Biochemical and immunological characterization of ectopic tumoral renin

Biochemical and immunological characteristics of renin secreted by two malignant renin-secreting tumors [pulmonary (PT) and paraovarian (POT)] were studied. They both contain inactive renin (IR), as renin activity of tumoral extracts was able to be increased after acid activation or trypsin treatment (10.1 to 20.8 Goldblatt units/g tissue for PT and 1.4 to 3.71 for POT). Renin activity after activation reached the value obtained by direct RIA of human renin (23 and 3.4, respectively), as both forms are recognized by renin antiserum. Both enzymatic activities could be completely inhibited by renin antiserum. Displacement curves for the two tumoral renins paralleled the MRC renin in the direct RIA. After chromatography on affigel blue, active renin was not bound to the gel, and inactive renin eluted only with 1 M NaCl. On pepstatin A Sepharose and CBL-pepstatin Sepharose (an N-modified-pepstatin), a separation of the two forms of pulmonary renin was obtained; inactive renin eluted with breakthrough proteins, whereas active renin was strongly bound to the gel. After this affinity chromatography, the molecular weights of inactive and active renin, determined on Ultrogel, were very close (46,000 and 42,500). We conclude that 1) ectopic renin in these cases in similar to the renal enzyme; 2) renin can be secreted in an inactive form, supporting the hypothesis of an inactive initial state of renin; and 3) molecular weight differences between the two forms are very slight.