Cytosol 5'-nucleotidase from chicken liver. Purification and some properties

1. 5'-Nucleotidase (5'-ribonucleotide phosphohydrolase, EC 3.1.3.5) from the cytosol of chicken liver has been purified 1860-fold with an overall yield of 20% by a combination of precipitation at pH 5.3, (NH4)2SO4 fractionation, calcium phosphate gel adsorption, phosphocellulose chromatography and gel filtration with Sephadex G-200. The enzyme has been shown to be highly purified, as judged by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. This is the first time it has been possible to obtain a purified 5'-nucleotidase from the cytosol of animal tissue. 2. An S20, W of 9.7 S for 5'-nucleotidase was obtained by the use of sucrose density gradient centrifugation and a Stokes radius of 5.1 nm was estimated by gel filtration techniques. From these values and the assumed partial specific volume of 0.725 cm3/g, the molecular weight of the enzyme was calculated to be 205 000. One major band, corresponding to a molecular weight of 51 000, was detected after sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicating that the native enzyme was composed of four identical subunits. 3. Some properties of the purified enzyme, including pH optimum Mg2+ dependency and substrate specificity, resembled closely those of the partially purified enzyme from chicken liver acetone powder as reported by Itoh, R., Mitsui, A. and Tsushima, K. (1967) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 146, 151-159.