Abstract
Summary
Turtle (Pseudemys scripta) pituitaries have been homogenized, extracted with saline, and the gonadotropin partially purified by ammonium sulfate fractionation. The bulk of the gonadotropin was found to precipitate between 0.3 and 0.6 saturated ammonium sulfate which is similar to the solubility behavior of ovine LH. No separation of gonadotropic activities (i.e., LH and FSH) was evidenced on the basis of biological activity as tested in the lizard. The fraction most active in the lizard was inactive in mammalian bioassays. Neuraminidase did not affect the activity of the reptilian preparation. The reptilian gonadotropin resembles mammalian LH from a chemical point of view, but biological studies in the lizard suggest it has more of an “FSH-like” character.
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