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Purification of thymic macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF)

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Abstract

Aqueous extracts of the thymus of animals which had been challenged immunologically have been shown to contain MIF activity. This MIF could be purified by precipitation with 70% ethanol, concentrated by ultrafiltration between 30,000 and 50,000 daltons, isoelectrically focused at pH 6.8–7.1, and electrophoresed on preparative acrylamide gels. The resulting product is electrophoretically homogeneous at pH 4.3 in polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and SDS-gel electrophoresis. It has a molecular weight of 36,000 daltons. It is trypsin- and neuraminidase-labile and is thermostable. It degrades and reassembles in electrophoresis at pH 7.0. It is not chemotactic for macrophages but apparently activates them phagocytically. It has no proteolytic activity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biochemical Research Laboratory, Research Foundation of Children's Hospital, National Medical Center, Washington, D.C.

    John C. Houck & Catherine M. Chang

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  1. John C. Houck
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  2. Catherine M. Chang
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Supported in part by a contract from the Office of Nival Research N00014-71-C-0203.

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Houck, J.C., Chang, C.M. Purification of thymic macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF). Inflammation 1, 189–200 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00917529

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