Co-purification of bone resorbing activity and adenylate cyclase stimulating activity from human tumours associated with the humoral hypercalcaemia of malignancy.

We have partially purified a tumour factor capable of stimulating both bone resorption in vitro and cAMP accumulation in osteoblastic ROS 17/2 cells from three human tumours associated with humoral hypercalcaemia of malignancy. Purification of tumour factor by sequential acid urea extraction, gel filtration and cation-exchange chromatography, reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography followed by analytical isoelectric focussing provided a basic protein (pI greater than 9.3) with a molecular weight of approximately 13,000 as a major component of the final preparation which retained both the two bioactivities. Bone resorbing activity and cAMP-increasing activity in purified factor correlated with each other. cAMP-increasing activity of the factor was heat- and acid-stable, but sensitive to alkaline ambient pH. Treatment with trypsin destroyed cAMP-increasing activity of the factor. Synthetic parathyroid hormone (PTH) antagonist, human PTH-(3-34) completely inhibited the cAMP-increasing activity of the factor. The results suggest that this protein factor, having its effects on both osteoclastic and osteoblastic functions, may be involved in development of enhanced bone resorption in some patients with humoral hypercalcaemia of malignancy.