Characterization of the gamma subunits of the 7S nerve growth factor complex

The gamma subunits of the 7S nerve growth factor complex (7S NGF) display arginine esteropeptidase activity. By varying the conditions of electrophoresis in acrylamide gel, it has been demonstrated that the gamma-subunit fraction of 7S NGF contains five different proteins, in contrast to the three (gamma1, gamma2, and gamma3) originally described (Smith, A.P., Varon, S. and Shooter, E.M. (1968), Biochemistry 7, 3259-3268); the gamma1 and gamma2 subunits, previously thought to be single species, can each be resolved into two components. The two components of the gamma1 subunit have the same isoelectric point, as do the two components of the gamma2 subunit. The distribution of protein among the two components of each of the gamma1 and gamma2 subunits varied from preparation to preparation. Moreover, a shift in the distribution for the gamma1 subunit was accompanied by a parallel shift for the gamma2 subunit. All of the different gamma proteins have the same molecular weight. On the basis of the molecular weights of the peptide chains of the gamma subunits and of the species which are formed by cross-linking with dimethyl suberimidate, it was concluded, that both the gamma1 and gamma2 subunits contain one species with two peptide chains and another with three peptide chains, while the gamma3 subunit is a single species with three peptide chains. The results also suggest that two of the chains in the three-chain species are derived, by proteolytic cleavage, from the larger chain in the two-chain species.