Human deoxythymidine kinase. I. Purification and general properties of the cytoplasmic and mitochondrial isozymes derived from blast cells of acute myelocytic leukemia.

Two forms of deoxythymidine kinase from blast cells of acute myelocytic leukemia were identified by electrophoresis. One was associated mainly with the cytoplasm and the other with mitochondria. Both isozymes were separated and purified by differential affinity column chromatography which resulted in 2416- and 1634-fold purification of the cytoplasmic and mitochondrial enzymes, respectively. Affinity gel was prepared by linkage through position 3' of deoxythymidine. Each enzyme had the same electrophoretic mobility in the purified state as it did in the enzyme derived from the corresponding subcellular fraction of the homogenate. Thymidine phosphorylase was not retarded by the affinity column. The purified cytoplasmic and mitochondrial deoxythymidine kinase had different molecular weights, sensitivities to inhibition by ammonium sulfate, activation energies for the reaction and divalent cation requirements. Adenosine, guanosine, and cytosine 3':5'-monophosphates, putrescine, spermine, and spermidine were neither activators nor inhibitors of either deoxythymidine kinase.