THE EFFECTS OF DIGESTION BY PROTEOLYTIC ENZYMES ON THE GONADOTROPHIC AND THYROTROPHIC POTENCY OF ANTERIOR PITUITARY EXTRACT

Abstract

During the recent period of great interest in numerous phases of the physiology of the anterior pituitary, occasional studies of the action of enzymes on hormones present in extracts have been made. With few exceptions, crude enzymes have been used and the assays have been performed in normal rather than hypophysectomized animals. Moreover, there has been no attempt to correlate the extent of digestion with the quantitative or qualitative change in the action of extracts. The investigation reported here attempts to meet these objections. The useful crystalline enzymes of the pancreas and the gastric mucosa were employed. It was thought that pure enzymes attacking specific groups might not only inactivate specific actions of extracts but also facilitate the removal of inert protein. In addition, two crude preparations, a papain and a trypsin, were used. All the assays were performed in immature hypophysectomized rats so that interpretation of the action of