title: Chemical and biological characterization of an active substance of the human placenta.
abstract: Acetic acid extracts of human term placenta have been fractionated by pH and salt precipitations and by exclusion chromatography on a Sephadex G-75 column. A partially purified fraction (F-II) possessing uterotropic activity in immature and young mice was obtained. This active fraction was submitted to the action of protein denaturating agents (heat, 8 M urea) and of specific proteolytic enzymes (trypsin, alpha-chymotrypsin and pronase). These treatments completely destroy the uterotropic activity showing that the active substance is of protein nature. The administration of F-II to spayed mice did not produce any increase in their uterine weight suggesting that the uterotropic activity would be due to stimulation of the female gonad.
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010920:Placenta / Q000032:analysis*; D010926:Placental Hormones / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D010926:Placental Hormones