RAPID MICRO ISOLATION OF THYMOSIN-BETA-4 FROM HUMAN THYMUS BY REVERSED-PHASE HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

Thymosin beta-4 (T-beta-4) is a peptide composed of 43 amino acid residues with a molecular weight of 4982 and a pI of 5.1. It was originally isolated from calf thymus ]Low, et al. PNAS 78, (1981)[. We have developed a rapid, efficient and reproducible method for the purification of T-beta-4 from human thymus. A newly developed method was employed for the extraction of T-beta-4. This extraction is simple and minimized the possibility of proteolytic modification. This purification is based on the use of high performance reversed phase (Delta Pak C18) chromatographic columns. The HPLC retention time, RIA, IEF, and SDS-PAGE have shown that purified T-beta-4 from human thymus is homogeneous and is identical to synthetic T-beta-4.