In bovine brain, two soluble inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP,) 5-phosphatases, which catalyse the dephosphorylation of InsP, to inositol 1 ,4-bisphosphate, have been separated by DEAE-Sephacel. Type I, i.e. the first eluted enzyme, is the main soluble form and is reminiscent of the membranebound enzyme by multiple criteria. Type I was purified to apparent homogeneity by a method involving chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel, Blue-Sepharose, Sephacryl S-200, phosphocellulose, and Cia HPLC. A single protein band of 42-43 kDa was identified by SDS/PAGE, corresponding to the peak of maximal activity. InsP, 5-phosphatase was purified to apparent homogeneity to a final yield of 45 -50 pg protein. The minimal estimate value of the VmaX for InsP, 5-phosphatase was in the range 20-35 pmol . min-' . mg protein-'.