A complex-forming glycoprotein heterogeneous in charge and present in human plasma, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid

A glycoprotein from the urine of one healthy individual was purified by ultrafiltration, ion-exchange chromatography, gel chromatography and immunosorption. The protein contained only one polypeptide chain with an approximate molecular weight of 31 000 and was associated with a brown colour which did not disappear even after total reduction and alkylation of the protein followed by dialysis in 6 M guanidine hydrochloride. The protein appeared homogeneous on sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide electrophoresis and gel chromatography. It had only one N-terminal amino acid sequence, Gly-Pro, and gave only one precipitate with a polyvalent antiserum but was found to be very heterorgeneous on agarose gel electrophoresis and on isoelectric focusing. Desialylation of the protein failed to alter this heterogeneity. An electroimmunoassay system was designed to measure the amount of the protein in normal human plasma, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid where the mean concentrations were found to be about 100, 10 and 0.3 mg/l, respectively. The protein was found to occur in normal plasma and urine as free monomers and dimers and as complexes with IgA and albumin.