Dodecyl Sulfate Electrophoresis Research Articles

ELECTROPHORETIC SEPARATION OF PROTEINS AND THEIR AMINO ACID COMPOSITION IN RAW AND PROCESSED POTATOES

Potato tubers had 1.67% N/dry mutter. Nitrogen was distributed in all anatomical regions of the tuber. Of the total N content, 43% was dialyzable-N and 32.9% true protein-N. The protein, by solubility fractionation, provided 61% albumin, 23% globulin, 1.4% prolamin and 9% glutelins. As revealed by sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), the albumin had two major protein species, one of 45 X 18, the second of 12-25 X 18 daltons. Prolamin and glutelins contained protein bands coinciding in molecular weight with those of albumin and globulin. Protein hydrolysis with 4 N methanesulfonic acid was superior to that of 6 N HC1. Amino acid composition of proteins was determined by ion-exchange column chromatography. Some minor losses in protein composition of potatoes occurred during processing.

Interferon removes its own receptors as it blocks the division of Daudi cells.

The Burkitt-derived line, Daudi, whose proliferation is inhibited by human alpha-interferon (IFN-alpha), was treated with 125I-labelled recombinant human IFN-alpha A. After separation from unbound ligand, cell-bound IFN was extracted with the detergent digitonin yielding soluble and insoluble complexes of IFN and receptor, together with a certain amount of uncomplexed IFN. 1. Soluble complexes were stable enough to be separated from uncomplexed IFN by permeation chromatography. Treatment of soluble complexes with the bifunctional reagent, disuccinimidyl suberate, yielded a radioactive product separating with an Mr of 130,000 on electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulphate. Similar complexes could be recovered with sodium dodecyl sulphate from the digitonin-insoluble residue, treated with the bi-functional reagent. 2. The total (soluble and insoluble) of complexed IFN obtained after digitonin extraction was a constant fraction (0.62) of the total cell-bound radioactivity, being independent of the concentration of IFN added to the cells (less than pM to greater than nM), and of the time of incubation (1 min to 20 h). However, between 30 min and 3 h of incubation, the insoluble complex increased, at the expense of the soluble complex, and there appeared a cellular pool of degraded ligand. From 3 h to 20 h the distribution of ligand-derived radioactivity remained constant while the total amount decreased to less than 10% of its value at 30 min. This decrease in binding was matched by the appearance of an equivalent quantity of radiolabelled fragments in the culture medium. 3. The inhibition of cellular division due to IFN was shown to be coincident with the disappearance of cellular binding and with the cell-mediated degradation of receptor-complexed IFN. We propose that IFN removes its own receptor and, in doing so, blocks a linked function necessary for the stimulated growth of Daudi cells.

RECOGNITION OF TWO EPITOPES OF AN ANTIGEN PRESENT ON CANINE T CELLS BUT NOT ON HEMOPOIETIC PROGENITORS BY FOUR MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES

Pairs of murine monoclonal antibodies, which recognize 2 different epitopes on a single antigen are described. These antibodies (MdT-P1, -P2, -Q1, -Q2) defining a canine pan-T cell antigen, were raised against dog thymocytes. In immunoblotting of solubilized and polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS-PAGE) fractionated dog thymocytes, they revealed a strong heterogeneous antigen. Competitive inhibition of binding of directly labeled mouse-antidog T lymphocytes monoclonal antibodies (MdT-mAbs) to solubilized dog thymocytes indicates that 2 different antigenic epitopes (P, Q) are recognized. In indirect peroxidase immunocytochemistry, MdT monoclonal antibodies recognized up to 95% thymocytes, 69% blood lymphocytes, 76% lymph node lymphocytes, and approximately 2% bone marrow lymphocytes; they were nonreactive with surface immunoglobulin positive blood cells, monocytes, platelets, cells of myelo- and erythropoietic lineage in the bone marrow. Immunohistochemistry on thymus, lymph nodes, and spleen sections revealed that MdT-mAbs had labeled cortical and medullary thymocytes, paracortical T cell areas in lymph nodes and the periarteriolar zone of spleen white pulp, whereas B cell areas remained unstained. The antibodies lysed dog thymocytes in the presence of complement. Lethally irradiated dog receiving bone marrow autograft depleted of MdT-P1 positive cells ex vivo showed engraftment and complete recovery of marrow function. Studies of antibody activity on canine hemopoietic progenitor cells in granulocyte-macrophage progenitors (CFUGM) also showed no reduction of CFUGM in MdT-P1-depleted bone marrow.

