Primary structure of rabbit sperm protamine, the first protamine of its type with an aberrant N-terminal |
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Authors: | H Ammer A Henschen |
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Institution: | Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, Martinsried, FRG. |
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Abstract: | Rabbit protamine was extracted from S-(pyridylethylated) sperm cell nuclei with hydrochloric acid and then isolated by reversed-phase HPLC. The primary structure was determined by amino acid sequence analysis of the total protein and of fragments obtained by digestion with endoproteinase Lys-C and thermolysin. The protamine contains 49 amino acid residues and is clearly homologous with mammalian type 1 protamines, 47% of the positions being invariant. Surprisingly, rabbit protamine possesses an N-terminal valine residue, whereas all mammalian and several non-mammalian protamine sequences of this type start with alanine, the N-terminal region being remarkably conserved during evolution. |
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