Purification and characterization of ten new rice NaCl-soluble proteins: identification of four protein-synthesis inhibitors and two immunoglobulin-binding proteins.

Ten new proteins from rice (Oryza saliva L. cv. Bahia) including four protein-synthesis inhibitors and two immunoglobulin E (IgE)-binding proteins have been isolated and characterized. These proteins as well as one previously known component, α-globulin, were purified from a 0.5 M NaCl extract of rice endosperm by a new, apparently non-denaturing, isolation procedure developed for rice proteins. The method is based on extractions of this complex protein mixture with a diluted volatile salt solution and an aqueous solution of ethanol. This preliminary step results in an improvement in the separation of these proteins, thus facilitating their subsequent purification by reversed-phased high-performance liquid chromatography. These new proteins have similar relative molecular masses (Mrs) from 11000 to 17000. The purity of the proteins was analyzed by micro two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Four of these components were found to be in-vitro protein-synthesis inhibitors in a cell-free system from rat brain. The NH2-terminal amino-acid sequences of these four inhibitors were determined from 12 to 26 cycles after direct blotting of the separated proteins from electrophoresis gels. Three of these proteins with Mrs between 16000 and 17000 showed a high degree of homology ranging from 57% to 75% but seem to be unrelated to the fourth inhibitor. In addition, the α-globulin and one of the new low-molecular-weight proteins of Mr 12500 seemed to show allergenic properties since they bound IgE antibodies from the sera of hypersensitive patients. Boths proteins have blocked NH2-terminal amino acids.