Proteolytic degradation of calf thymus terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase.

A high molecular weight preparation of terminal transferase containing 58,000- and 44,000-dalton peptides has been purified from calf thymus glands. The relationship of these terminal transferase peptides to the low molecular weight form was established with an immunoblot procedure using rabbit antibody directed against the homogeneous calf thymus low molecular weight terminal transferase (32,000 daltons). The 58,000- and 44,000-dalton enzyme species are each shown to be enzymatically active by renaturation in situ after electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gel in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate. These results suggest that the homogeneous terminal transferase previously described is derived from the higher molecular weight species by proteolysis during fractionation. Controlled degradation of the high molecular weight calf thymus terminal transferase with trypsin produces fully active enzyme containing alpha- and beta-peptides similar to those found in the 32,000-dalton species. Isoelectric focusing experiments show a decrease of isoelectric pH of the enzyme with proteolysis.