Purification and some properties of hemagglutinin from the Myxomycete, Physarum polycephalum.

A new hemagglutinin was isolated from the plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum by salting out with ammonium sulphate followed by chromatography on DE-32, DEAE-Toyopearl and hydroxyapatite. This hemagglutinin, named physarumin, was purified 1000-fold over crude extracts. The molecular weight of physarumin was determined to be 22,000 by size exclusion chromatography on Bio-Gel P-60 and 8,700 by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Physarumin agglutinated rabbit, guinea pig, horse and human erythrocytes. Physarumin-induced hemagglutination was inhibited by fetuin and alpha 1-acid glycoprotein, but not by commercially available mono- and disaccharides. Hemagglutinating activity was blocked by EDTA, and was restored by adding Ca2+ but not by Mg2+.