1202 Mouse - Toxic Protein Components

Gel electrophoresis has been used in studying protein components in crude cell fractions for metabolic studies (1, 2) and in determining the pur i ty of isolated proteins (3). While determining the feasibility of this method to locate the murine toxin in crude cell fractions of PasteureUa pestis, we observed that toxin activi ty was associated with more than one protein component of the patially purified material. I n this report we wish to present evidence for the existence of two proteins tha t are responsible for mouse toxic activity of P. pestis ceils. In view of previous findings suggesting only a single murine toxin (4), efforts were directed toward isolating each protein as a single toxic component. D a t a will be presented differentiating the two proteins on the basis of electrophoretie mobility, selective reactivity to surface active agents, metabolic inhibition, and the anatomical location in the cell.