By. Gurvits et al., IDENTIFICATION OF PARVALBUMIN-ALPHA IN BOVINE HYPOTHALAMUS - A PARTIAL PRIMARY STRUCTURE, Neurochemical research, 22(7), 1997, pp. 799-803
In the course of the study of structure-functional properties and mole
cular mechanisms of neuropeptides and of low molecular weight proteins
of the central nervous system we succeeded in isolating from the solu
ble fraction of bovine hypothalamus a protein having Mr 11897.3, accor
ding to mass spectral analysis. The purification procedure was mainly
based on reversed phase HPLC. As the N-terminus of the molecule was fo
und to be blocked, we have subjected it to CNBr degradation. By Edman
microsequence analysis of the peptide fragments and by data base searc
hing the isolated substance was identified as parvalbumin alpha (PRVA)
-one of the calcium-binding proteins. However, its primary structure w
as found not to be identical to that of the known PRVAs from other sou
rces. One of the features of PRVA is its stability. Being subjected to
an exhausting purification procedure it retains its complete structur
e. As neuropeptides and low molecular weight proteins are found to be
polyfunctional, a central question concerns the biological role of PRV
As in terms of ''where and when'' they express their action.