Prothoracicotropic hormone of the silkworm, Bombyx mori: amino acid sequence and dimeric structure

Prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH) of the silkworm, Bombyx mori, was purified and its primary structure determined for the most part. From sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the purified PTTH under non-reducing and reducing conditions, and the amino acid sequence and composition analyses of the carboxamidomethylated PTTH, we concluded that Bombyx PTTH has a dimeric structure consisting of two identical, or nearly identical subunits, held together by disulfide bond(s). There exist subunit variants that differ by deletion of only a few amino acid residues at the N-terminus, and possibly at the C-terminus also, giving rise to a high heterogeneity in the PTTH molecule. The amino acid sequence up to the 104th residue from the N-terminus of the longest subunit, except for the 41st residue, was determined by sequence analysis of fragment peptides produced by lysyl endopeptidase, chymotrypsin and V8 protease digestions, leaving only a short C-terminal sequence undetermined. Bombyx PTTH is expected to contain a carbohydrate chain bound to an asparagine at position 41, deduced from the cDNA sequence.