Method for isolating pure bovine gonadotrophs from anterior pituitary using magnetic nanoparticles and anti-gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor antibody.

No methods are currently available for rapidly isolating gonadotrophs from the anterior pituitary (AP) in any species. We developed a method for preparing pure bovine gonadotrophs from a heterogeneous AP cell mixture by magnetic separation and our original antibody against the N terminus of bovine gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor (GnRHR). A bovine AP cell mixture was incubated with the anti-GnRHR antibody, anti-dextran antibody-conjugated secondary antibody and dextran-coated magnetic nanoparticles for magnetic isolation. Approximately 5.2 x 10(6) cells were isolated per AP of Japanese Black heifers (26 months of age) and cultured, and confocal microscopy confirmed to be GnRHR- and luteinizing hormone-positive, corresponding to a purity of 100%. Approximately 44.5 mu g of total protein was extracted from the pure gonadotrophs per AP.