Presence of an endo-beta-galactosidase degrading the linkage region between the chondroitin sulfate chain and core peptide of proteoglycan

Endo-beta-galactosidases and keratanase

This overview covers the endo-beta-galactosidases; enzyme is capable of hydrolyzing a wide range of glycoconjugates. Endo-beta-galactosidases from numerous sources are discussed in terms of their substrate specificities and substrates, as well as their practical research applications.

Partial purification and characterization of an endo-alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase from the culture medium of Streptomyces sp. OH-11242

For the purification of a new type of endo-alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase from the culture medium of Streptomyces sp. OH-11242 (endo-GalNAc-ase-S) [Iwase, Ishii, Ishihara, Tanaka, Omura & Hotta (1988) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 151, 422-428], a method for assaying enzyme activity was established. Using purified pig gastric mucus glycoprotein (PGM) as the substrate, oligosaccharides liberated from PGM were pyridylaminated, and the reducing terminal sugars of oligosaccharides larger than Gal beta 1-3GalNAc were analysed by h.p.1.c. The crude enzyme of endo-GalNAc-ase-S was prepared as an 80% (w/v) ammonium sulphate precipitate from the concentrated culture medium. The enzyme was partially purified by gel chromatofocusing and subsequent DEAE-Toyopearl chromatography. Endo-enzyme activity eluted around pI 4.8 on a gel chromatofocusing column and eluted with 0.19-0.25 M-NaCl on a DEAE-Toyopearl column. In the enzyme fraction obtained, no exo-glycosidases or proteases could be detected. The molecular mass of the enzyme was estimated as 105 kDa by gel filtration, and the optimum pH was 5.5. Endo-GalNAc-ase-S hydrolysed the O-glycosidic linkage between GalNAc and Ser (Thr) in 3H-labelled and unlabelled asialofetuin, liberating both the disaccharide (Gal beta 1-3GalNAc) and the tetrasaccharide [Gal beta 1-3 (Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc beta 1-6)GalNAc]. When endo-alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase from Alcaligenes sp. (endo-GalNac-ase-A) was incubated with 3H-labelled and unlabelled asialofetuin, only the disaccharide (Gal beta 1-3GalNAc) was liberated.

Hyaluronidase assay using fluorogenic hyaluronate as a substrate

The reducing terminal of hyaluronate was labeled with a fluorogenic reagent, 2-aminopyridine. The pyridylaminohyaluronate was incubated with testicular hyaluronidase for 1 h. After incubation, 4 vol of ethanol was added to the incubation mixture, followed by centrifugation. The fluorescence of the supernatant containing the degradation products of hyaluronidase digestion was then determined by fluorospectrophotometry (excitation wavelength, 320 nm; emission wavelength, 400 nm). It was found that the increase of the pyridylamino products was linearly correlated with enzyme concentration (up to 0.1 national formulary unit), incubation time (up to 60 min), and substrate concentration (up to 2.5 microM). The fluorogenic substrate was also applicable for the determination of crude hyaluronidase. This simple, rapid, and sensitive hyaluronidase assay was made possible by the use of pyridylaminohyaluronate as a substrate.

Extracellular depolymerization of hyaluronic acid in cultured human skin fibroblasts

The chain length of [3H]hyaluronic acid synthesized by cultivating human skin fibroblasts in the presence of [3H]glucosamine was investigated. [3H]Hyaluronic acid obtained from the matrix fraction was excluded from a Sepharose CL-2B column irrespective of the incubation period, whereas that from the medium was depolymerized into a constant chain length (Mr = 40,000). The reducing and non-reducing terminals of the depolymerized hyaluronic acid were N-acetylglucosamine and glucuronic acid, respectively. Prolonged incubation produced no oligosaccharides as shown by examination of hyaluronidase digests, suggesting the presence of a novel endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase in cultured human skin fibroblasts.