This study concerned the resolution of rat pituitary FSH utilizing chromatofocusing. Among the 11 components resolved and positively identified, ten had apparent isoelectric points (pI) between 3.1 and 5.1. Approximately 1% of pituitary FSH eluted at pH 9.4. Treatment with varying amounts of neuraminidase followed by refocusing generated FSH components of higher pI values. Treatment with other glycosidases did not alter the elution characteristics in chromatofocusing, while exclusion chromatography established an inverse relationship between apparent molecular weight and pI. Dose-response curves of various FSH components and of the reference preparation in the current radioimmunoassay system were parallel to each other. A study of their in-vitro bioactivity, utilizing granulosa cells which produce a plasminogen activator due to FSH in a dose-dependent manner, provided the following evidence: increased acidity of the components led to an increase of maximum response and an increase of the dose necessary for half-maximum response. Considering the observed alterations in the heterogeneity of FSH with changing physiological states of the animal, it is concluded that qualitative changes of the FSH molecule are perhaps involved in a modulatory role in the biopotencies of the hormone.
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Blum et al. (1985) studied this question.