Isolation of hCG and its characterization by radioimmunoassay, enzyme-immunoassay, and radio-receptor assay.

The nature of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) molecules present during early pregnancy of Indian women is poorly understood. Therefore, a study has been undertaken to isolate hCG and characterize different forms of hCG from urine. The hCG molecules from urine of pregnant women (45-75 days post LMP) were adsorbed onto kaolin, eluted with ammonium hydroxide, and precipitated using acetone and then lyophilized. The lyophilized extract was subjected to Sephadex G-100 chromatography followed by ion-exchange fractionation. Three major fractions of protein (i.e., Peaks I, II, and III) associated with carbohydrate activity were obtained. Peaks II and III eventually resolved into a single peak I following repeated ion exchange chromatography, which suggested the presence of aggregates of molecules. Further purification on an affinity column resolved all three peak fractions into one unadsorbed and two adsorbed (A and B) fractions. These adsorbed fractions were characterized by radioreceptor assay (RRA), radioimmunoassay (RIA), and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The activity was standardized against WHO reference preparation 75/589. Peaks I (A and B) were found to have maximum at about 75% of immunologically potent hCG, followed by peaks II (40%) and III (5%). The molecular sizes of peaks I, II, and III on a Sephadex G-200 column corresponded to 27,500D, 66,000D, and 84,000D, respectively. Relative mobilities of all adsorbed fractions in sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) showed the presence of hCG-alpha (mol. wt. 19,539D) and hCG-beta (28,870D) subunits. The presence of both subunits of hCG were also revealed by Western blot analysis. For the first time, we report the low molecular weight hCG molecule, of 27,500D by size exclusion chromatography, which has immunological and biological activity as measured by RIA, ELISA, and RRA.