Activity staining of acylphosphatase after gel electrophoresis

Acylphosphatase is an ubiquitous enzyme found in a variety of mammalian and avian tissues. Two isozymes of different amino acid sequence have been found in human, chicken, pig, and horse. To survey the distribution of the acylphosphatase isozymes among animal species and tissues, we have developed an activity staining procedure for the enzyme after electrophoresis on a polyacrylamide gel. Tissue extracts of pigs were subjected to electrophoresis, then the gel was stained for acylphosphatase activity in a solution containing acetyl phosphate and lead nitrate. Three activity bands were observed: the slowest moving one, which coincided with that of purified testis acylphosphatase, was widely distributed in testis, muscle, brain, heart, spleen, kidney, liver, and erythrocyte; the other two bands, which coincided with monomer and dimer of purified muscle acylphosphatase, were relatively localized in skeletal muscle.