Purification and properties of adenosine deaminase in normal and hereditary hemolytic anemia with increased red cell activity.

Red cell adenosine deaminase from normal subjects and from a patient with hereditary hemolytic anemia with a 40-fold increase in activity were purified using antibody affinity chromatography. The purified enzymes were completely homogeneous on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. There were no differences in the molecular weight, specific activity, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Michaelis constant for adenosine, inhibition constant for guanylurea, utilization of 2-deoxyadenosine, thermal stability, optimum pH, immunological reactivity, amino acid composition and tryptic peptide mapping. These results strongly suggest that increased red cell adenosine deaminase activity is caused by an overproduction of a structurally normal enzyme.