Fractionation of the genetic variants of human alpha 1-acid glycoprotein in the native form by chromatography on an immobilized copper(II) affinity adsorbent. Heterogeneity of the separate variants by isoelectrofocusing and by concanavalin A affinity chromatography.

Fractionation of the three main genetic variants (F1, S and A) of human alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AAG), in their native (sialylated) form, by chromatography on immobilized copper(II) affinity adsorbent was investigated. This chromatographic method had been previously developed to fractionate the desialylated protein variants. For that purpose, the three main AAG phenotypes samples (F1S/A, F1/A and S/A), which had been previously isolated from individual human plasma samples, and an AAG sample from commercial source (a mixture of the phenotypes) were used in the native form. Affinity chromatography of these different samples on an iminodiacetate Sepharose-copper(II) gel at pH 7 resolved two protein peaks, irrespective of the origin of the native AAG sample used. The unbound peak 1 was found to consist of the F1, the S or both variants, depending on the phenotype of the AAG sample used in the chromatography. The bound peak 2 was found to consist of the A variant in a pure form. The fractionation results obtained with native AAG were found to be the same as those originally yielded by the desialylated protein. However, comparison of the interactions of native and desialylated AAG with immobilized copper(II) ions, using an affinity chromatographic method and a non-chromatographic equilibrium binding technique, respectively, showed that desialylation increased the non-specific interactions of the protein with immobilized copper(II) ions. The AAG variants were not fractionated when affinity chromatography was performed using immobilized zinc, nickel or cobalt(II) ions, instead of copper. After purification of each variant in the sialylated form (F1, S and A), their respective heterogeneity was studied by analytical isoelectrofocusing with carrier ampholytes in the pH range 2.5-4.5. In addition, the lectin-binding behaviour of the separate sialylated AAG variants was investigated by affinity chromatography on immobilized concanavalin A.