The pepsins of normal human gastric juice

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Abstract
1. The frequency of occurrence, under defined conditions, of the different human pepsins in the gastric juices of 50 normal subjects was investigated by agar-gel electrophoresis. 2. From a total of eight proteolytic zones located in the zymograms, no significant differences of occurrence existed between the sexes, or between subjects with or without gastric symptoms. 3. Two zones, numbered 3 and 5, occurred in all normal gastric juices. Zone 3 always exhibited the greatest proteolytic activity, then zone 5. The remaining enzymic zones were less well-marked and occurred less frequently. 4. A minor zone, 3a, was demonstrated within zone 3. The corresponding pepsin, 3a, has a mobility towards the anode 6–7% greater than has pepsin 3. 5. Of the eight zones, 1,2,3,3a and 5, at least, represent unique pepsins.