Purification and properties of growth inhibitor from normal rabbit serum

It was previously found that rabbit serum contains a growth-inhibitory substance for a tumorigenic rat liver cell line RSV-BRL. In the present study, the growth inhibitor was purified from normal rabbit serum to show a homogeneous protein band with a molecular weight (Mr) of 56 k on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under non-reducing conditions. The purified growth inhibitor, tentatively named rabbit serum-derived growth inhibitor (RSGI), potently inhibited the growth of RSV-BRL and nine kinds of other cell lines including three human tumor cell lines at a concentration of 20 ng/ml or higher. The growth-inhibitory effect of RSGI was reversible and appeared to be cytostatic rather than cytotoxic. RSGI was stable to heating at 56 degrees C for 30 min or treatment with 0.1 M 2-mercaptoethanol, but labile to heating at 100 degrees C for 3 min or treatment with 1 M acetic acid (pH 2.3), 6 M urea, 50% (v/v) 1-propanol, or 0.1% (w/v) trypsin. These properties of RSGI suggested that it was different from type beta transforming growth factors, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and other known growth-regulatory factors.