An improved purification procedure and properties of casein kinase II from brain.

A simple and short purification procedure applicable to casein kinase II has been developed, for fully characterizing the enzyme from calf cerebral cortex cytosol. The procedure consists of four chromatographic steps: DEAE-cellulose, phosphocellulose, phosvitin-Sepharose and ATP-agarose which yields 87% pure casein kinase II. The purified enzyme shows three major bands with apparent molecular masses of 42, 38, and 27 kDa by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate and is self-autophosphorylated on its 27 kDa polypeptide. The enzyme shows all the characteristics described for casein kinase II from other sources: it is independent of cyclic nucleotides, calcium/phospholipids, and double-stranded poly(I).poly(C); it can utilize both ATP and GTP as phosphoryl donors and can phosphorylate both casein and phosvitin but not histone. The kinetic studies establish that the Km for ATP is 12.5 microM and 25.1 microM when using phosvitin and casein respectively as phosphoryl acceptors. The Km for phosvitin is 0.91 mg/ml and for casein 1.43 mg/ml, while the Vmax is 315 nmol/min/per mg protein and 479 nmol/min/per mg protein for phosvitin and casein respectively. The activity of the kinase is highly stimulated by KCl or NaCl, and almost completely inhibited by heparin concentrations of 1 microgram/ml (92%). This inhibition is reduced to only 33% in the presence of optimal KCl concentrations (150 mM). Spermine stimulates enzyme activity, whilst hemin produces a slight inhibition.

Evidence that subunits of type A botulinum toxin need not be linked by disufide

Type A neurotoxin of Clostridium botulinum strain 62A was purified by a modification of the procedure of Tse et al (1982). Electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate - polyacrylamide gels (SDS - PAGE) indicated the mol. wt of the intact dichain molecule is 140,000 and that of its L subunit is 52,000, both expected from published values. However the mol. wt of 83,000 for the H subunit was lower than the mol. wt of 97,000 in the literature. The purified toxin separated in SDS - PAGE into H and L subunits when pretreated with 2-mercaptoethanol but it unexpectedly behaved similarly without the pretreatment. Specific toxicity (∼3 × 10 8 mouse ld 50/mg protein) was not affected by the spontaneous molecular change that made dissociation into subunits possible. The subunits of dichain botulinum toxins are believed to be covalently joined by intersubunit disulfide(s) since they have been demonstrated only when samples are treated with 2-mercaptoethanol or dithiothreitol. Since it is not always needed, the pretreatment is apparently not reducing a disulfide that connects the subunits. The strong chelating activity also possessed by the pretreating agents suggest that the subunits may be joined by a metallic divalent cation.

Properties and functions of two succinic-semialdehyde dehydrogenases from Pseudomonas putida

Two forms of succinic-semialdehyde dehydrogenase have been isolated in Pseudomonas putida. The two enzymes could be separated by filtration on Sephacryl S-300 and their apparent molecular weights were approx. 200 000 and 100 000. The smaller enzyme, which is induced by growth on 4-hydroxyphenylacetate, has been purified to 88% homogeneity by anion-exchange and affinity chromatography. Electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulphate gave rise to a molecular weight of 53 000, indicating that the native enzyme is dimeric. Under standard assay conditions this enzyme acts preferentially with NAD but reduces NADP at 9% of the rate observed for NAD. The large enzyme, which is dependent on NADP, is induced by growth on putrescine and its induction is highly coordinated with putrescine:2-oxoglutarate transaminase, γ-aminobutyraldehyde dehydrogenase and γ-aminobutyrate: 2-oxoglutarate transaminase activities. Activity and stability conditions and true K m values for substrate and cosubstrates of the two enzymes were determined.

