Electrophoretic fractions and immunological activities of the soluble proteins from the peripheral and central nervous tissues

Abstract

Water-soluble and acid-soluble proteins were extracted successively with deionized water and dilute hydrochloric acid from the tissue residues of the peripheral nervous tissue (sciatic nerve) and the cerebral white matter of bovine, which had been preliminarily defatted with chloroform-methanol (2:1) mixture and acetone.1) The water-soluble proteins extracted from the peripheral nervous tissue mainly consisted of the fraction which corresponded in electrophoretic mobility to serum albumin, while, those from the central nervous tissue consisted of three fractions which corresponded to serum albumin and α- and β-globulins.2) The two components of the acid-soluble proteins from the peripheral nervous tissue were arbitrarily designated as L and N fractions. The electrophoretic mobilities of the L and N fractions corresponded to those of egg white lysozyme and serum albumin, respectively. The major part of the acid-soluble proteins from the cerebral white matter was arbitrarily designated as M fraction, which located in the midpoint between L and N fractions in the disc electrophoresis carried out at pH 4.2, but close to the L fraction in the thin layer polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis at pH 8.2.3) The L and N fractions of the peripheral nervous tissue and the M fraction of the cerebral white matter could be appreciably purified by ion exchange chromatography. Immunological activities of these fractions were estimated according to the severity of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) and neuritis (EAN) induced in experimental animals. The M fraction showed a high potency of EAE induction, while, the L and N fractions showed a low potency.The N fraction actively produced the antibody, which was detectable by the double diffusion test. Antibodies against the L and M fractions were not proven by the double diffusion test, but by the complement fixation test.