Nonspecific Association of a 17 kDa Isoform of the Myelin Basic Protein with the Postsynaptic Density Fraction

The postsynaptic density (PSD), a large protein complex beneath the postsynaptic membrane, is notorious for its 'stickiness'. In order to understand the molecular composition of the PSD fraction, a 17 kDa protein band was isolated by electroelution from SDS-geis, and its partial amino acid sequence was determined from HPLC-purified tryptic peptides of the protein. Surprisingly, the amino acid sequence was identical to that of the previously reported 17 kDa isoform of the myelin basic protein (MBP), an essential protein in CNS myelin formation. Since the protein band represented ~2% of the total proteins in the 1 % n-octyl glucoside-insoluble PSD fraction, these results indicate that a significant amount of the 17 kDa isoform of MBP is tightly associated with the PSD during preparation of the PSD fraction.