Purification to homogeneity and biochemical characterization of two suppressor factors from human malignant T-cells

A cell clone (GI-CO-T-9) derived from a long term T-cell culture (PF-382), established from a patient affected by acute T-lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), was selected for the presence in the culture medium of factors suppressing T-cell proliferation. The crude supernatant has been subjected to a multi-step chromatographic fractioning, including: preparative gel permeation, anion exchange, and hydrophobic interaction High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The highly purified material was characterized by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS-PAGE), revealing single bands of 115 Kd and 80 Kd. The isoelectric points (pI), determined by flat-bed isoelectricfocusing, were 7.4 for High Molecular Weight Suppressor Factor (HMWSF) and 3.5–3.6 for Low Molecular Weight Suppressor Factor (LMWSF).

A novel microtubule protein in the marginal band of human blood platelets.

A characterization is reported of the major cytoskeletal protein, called IEF (isoelectric focusing)-51K, of marginal band microtubule coils from human blood platelets (Kenney, D. M. and Linck, R. W. (1985) J. Cell Sci. 78, 1-22). IEF-51K is a unique biochemical species which is distinguishable from platelet and mammalian neuronal alpha-tubulin and beta-tubulin by 1) its faster mobility on discontinuous sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis corresponding to an apparent Mr 51,000; 2) its more alkaline relative isoelectric point at pH 5.7 compared with that of alpha- and beta-tubulin at pH 5.3 and 5.5, respectively; 3) lack of coincidence in peptide maps prepared with chymotrypsin or Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease; and 4) lack of immunochemical cross-reactivity of polyclonal anti-IEF-51K with alpha- and beta-tubulin and of monoclonal anti-alpha-tubulin and anti-beta-tubulin with IEF-51K. In contrast to its chemical uniqueness, IEF-51K is tubulin-like in some of its properties. IEF-51K is localized in the marginal band of intact platelets by immunofluorescence; it undergoes cycles of microtubule disassembly/reassembly both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, IEF-51K was not extracted from isolated Taxol-stabilized marginal band microtubules by elevated NaCl concentrations (to 0.45 M), conditions that do not disrupt the polymeric structure of alpha- and beta-tubulin. These results indicate that IEF-51K together with alpha-tubulin and beta-tubulin are the major structural polypeptides of platelet marginal band microtubules. The unusual subunit composition of the platelet marginal band microtubule may be related to specialization(s) of microtubule structure and function in the marginal band coil of platelets.

Purification, properties, and evidence for two subtypes of human placenta hexokinase type I

In human placenta 85% of total hexokinase activity (EC 2.7.1.1) was found in a soluble form. Of this, 70% is hexokinase type I while the remaining 30% is hexokinase type II. All the bound hexokinase is type I. Soluble hexokinase I was purified 11,000-fold by a combination of ion-exchange chromatography, affinity chromatography, and dye-ligand chromatography. The specific activity was 190 units/mg protein with a 75% yield. The enzyme shows only one band in nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis that stains for protein and enzymatic activity; however, two components (with M r 112,000 and 103,000) were constantly seen in sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis. Many attempts were made to separate these two proteins under native conditions; however, only one peak of activity was obtained when the enzyme was submitted to gel filtration ( M r 118,000), preparative isoelectric focusing (p I5.9), anion-exchange chromatography, hydroxylapatite chromatography, and affinity chromatography on immobilized dyes and immobilized glucosamine. The high and low molecular weight hexokinases show the same isoelectric point under denaturing conditions as determined by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Each hexokinase subtype was obtained by preparative sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis followed by electroelution. Monospecific antibodies raised in rabbits against electroeluted high and low molecular weight hexokinases were not able to recognize the native enzymes but each of them detected both hexokinases on immunoblots. Amino acid compositions and peptide mapping by limited proteolysis of the high and low molecular weight hexokinases were also performed and suggested a strong homology between these two subtypes of human hexokinase I.

