Premium
A BRAIN‐SPECIFIC PROTEIN FROM OCTOPUS VULGARIS, LAM
Author(s) -
Giuditta A.,
Moore B. W.,
Prozzo Nicola
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1977.tb09614.x
Subject(s) - octopus (software) , sephadex , biology , biochemistry , chromatography , tryptophan , amino acid , chemistry , enzyme , computational chemistry
— Several major brain‐specific proteins have been detected in cephalopods by electrophoretic analysis of the soluble proteins extracted from the optic lobes and other organs of octopus and by 2‐dimensional fractionation of the soluble proteins from optic lobes and hepatopancreases of octopus and squid. One of the brain‐specific proteins from octopus, identified as 0‐1, has been purified by chromatography on DEAE‐cellulose, Sephadex G‐150, and DEAE‐Sephadex. The protein appears to be pure on the basis of several physicochemical criteria. Amino acid analysis indicates a high content of glutamic and aspartic acids or their amides (or both) and the lack of tryptophan. A molecular weight of 17,000 has been calculated from sodium dodecyl sulphate‐gel electrophoresis, gel filtration and ultracentrifugation analysis. The preparation of a specific rabbit antiserum against 0‐1 has allowed its determination by agar immunodiffusion and complement fixation techniques. With the latter procedure it has been shown that the protein is absent outside the nervous system, is present in a concentration of several mg/g wet weight in octopus brain and is widely distributed within the octopus central and peripheral nervous system and in several molluscan species. It is also present in optic lobes of octopus at early stages of development.