Purification and primary sequences of the major arginine-containing antifreeze glycopeptides from the fish Eleginus gracilis

An Arg-containing antifreeze glycoprotein from the polar fish Eleginus gracilis was isolated, and the major components were purified to homogeneity. The general protocol for purification was chromatography of serum on DEAE-cellulose, followed by chromatography on a cation exchanger. DEAE-cellulose chromatography resulted in two fractions, A and B. Fraction A contained most of the antifreeze glycoprotein found in E. gracilis (approximately 80% by weight) and consisted of 13 distinct components. Unlike antifreeze glycoproteins from other previously studied polar fish, Fraction A contained both low and high molecular weight antifreeze glycoprotein components. The two major components of Fraction A were sequenced and compared with the sequence of antifreeze glycoproteins 7 and 8 from both Boreogadus saida and Pagothenia borchgrevinki. The antifreeze glycoproteins from E. gracilis were shown to have a similar composition to those previously studied, except for an additional Ala-Arg dipeptide at the carbon terminal in the major components of Fraction A and the position of Pro in the low molecular weight components. The activity of E. gracilis antifreeze glycoproteins is the subject of a companion article (Burcham, T. S., Osuga, D. T., Yeh, Y., and Feeney, R. E. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 6390-6397).