Purification and partial characterization of the Mr 30,000 integral membrane protein associated with the erythrocyte Rh(D) antigen.

Erythrocytes bearing the Rh(D) antigen have an Mr 30,000 integral membrane protein which can be surface-labeled with 125I and can be quantitatively immunoprecipitated from Triton X-100-solubilized spectrin-depleted membrane vesicles. The 125I-labeled Rh(D)-associated protein was purified to radiochemical homogeneity from membrane skeletons solubilized in sodium dodecyl sulfate and urea by hydroxylapatite chromatography, gel filtration, and preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The Rh(D)-associated protein was purified nearly 200-fold from 2 units of erythrocytes from DD individuals by employing similar methods on a large scale using the purified 125I-labeled Rh(D)-associated protein as a tracer. The product appeared to be greater than 95% pure and migrated as a diffuse band of Mr approximately 30,000-32,000 on silver-stained sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis gels poured from 12% acrylamide. It is estimated that the Rh(D)-associated protein makes up approximately 0.5% of the original membrane protein. When concentrated, partially purified Rh(D)-associated protein forms dimers and larger oligomers which are stable in sodium dodecyl sulfate and urea. The Rh(D)-associated protein was protected from degradation when intact erythrocytes or inside out membrane vesicles were enzymatically digested. These studies indicate that the Mr 30,000 protein associated with the Rh(D) antigen is linked to the membrane skeleton, resides within the lipid bilayer with minimal extra- or intracellular protrusions, exists normally as an oligomer, and can be purified in denatured form.

Covalent cross-linking of thyrotropin to its receptor on cloned hybrid human thyroid cells (GEJ).

Purification of the TSH binding sites from cloned human thyroid hybrid cells (GEJ) was performed after biosynthetic labeling of the cells, and affinity chromatography on a human TSH-Sepharose column and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate. The relative Mr of the GEJ cell TSH receptor (TSH-R) was found to be approximately 48,000. This was confirmed by cross-linking [125I]TSH to GEJ binding sites with two homobifunctional agents: dimethyl suberimidate and disuccinimidyl suberate. We found that the cross-linked complexes had a Mr of 78,000 thus yielding a TSH-R size of 48 kilodaltons, after subtraction of the 30 kilodalton TSH, based upon the cross-linking of one TSH molecule per binding site. Moreover, the absence of a dithiothreitol effect demonstrated that the TSH binding site on GEJ cells was formed by a single chain lacking disulfide bonds. Finally trypsinization of TSH/TSH-R complexes detected two tryptic sites yielding two fragments with respective Mr of approximately 2,000 and 15,000.

Purification and characterization of a neutral protease from rat-liver cytosolic fraction.

Rat liver cytosol contains a neutral protease which degrades acetylated hemoglobin and some urea-denatured proteins maximally at pH 7.5. The enzyme was purified to homogeneity by conventional chromatographic techniques. It appears to be a metalloprotease since it is inhibited by EDTA and o-phenanthroline, the metal-depleted enzyme can be reactivated by Co2+, Zn2+, Mn2+, or Mg2+, and it is not inhibited by reagents specific for carboxyl, seryl, or thiol proteases. The enzyme has an apparent molecular weight of 200,000 as determined on Sephacryl S-200 column chromatography, and electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate showed 3 protein bands corresponding to the molecular weights of 110,000, 74,000, and 40,000.

