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K W Cheng

Publications and source records attributed to K W Cheng.

71 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Purification and properties of bovine pituitary follitropin.

A reproducible procedure was developed for the purification of follitropin from frozen bovine pituitary glands. The method involved precipitation with (NH4)2SO4 and acetone, followed by ion-exchange column chromatography on CM-cellulose and DEAE-cellulose and gel filtration on Sephadex G-100. A specific radioligand-receptor assay for follitropin was used to locate the activity in eluates after column chromatography and gel filtration. The potency of the highly purified bovine follitropin as measured by Steelman-Pohley bioassay was 164 times that of NIH-FSH-S1 standard preparation. They yield of bovine follitropin was 2.9 mg/kg of frozen pituitary glands. Electrophoretically, bovine follitropin was more acidic in nature and migrated further towards the anode than lutropin and thyrotropin. The elution volume of bovine follitropin by gel filtration on Sephadex G-100 was very similar to that of bovine lutropin. The amino acid composition of bovine follitropin was similar to that of sheep and human follitropin, being rich in lysine, aspartic acid, threonine, serine, glutamic acid and half-cystine.

Amino Acids↗

Carboxymethylation of methionine residues in bovine pituitary luteinizing hormone and its subunits. Effects on the binding activity with receptor sites and interactions between subunits.

The reaction of iodoacetic acid with bovine lutropin (luteinizing hormone) at pH 3.0 was specific for methionine residues; it was slow and reached its equilibrium after 12 h at 37 degrees C. The number of modified methionine residues increased proportionately with the amount of the alkylating reagent in the reaction mixture. In the presence of a 20-fold molar excess of iodoacetic acid with respect to methionine, essentially all methionine residues in both subunits of bovine lutropin were carboxymethylated. Studies of various recombinations of modified and native alpha and beta subunits showed that methionine residues in bovine lutropin were not essential for interactions between subunits. Various recombinants were characterized by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and gel filtration of Sephadex G-100. Immunological cross-reactivity by radioimmunoassay of the recombinants of modified alpha and beta subunits was relatively similar to that of the native subunits. However, the biological activity measured by receptor-site binding of the recombinants of alpha and beta chains with a total of three alkylated methionine residues was less than 5% of the activity of native lutropin. It is noteworthy that recombinants of a modified subunit and a native counterpart subunit regenerated 20-30 % of biological activity. These findings suggested that at least 1-2 methionine residues in each subunit are involved in the hormone-receptor interaction for bovine lutropin.

Amino Acids↗

Carboxymethylation of methionine residues in bovine pituitary luteinizing hormone and its subunits. Location of specifically modified methionine residues.

Bovine lutropin (luteinizing hormone) was carboxymethylated at pH3.0 for 12 h at 37 degrees C with iodoacetic acid for specific modification of methionine residues. To facilitate the location of preferentially modified methionine residues, iodoE114C]acetic acid was added as tracer. The alpha and beta subunits of bovine lutropin were carboxymethylated with a 2- or 5-fold molar excess of iodoacetic acid either in the presence or absence of their counterpart subunits. The modified subunits were separated and isolated by counter-current distribution followed by gel filtration on Sephadex G-100. To locate the modified methiones, the isolated alpha or beta chain was reduced. S-carboxymethylated and subjected to tryptic hydrolysis. The tryptic peptides were fractionated by gel filtration on Bio-Gel P-10. From analyses of the purified 14C-labelled tryptic peptides, it was observed that methionine-8 and -33 in bovine lutropin alpha chain and methionine-52 in the beta chain were preferentially modified. Similar results were obtained when isolated alpha and beta subunits were individually carboxymethylated in the absence of their counterpart subunit under identical conditions. The fact that a recombinant of native human lutropin alpha chain, in which a valine residue is present in the position corresponding to methionine-8 of bovine lutropin alpha chain, and carboxymethylated bovine lutropin beta chain regenerated a substantial amount of receptor-site-binding activity indicated that methionine-8 in bovine alpha chain was biologically not essential. These studies showed clearly that both methionine-33 in the alpha chain and methionine-52 in the beta subunit were involved for optimum binding between bovine lutropin and its receptors for expression of hormonal activity.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Changes in rat ovaries of specific binding for LH, FSH and prolactin during the oestrous cycle and pregnancy.

