Studies on the Isolation and Chemical Properties of Porcine Follicle-Stimulating Hormone 1

Summary

Porcine follicle-stimulating hormone (pFSH) has been prepared from acetone dried pituitary glands. The acetone powder was initially extracted in pH 5 ethanol-acetate buffer (40% ethanol and acetate at 0.5 ionic strength) containing 0.02% PMSF. The gonadotropin rich fraction, obtained in the 80% ethanol precipitate, was dissolved in 0.12 M NH₄HCO₃, heated at 60° for 3 min, cooled, and centri-fuged. The supernatant was lyophilized for chromatography on QAE-Sephadex, then Sephadex G-100. The pFSH obtained has a biological activity of 15 x NIH-FSH-P-1 and 2.1% sialic acid. The amino acid analysis is characterized by high lysine, aspartic acid, and glutamic acid with notable amounts of threonine, proline, and half-cys-tine.