Lipopolysaccharide tightly bound to porin monomers and trimers from Escherichia coli K-12

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) bound to isolated porin was detected on polyacrylamide gels by using a carbohydrate-specific silver stain and on Western blots by using anti-lipid A monoclonal antibodies. Porin was isolated from Escherichia coli JF733 (Ra chemotype) and D21f2 (Re chemotype). Isolated porin was separated from loosely associated LPS by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Unheated porin traveled on gels as aggregates, presumably trimers, with an apparent molecular weight of 78,000 to 83,000. After heating to 100 degrees C for 2 min in SDS, the porin traveled as a monomer with a molecular weight of 36,000. The unheated, high-molecular-weight trimer band reacted in the gel with the carbohydrate-specific silver stain, while the heated monomer band showed no staining. In contrast, lipid A-specific monoclonal antibodies showed reactivity on Western blots to the 36,000-molecular-weight band but not to the trimer. Finally, both monomer and trimer bands were isolated from gels and rerun by SDS-PAGE. LPS was released from the trimer preparation when the sample was heated, but the monomer band that was formed by heating the trimer isolate still reacted with anti-lipid A antibodies. Quantitative Limulus amebocyte lysate analysis revealed an approximately equal molar ratio of LPS to protein in the electroeluted porin monomer. Thus, some but not all of the LPS could be released from trimer complexes by boiling in SDS. The isolated monomer did not release more LPS on boiling in SDS a second time but still had LPS tightly bound, as detected by lipid A-specific monoclonal antibodies.

Isolation and characterization of acetylcholinesterase from Drosophila.

The purification and characterization of acetylcholinesterase from heads of the fruit fly Drosophila are described. Sequential extraction procedures indicated that approximately 40% of the activity was soluble and 60% membrane-bound and that virtually none (less than 4%) corresponded to collagen-tailed forms. The membrane-bound enzyme was extracted with Triton X-100 and purified over 4000-fold by affinity chromatography on acridinium resin. Hydrodynamic analysis by both sucrose gradient centrifugation and chromatography on Sepharose CL-4B revealed an Mr of 165,000 similar to that observed for dimeric (G2) forms of the enzyme in mammalian tissues. In contrast, the purified enzyme gave predominant bands of about 100 kDa prior to disulfied reduction and 55 kDa after reduction on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate, values that are significantly lower than those reported for purified G2 enzymes from other species. However, the presence of a faint band at 70 kDa which could be labeled by [3H]diisopropyl fluorophosphate prior to denaturation suggested that the 55-kDa band as well as a 16-kDa species arose from proteolysis. This was confirmed by reductive radiomethylation and amine analysis of the 70-, 55-, and 16-kDa bands. All three contained ethanolamine and glucosamine residues that are characteristic of a C-terminal glycolipid anchor in other G2 acetylcholinesterases. The catalytic properties of the enzyme were examined by titration with a fluorogenic reagent which revealed a turnover number for acetylthiocholine that was 6-fold lower than eel and 3-fold lower than human erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase. Furthermore, the Drosophila enzyme hydrolyzed butyrylthiocholine much more efficiently than these eel or human enzymes, an indication that the fly head enzyme has a substrate specificity intermediate between mammalian acetylcholinesterases and butyrylcholinesterases.

Isolation and catalytic activity of cytochrome P-450 from ventral prostate of control rats.

