Rapid high-yield purification of neuropeptides from canine intestinal muscle

A simplified method for purification of gastrointestinal neuropeptides from relatively small amounts of tissue is described. Sequential adsorption, gel filtration, ion-exchange chromatography, and high-performance liquid chromatography without lyophilization produced good yields of somatostatin, bombesin, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide immunoreactivity. The method is suitable for simultaneous purification of several small, basic peptides from limited amounts of starting material.