A radioimmunoassay for parathymosin alpha using antibodies to synthetic N-terminal peptide 1-30.
Tsitsiloni. O E OE; Yialouris. P P PP; Heimer. E P EP; Felix. A M AM; Evangelatos. G P GP; Soteriadis-Vlahos. C C; Stiakakis. J J; Hannappel. E E; Haritos. A A AA
Key Findings
- Researchers created antibodies that recognize the first 30 amino acids of rat parathymosin‑alpha.
- The assay can detect parathymosin‑alpha in the range of 5‑450 pmol and shows the epitope lies within the first 12 amino acids.
- Parathymosin‑alpha is present in many human tissues, with the highest levels in liver and lowest in brain.
Practical Outcomes
- The work is purely methodological and does not provide any dosage, safety, or efficacy information for thymosin‑alpha‑1 or related peptides. Biohackers and self‑experimenters have no actionable take‑aways from this paper.
Summary
This study describes a lab test (radioimmunoassay) that measures a protein called parathymosin‑alpha in tissues. It’s a technical method for scientists, not a finding about how to use thymosin‑alpha‑1 for health or performance.
Abstract
Antibodies against the N-terminus of rat parathymosin alpha have been raised in rabbits by conjugating parathymosin alpha (1-30) to hemocyanin. A radioimmunoassay for parathymosin alpha was established by utilizing antibodies against the above polypeptide and parathymosin alpha(1-12)[Tyr] as tracer. The useful range was 5-450 pmol for parathymosin alpha. An epitope was located in the amino acid sequence 1-12. The antiserum failed to crossreact with the same molar concentrations of the partly homologous thymosin alpha 1 or prothymosin alpha. With this radioimmunoassay, parathymosin alpha was isolated from calf thymus after separation from prothymosin alpha by reversed phase HPLC. Endogenous proteases did not appear to generate N-terminal fragments of parathymosin alpha in rat liver extracts in a similar fashion to that observed for prothymosin alpha. Parathymosin alpha has a ubiquitous distribution in the human tissues examined, with levels ranging from 93 (brain) to 1043 (liver) ng of parathymosin alpha(1-30) equivalents/g (wet weight).
Study Information
pubmed
1988
1988-10-26T00:00:00.000Z
10.1016/0022-1759(88)90330-4
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