Correlation between alanine inhibition of pyruvate and composition of K-M hybrids.

A method is described for determination of the percentage of K-subunits in the K-M set of pyruvate kinase. The method is based on the alanine inhibition of the K-subunits. A linear correlation (r = 0.99) is found between the alanine inhibition and the percentage of K-subunits as calculated from the electropherograms, assuming (a) a subunit distribution as indicated by the suffix in K4, K3M, K2M2, etc., and (b) an equal contribution of K- and M-subunits to the intensity of the stain.