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ENZYMATIC DIGESTION OF BEEF THYROTROPIC HORMONE WITH PAPAIN

From the Institute of Experimental Biology, University of California Berkeley 4, California

Abstract

IN A STUDY of the effect of a different proteolytic enzymes on a pituitary extract, Chow and co-workers (1939) reported that digestion with papain had no effect upon the thyrotropic activity of the extract. Since no attempt was made to separate the digestion products from the unreacted material, the digestion mixture being injected into the experimental animals, it is difficult to assess the significance of their observation. The present communication reports the action of papain on highly purified beef thyrotropic hormone (TSH). The reaction products have been separated from the undigested material both by trichloracetic acid precipitation and dialysis. In each case it has been found that these products possess thyrotropic activity.

EXPERIMENTAL METHODS

We have found it convenient to use the Long-Evans hypophysectomized, immature female rat as our assay animal. These animals weighed about 70 gms. at the onset of the experiment, and were one week post-operative.

Footnotes

¹ International Exchange Student.

Received May 5, 1952.