Evidence for intrinsic proteolytic activity in rat liver plasma membranes

Electrophoresis on 10 % acrylamide-SDS gels showed that incubation of rat liver plasma membranes with certain detergents induces a proteolysis. The results obtained using different detergents, temperatures and pH levels, as well as the action of some protease inhibitors are in favor of an enzymatically-induced proteolysis. Since the proteolytic activity remains unchanged, even after the peripheral proteins have been released, it is proposed that this activity may reflect one of the integral proteins functions.