granules were separated by filtration on Sephadex G-200 in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate. Two major membrane proteins (A and B) were obtained in purified form. Treatment of protein A with 2-mercaptoethanol before electrophoresis resulted in two more rapidly migrating subunits, whereas protein B was unaffected by mercaptoethanol treatment. The amino acid compositions of the two purified proteins were determined. They are very similar to that of the total membrane proteins but significantly different from that of the chromogranins, the soluble proteins of chromaffin granules.     

Co-purification of galactosyltransferases from chick-embryo liver.

Two galactosyltransferases with nearly identical Mr values were purified 5000-7000-fold from microsomal membranes of chick-embryo livers by using several affinity columns. One enzyme transfers galactose from UDP-galactose to form a beta-(1----4)-linkage to GlcNAc (N-acetylglucosamine) or AsAgAGP [asialo-agalacto-(alpha 1-acid glycoprotein)]. The other enzyme forms a beta-(1----3)-linkage to AsOSM [asialo-(ovine submaxillary mucin)]. Both enzymes were solubilized (85%) from a microsomal pellet by using 1% Triton X-100 in 0.1 M-NaCl. The supernatant activities were subjected to DEAE-Sepharose chromatography and four affinity columns: UDP-hexanolamine-Sepharose, alpha-lactalbumin-Sepharose, GlcNAc-Sepharose and either AsAgAGP-Sepharose or AsOSM-Sepharose. The AsAgAGP enzyme [(1----4)-transferase] and the AsOSM enzyme [(1----3)-transferase] behave identically on the DEAE-Sepharose and UDP-hexanolamine-Sepharose columns, and similarly on the alpha-lactalbumin-Sepharose column. Final separation of the two enzymes, however, could only be achieved on affinity columns of their immobilized respective acceptors. Both purified enzymes migrate as a single band on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis after silver staining, and both have an apparent Mr of 68 000. The enzymes were radioiodinated and again subjected to sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. Radioautographic analyses showed only one, intensely radioactive, band. Activity stains performed for both transferases after cellulose acetate electrophoresis indicate that, with this system too, both activities have identical mobilities, and co-migrate, as well, with the major, silver-stained, protein band. Kinetic studies with the purified enzymes show that the Km value for GlcNAc, for the (1----4)-transferase, is 4mM; for the (1----3)-transferase the Km value for AsOSM is 5mM, in terms of GalNAc (N-acetylgalactosamine) equivalents. Both enzymes have a Km value of 25 microM for UDP-galactose.