Rapid sulfopropyl-disk chromatographic purification of bovine and human thrombin

Thrombin, from either a crude commercial preparation (bovine) or a prothrombin activation mixture (human), was purified by sulfopropyl-disk chromatography to homogeneity in a rapid and convenient single-step procedure. The yield of both proteinases was greater than 85%. Purified bovine and human thrombin had sp act of 2500 and 3000 "NIH" units/mg, respectively. Human thrombin was more reactive than bovine thrombin with these active site-directed probes: phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, dansyl-Glu-Gly-Arg-chloromethylketone, and human heparin cofactor II. The sulfopropyl-disk chromatographic method is a useful and rapid technique to prepare milligram quantities of highly purified bovine and human thrombin.