A rapid method, using octadecasilyl-silica, for the extraction of certain peptides from tissues.

Peptides can be recovered from tissues by homogenization in a carefully selected extraction medium followed by adsorption from the supernatant on a small bed of octadecasilyl-silica. Recoveries of corticotropins and somatostatin added to a variety of tissues were quantitative, and the peptides undamaged as determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography.     

Isolation and identification of epithelial-like cells in culture by a collagenase-separation technique.

An operational criterion for the identification and isolation of epithelial-like (E) cells, based on their ability to cover and protect a collagen gel from the action of collagenase, has been developed. The E cells isolated by this collagenase-separation technique (CST) exhibited the ultrastructural features, including desmosomes and abundant tonofilaments, that are considered characteristic of this cell type. Unlike confluent cultures of fibroblast-like (F) cells, E cells were not found to have large external transformation-sensitive (LETS) protein on their surface membranes. The CST provides a nondestructive and efficient means of identifying and isolating E cells from mixed populations.