Purification to Homogeneity of the Major «4S» PAH Binding Protein from «Non Responsive » DBA/2N Mouse Liver by Affinity Chromatography

DBA/2N is a genetically non responsive inbred strain of mice in which administration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) does not induce microsomal monooxygenase activity. DBA/2N mouse liver cytosol contains a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-binding protein that sediments, in a sucrose gradient, at 4S (« 4S » PAH-BP). Its binding kinetic and physicochemical properties indicate that this protein is practically indistinguishable from the « 4S » PAH-BP identified and characterized in liver cytosol of rats and other PAH responsive rodents including C57 B1/6J mice. « 4S » PAH-BP was purified to homogeneity from DBA/2N mouse liver by ammonium sulfate fractionation of the cytosol, followed by Sephadex G-200 chromatography and, finally, affinity chromatography using 1-aminopyrene-Sepharose 6B. This procedure yielded about 50 μg of protein from 50–60 g of mouse liver, with a recovery of 18%. «4S » PAH-BP as a complex with ³H-(benzo-a-pyrene) was more than 99% pure. A single band was seen on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under non denaturing conditions. H-BaP comigrated with the protein band. ³H-BaP bound to the protein was displaced by PAHs with a specificity identical to that obtained using crude cytosol. On electrophoresis in SDS gels, the purified protein migrated as a single protein band with an apparent molecular weight of 40,000.