In cyclic rats, the highest ovarian specific binding for LH was 6-0+/- 2-2% inpro-oestrus. During pregnancy, the specific binding of 125I-labelled bovine LH by rat ovaries increased gradually and reached a maximum of 24-1+/-4-9% between Days 14 and 18 of gestation; a slight decrease in binding was observed at Day 20 of pregnancy. Ovarian specific binding for FSH was also highest in pro-oestrus (8-9+/-2-1%), decreasing to about 50% in oestrus and metoestrus, but staying relatively constant during pregnancy. For prolactin, the specific binding in rat ovaries was highest (7-1+/-1-6%) in pro-oestrus, quite high in metoestrus and dioestrus and low in oestrus. Specific binding increased gradually only after Day 14 of pregnancy. Serum concentrations of rat LH, FSH and prolactin at different stages of the oestrous cycle and during pregnancy were determined by radioimmunoassays, and no obvious correlation was observed between levels of circulating hormones and the specific binding of these hormones in ovarian tissues. Affinity constants (Ka) for the hormones were very similar between ovaries from pro-oestrous rats and late-pregnant rats, being 0-31 X 10(9) M-1 for LH, 0-65 X 10(10)M-1 for FSH, and 1-14 X 10(10)M-1 for prolactin. Increases in specific binding for different hormones were due to increases of total binding sites in the ovary under different physiological states.

Animals↗

Properties of follicle-stimulating-hormone receptor in cell membranes of bovine testis.

A simple method for preparing plasma membranes from bovine testes is described. Bovine testicular receptor has a high affinity and specificity for 125I-labelled human FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone). The specific binding of 125I-labelled human FSH to the plasma membranes is a saturable process with respect to the amounts of receptor protein and FSH added. The association and dissociation of 125I-labelled human FSH are time- and temperature-dependent, and the binding of labelled human FSH to bovine testicular receptor is strong and not readily reversible. Scatchard [Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. (1949) 51, 660-672] analysis indicates a dissociation constant, Kd, of 9.8 X10(-11)M, and 5.9 X 10(-14)mol of binding sites/mg of membrane protein. The testicular membrane receptor is heat-labile. Preheating at 40 degrees C for 15 min destroyed 30% of the binding activity. Specific binding is pH-dependent, with an optimum between pH 7.0 and 7.5. Brief exposure to extremes of pH caused irreversible damage to the receptors. The ionic strength of the incubation medium markedly affects the association of 125I-labelled human FSH with its testicular receptor. Various cations at concentrations of 0.1M inhibit almost completely the binding of 125I-labelled human FSH. Nuclectides and steroid hormones at concentrations of 1mM and 5mu/ml respectively have no effect on the binding of FSH to its receptor. Incubation of membranes with and chymotrypsin resulted in an almost complete loss of binding activity, suggesting that protein moieties are essential for the binding of 125I-labelled human FSH. Binding of 125I-labelled human FSH to bovine testicular receptor does not result in destruction or degradation of the hormone.

Animals↗

A radioreceptor assay for follicle-stimulating hormone.

A highly specific and sensitive radioreceptor assay for FSH has been developed, using partially purified plasma membranes from bovine testes. Highly purifed hFSH was radioiodinated by the lactoperoxidase method. The limit of detection of purified hFSH was 1 ng/ml on the basis of 2 times standard deviation of the zero value. The assay was applicable for measurements of FSH in serum; however, the sensitivity decreased slightly to 2.5 ng/ml. The precision of the assay was less than +/- 10% within-assays and +/- 15% between-assays as expressed by the coefficient of variation. The assay was highly specific for FSH of various species. Slight inhibition of uptake of 125I-hFSH was observed with LH and TSH; but no competition was seen with 10,000 ng/ml of insulin, prolactin, hGH, hCG, and subunits of LH. Purified hFSH (LER-1575C) was measured to be 200 times the potency of the reference FSH/LH (LER-907); and purified ovine FSH (LER-1491) and rat FSH (FSH-I-1) were estimated to be 35 times and 71 times that of oFSH-S-1 (NIH), respectively. The content of FSH in human pituitary was estimated to be 226.8 +/- 118.8 mIU/mg, and the index of discrimination (radioimmunoassay/radioreceptor assay) for pituitary FSH was demonstrated to be 1.71 +/- 0.49. For measurements of serum hFSH, the index of discrimination (radioimmunoassay/radioreceptor assay) was demonstrated to be 1.08 +/- 0.20.

Animals↗