Improved purification and partial characterization of (Na+, K+)-ATPase from cardiac muscle

A method is described for purification of (Na+, K+)-ATPase which yielded approximately 60 mg of enzyme from 800 g of cardiac muscle with specific activities ranging from 340 to 400 mumol inorganic phosphate/mg protein per h (units/mg). Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated the presence of a major 94 000 dalton polypeptide and four or five lesser components, one of which was a glycoprotein with an apparent molecular weight of 58 000. The enzyme preparation bound 600-700 pmol of [3H]ouabain/mg protein when incubated in the presence of either Mg2+ plus Pi, or Mg2+ plus ATP plus Na+, and incorporated more than 600 pmol 32P/mg protein when incubated with gamma-32P-labelled ATP in the presence of Mg2+ and Na+. The preparation is approximately 35% pure.