Isolation and characterization of human renin substrate

Human renin substrate (angiotensinogen) was purified from outdated bank plasma. Purification procedures included ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE-cellulose column chromatography, concanavalin A-Sepharose column chromatography, Hydroxylapatite column chromatography preparative isoelectric focusing and Ultrogel AcA 44 gel filtration. The final recovery was 10% and the specific angiotensin I content of 10.5 micrograms/mg of protein was obtained. Polyacrylamide gel and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and analytical ultracentrifugal analyses showed the homogeneity of the purified renin substrate. The molecular weight of 60900 was determined by sedimentation equilibrium studies. Human renin substrate was a glycoprotein containing 13% carbohydrate. Cystine could not be detected on amino acid analysis. The purified renin substrate showed the isoelectric point heterogeneity (pI, 4.6 and 4.9).