Isolation of inhibin from ovine follicular fluid.

Two forms of inhibin with molecular weights of 65,000 and 30,000 (65 and 30 kD) were isolated from ovine follicular fluid using a combination of gel permeation chromatography, reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The 65 kD form was partially purified approximately 315-fold whilst the 30 kD form was isolated as two isoforms (29 and 30 kD) of similar biological activity and in greater than 95% purity (1210-fold purification and 4.2% recoveries). On reduction the 30 kD form resolved into four components of 36, 31, 20-21 and 16 kD of which the 20-21 and 16 kD components were similar to the corresponding inhibin subunits isolated from porcine and bovine follicular fluid. The 36 kD component was established as a non-reducible inhibin-like material, based on its binding to antiserum raised against bovine 58 kD inhibin. The nature of the remaining non-reducible 31 kD component is unknown. Two NH2-terminal amino acid sequences (first 13 amino acids) identified in purified 30 kD inhibin were identical to the corresponding subunit amino acid sequences of bovine 31 kD inhibin.