The isolation and estimation of urinary mucoproteins

Abstract

The presence in certain pathological urines of protein-like material which is not coagulated by heat has been realized for some years. It has been called mucin, mucoid, nucleoprotein, phosphoprotein, mucoprotein and nucleoalbumin by different investigators and has usually been detected by the turbidity produced on rendering the diluted urine acid with acetic acid. The isolation and characterization of a similar substance in normal urine was first reported by Tamm & Horsfall (1950, 1952), who employed two methods of isolation, one relying on ethanol precipitation and the other on saltingout with 0-58M sodium chloride. Yields in both cases were of the order of 2-2-5 mg./100 ml. of urine. Data on this substance suggest that the term 'mucoprotein' is appropriate (Tamm &

Biocolloids of Urine in Health and in Calculous Disease. Ii. Electrophoretic and Biochemical Studies of a Mucoprotein Insoluble in Molar Sodium Chloride 1

“…The tendency of T&H mucoprotein to thixotropy is apparently accentuated when the material has been frozen or exposed to temperatures near 0 C. The observation that this material may form a thixotropic gel during the period of thermal equilibration of the electrophoresis cell suggests that the preparatory conditions existing in experiments previously reported; (2,20) (23) should take into account the possible presence of these various degradation products of T&H mucoprotein. The Astrop fraction of urine (24) and the metachromatic urinary "heparin" (25), prepared by methods which involve heating with ammonia, are certain to contain variable quantities of this mucoprotein or its alkaline degradation products, unless the NaClinsoluble residue is removed prior to heating and treatment at pH 12 or more.…”

Inter-α-trypsin Inhibitor, a Covalent Protein-Glycosaminoglycan-Protein Complex

“…One member, the urinary trypsin inhibitor (UTI), was purified much later in the 1950s (1, 2) when it was independently isolated by researchers working on mucopolysaccharides, leukemia, and urolithiasis and was given many names: acid-stable protease inhibitor, prealbumin-like protease inhibitor, urinastatin, HI30, mingin, EDC1, uronic acid-rich protein, and nephrocalin (3)(4)(5). Based on the presence of two tandem Kunitz-type protease inhibitory domains, a structure-based name, bikunin, was suggested in 1990 to avoid confusion (6).…”

Total Nondialyzable Solids (Tnds) in Human Urine. Ix. Immunochemical Studies of the R-1 “Uromucoid” Fraction*

“…The preparations of Tamm (8), and Di Ferrante-Popenoe (4) and Maxfield (7) mucosubstance all gave the typical "reaction of identity" with normal R-1 material ( Figure 2). CTAB preparations consistently gave a broad zone of precipitin reaction in gels as illustrated in Figure 2.…”

“…The fractions of total nondialyzable solids of normal urine were prepared as previously described (1,2). Samples of Tamm and Horsfall urinary mucoprotein (3), Di Ferrante-Rich mucosubstance (6), Maxfield mucoprotein (7) and AndersonMaclagan material (8) were prepared by the methods of the respective investigators.…”