5 alpha-Androstane-3 beta, 17 beta-diol hydroxylase (3 beta-diol hydroxylase), a form of cytochrome P-450, was purified from rat ventral prostate, and its regulation as a function of age and 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) treatment was examined. Cytochrome P-450 could be quantitated by its CO difference spectrum only after partial purification from the microsomal membrane, and this was achieved by chromatography on p-chloroamphetamine-coupled Sepharose. Further purification of prostate microsomal P-450 by anion exchange chromatography yielded a preparation with a P-450 content of 8-10 nmol/mg of protein, which upon sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis showed, in the molecular weight region between 50,000 and 60,000 where P-450 is expected to migrate, a single protein band of Mr 54,000. This preparation upon reconstitution with cytochrome P-450 reductase and microsomal lipid catalyzed the formation of three triols, 5 alpha-androstane-3 beta, 7 beta, 17 beta-triol, 5 alpha-androstane-3 beta, 6 alpha, 17 beta-triol, and 5 alpha-androstane-3 beta, 7 alpha, 17 beta-triol from 3 beta-diol in the ratio 1:7:3. Both turnover number and the ratio of the three products in the reconstituted system were similar to that found in prostate microsomes. These data indicate that a single form of P-450 catalyzes the formation of all three triols and that 3 beta-diol hydroxylase is the major, if not the only, form of P-450 in the prostate microsomes of untreated rats. The yield of P-450 from prostate microsomes varied as a function of age from a high level of 0.05 nmol/mg of microsomal protein in 6-week-old rats to 0.002 nmol/mg of microsomal protein in rats 11 weeks or older. 3 beta-Diol hydroxylase activity followed a similar age-related pattern varying between 2,000 and 4,000 nmol of triols formed/g of tissue/h in 6-week-old rats to 100 nmol of triols formed/g of tissue/h in 11-week-old rats. Treatment of 6-week-old rats with DHT did not prevent the age-related decrease in 3 beta-diol hydroxylase activity. However, DHT does play a role in the regulation of this enzyme since castration resulted in a loss of catalytic activity from the prostate and treatment of castrated rats with DHT caused an induction of the enzyme.

The gamma-aminobutyric-acid/benzodiazepine-receptor protein from rat brain. Large-scale purification and preparation of antibodies.

The gamma-aminobutyric-acid-receptor protein complex from rat brain was solubilized in high yield, purified in milligram amounts by benzodiazepine affinity chromatography and used to generate a high-titer rabbit antiserum. High concentrations of Triton X-100 detergent plus KCl solubilized about 90% of the membrane-bound gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor (assayed by [3H]muscimol binding) and benzodiazepine receptor (assayed by [3H]flunitrazepam binding) activities. Both activities were retained on an affinity column using an immobilized benzodiazepine ligand, and most of the column-absorbed receptor could be eluted by a solution of free benzodiazepine plus 4 M urea. The purified protein bound [3H]muscimol and [3H]flunitrazepam with receptor-like pharmacological specificity and specific activities of about 1700 pmol and 700 pmol bound/mg protein, respectively, for the two ligands. This corresponds to a purification of over 600-fold and a near theoretical purity, with a yield of milligram quantities from 100 g brain. Four peptide bands were observed on gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate, with molecular mass values of 31, 47, 52 and 57 kDa. The latter two were most significantly stained, and identified as receptor subunits by photolabeling with [3H]flunitrazepam (52 kDa) and [3H]muscimol (57 kDa), and by reaction on Western blots with monoclonal antibodies to this protein produced by Schoch et al. [(1985) Nature (Lond.) 314, 168-171]. Rabbit antiserum was raised to the purified protein and could, at high dilutions, both coprecipitate soluble gamma-aminobutyric-acid/benzodiazepine-receptor-binding activities and stain the receptor subunits (principally 52-kDa band) on Western blots.

Properties of thyrotropin receptor on cloned hybrid human thyroid cells.

Purification of the thyrotropin (TSH) binding sites from cloned human thyroid cells (GEJ) was performed after biosynthetic labelling of the cells, affinity chromatography on a human TSH-sepharose column and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulphate (PAGE-SDS). The relative molecular mass (Mr) of the GEJ cell TSH receptor (TSH-R) was approximately 48,000. This was confirmed by cross-linking [125I]TSH to GEJ binding sites with two homobifunctional agents: dimethyl suberimidate and disuccinimidyl suberate. Moreover, the absence of a dithiothreitol effect demonstrated that the TSH binding site on GEJ cells is formed by a single chain lacking disulphide bonds.

