Structure and function of adenylate kinase isozymes in normal humans and muscular dystrophy patients.

Two isozymes of adenylate kinase from human Duchenne muscular dystrophy serum, one of which was an aberrant form specific to DMD patients, were separated by Blue Sepharose CL-6B affinity chromatography. The separated aberrant form possessed a molecular weight of 98,000 +/- 1,500, whereas the normal serum isozyme had a weight of 87,000 +/- 1,600, as determined by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, gel filtration, and sedimentation equilibrium. The sedimentation coefficients were 5.8 S and 5.6 S for the aberrant form and the normal form, respectively. Both serum isozymes are tetramers. The subunit size of the aberrant isozyme (Mr = 24,700) was very similar to that of the normal human liver isozyme, and the subunit size of the normal isozyme (Mr = 21,700) was very similar to that of the normal human muscle enzyme. The amino acid composition of the normal serum isozyme was similar to that of the muscle-type enzyme, and that of the aberrant isozyme was similar to that of the liver enzyme, with some exceptions in both cases.