ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF PEPTIDES FROM BLOOD SERUM OF PATIENTS WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

In order to find novel molecular markers of multiple sclerosis we developed a scheme of oligopeptides’ isolation including their extraction from blood serum with 10 % trichloroacetic acid, followed by precipitation of soluble substances with acetone in ra- tio 6:1. Oligopeptides were dissolved in water and their characteristics was determined by gel filtration under HPLC conditions and thin layer chromatography. Obtained data have shown that blood serum of MS patients contains two oligopolypeptides with aver- age molecular masses of 300?500 Da. We also studied biological activity of TCA-solu- ble peptides toward some eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells in comparison with phospho- peptides isolated from casein hydrolysates. It was found that TCA-soluble peptides are capable of effective inhibiting HeLa cells’ proliferation, while their inhibitory effect was expressed toward Jurkat T-cells and was not detectable toward U373 cells. The ca- sein’s phosphopeptides were capable to stimulate proliferation of Jurkat cells and effectively inhibited growth of cells. Neither antibacterial, nor antifungal activities of these oligopeptides were detected.