Purification of catalytic subunit of low density lipoprotein receptor kinase and identification of heat-stable activator protein.

Bovine adrenal cortex contains a high molecular weight casein kinase II-like enzyme (Mr 500,000) that phosphorylates a specific serine residue in the cytoplasmic domain of the low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor (Kishimoto, A., Brown, M. S., Slaughter, C. A., and Goldstein, J. L. (1987) J Biol. Chem. 262, 1344-1351). In the current paper, we provide evidence to suggest that this 500-kDa kinase can be dissociated into two subunits, a catalytic subunit and an activator subunit, by treatment with 1 M NaCl. The catalytic subunit was purified to homogeneity (greater than 100,000-fold) using affinity chromatography on GTP-agarose plus several other chromatography steps. It had an Mr of 50,000 by gel filtration and 35,000 by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate. The catalytic subunit phosphorylated casein actively, but it phosphorylated the LDL receptor with only low affinity. The affinity for the LDL receptor was increased 10-fold (saturation at 10 nM LDL receptor) by addition of a second protein that was released from a high molecular weight 500-kDa complex by 1 M NaCl. This activator protein (Mr 120,000 by gel filtration) was extremely heat stable but was destroyed by trypsin. It appeared to be required in stoichiometric amounts with relation to the LDL receptor. It did not increase the ability of the 50-kDa subunit to phosphorylate casein nor did it activate phosphorylation of the LDL receptor or casein by classic casein kinase II. The current data raise the possibility that the specificity of the 500-kDa LDL receptor kinase is attributable to a heat-stable activator subunit that binds to the LDL receptor and thereby renders it a better substrate for the catalytic subunit of the kinase.

Keratan sulfate proteoglycan in rabbit compact bone is bone sialoprotein II.

A keratan sulfate proteoglycan was isolated under denaturing conditions from the mineral compartment of rabbit cortical bone. This small proteoglycan (Kd = 0.39 on Superose 6, Mr approximately 20,000 on sodium dodecyl sulfate gels) contained small keratan sulfate chains that were distinctly bimodal in size. The keratanase and endo-beta-galactosidase digestible glycosaminoglycan chains were O-linked to a core protein of Mr approximately 80,000. This core protein had several properties in common with the bone sialoprotein II molecule of bovine and human bone including: a closely spaced doublet band on sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis gels; a high staining intensity with Stains All that was greatly diminished by neuraminidase; a significant amount of small O-linked oligosaccharides; and an amino-terminal amino acid sequence that was nearly identical to human bone sialoprotein II. (In contrast, bone sialoprotein II in human, bovine, and rat bone does not appear to have any keratan sulfate chains.) Antiserum made against the keratan sulfate proteoglycan reacted with its core protein on electrotransfers from sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels.

Two different Ca2+ transport systems are associated with plasma and intracellular human platelet membranes.

Platelet plasma and intracellular membrane fractions were isolated from a mixed membrane fraction after sucrose cushion centrifugation. Their previous identification through biochemical and immunological characterization is now confirmed by sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis of the membrane proteins which reveals a different protein profile. The two associated calcium transport systems showed a different time course and exhibited different oxalate sensitivity. The plasma membranes are not permeable to potassium oxalate but the Ca2+ uptake was stimulated by potassium oxalate in intracellular membranes. We then focused on the study of the plasma membrane-associated Ca2+-activated ATPase which shows the following characteristics: a linearity in the time course until 30 min, an apparent affinity toward calcium of about 10(-7) M without detectable inhibition at higher concentrations, a maximal activity at pH 8, a high ATP requirement because the maximal response was obtained with 200 microM, and a high specificity toward ATP as energy donor. Taken together, these studies indicate the possible involvement of both a plasma membrane and a dense tubular system Ca2+-ATPase in the regulation of Ca2+ concentration in human platelets.