An efficient method for purification of human T-cell growth factor.

A 1000-fold purification of human T-cell growth factor (TCGF) was achieved starting from supernatants of human spleen cells stimulated with phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) in culture medium containing 0.5% serum. The purification scheme involved precipitation with ammonium sulphate, gel filtration and blue-Sepharose chromatography. The use of polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG 6000) was critical during the chromatographic steps in order to obtain high final recoveries or activity (40-50%). Purified preparations of TCGF labelled with 125I by the chloramine T method revealed that the activity co-migrated with 2 molecular species of 14,000-17,000 daltons in SDS-PAGE under non-reducing conditions.