Rapid purification of beta-glucuronidase from human liver by immunoaffinity chromatography employing specific murine monoclonal IgG binding to tresyl-activated agarose.

We have developed a simple, rapid method for purification of beta-glucuronidase from human liver in order to facilitate the study of its biochemical structure and pathophysiologic roles in both cholelithiasis and carcinogenesis. The procedure includes the following steps: (1) liver homogenization, (2) 25-45% saturated ammonium sulfate fractionation, (3) heat denaturation, and (4) immunoaffinity chromatography employing murine anti-human beta-glucuronidase monoclonal IgG binding to tresyl-activated agarose. beta-Glucuronidase constitutes 1.3 mg per 100 g of wet liver tissue. The enzyme can be purified with a 10% overall yield and overall purification of 5000-fold in a 2-day cycle on a fairly large scale by the method described. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated minor contaminants in the final product which could be further purified by protein blotting.