A new dry extract of cascara (Rhamnus purshiana D.C. bark)

The B.P. method of preparing a dry extract of cascara leads to significant breakdown of O-glycoside links in the active compounds. This is shown to be due to enzyme activity during percolation. A dry extract, containing most of the active glycosides originally present in the bark with no change in glycosylation status, can be prepared using boiling water as extracting solvent. A modification of the chemical assay process is recommended as well as the use of an official standardized extract with upper and lower limits for glycoside content.

A study of sieve element starch using sequential enzymatic digestion and electron microscopy

The fine structure of plastids and their starch deposits in differentiating sieve elements was studied in bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Ultrastructural cytochemistry employing two carbohydrases specific for different linkages was then used to compare the chemical nature of "sieve tube starch" (the starch deposited in sieve elements) with that of the ordinary starch of other cell types. Hypocotyl tissue from seedlings was fixed in glutaraldehyde, postfixed in osmium tetroxide, and embedded in Epon-Araldite. Treatment of thin sections on uncoated copper grids with alpha-amylase or diastase at pH 6.8 to cleave alpha-(1 --> 4) bonds resulted in digestion of ordinary starch grains but not sieve element grains, as determined by electron microscopy. Since alpha-(1 --> 6) branch points in amylopectin-type starches make the adjacent alpha-(1 --> 4) linkages somewhat resistant to hydrolysis by alpha-amylase, other sections mounted on bare copper or gold grids were treated with pullulanase (a bacterial alpha-[1 --> 6] glucosidase) prior to digestion with diastase. Pullulanase did not digest sieve element starch, but rendered the starch digestible subsequently by alpha-amylase. Diastase followed by pullulanase did not result in digestion. The results provide evidence that sieve element starch is composed of highly branched molecules with numerous alpha-(1 --> 6) linkages.

Antigenic structure of human gonadotrophins: pituitary luteinizing hormone

Immunological relationship between human pituitary luteinizing hormone (LH) and human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) was measured by microcomplement fixation, and a value of 1·17 was obtained for the immunological index of dissimilarity determined from the reactions of a highly purified human LH with rabbit antiserum to HCG. Treatment with neuraminidase of the LH preparation did not affect either the biological activity, as measured by ovarian ascorbic acid depletion, or the complement-fixing activity. The biological and immunological activities of LH were also not influenced by treatment with β-glucosidase or with neuraminidase plus β-glucosidase. Partial tryptic hydrolysis of LH caused decreases in both the biological and immunological activities, the greater loss being in the former. The biological and immunological activities of LH were nearly completely destroyed by treatment with urea, and removal of urea by dialysis did not restore the two activities. When the LH preparation was exposed to increased temperatures for various periods of time or to extremes of pH, the two activities were affected to variable degrees. These results indicate that the protein but not the carbohydrate moiety of the LH molecule is essential for both biological and immunological activities of the hormone and that the conformational integrity of certain parts of the protein moiety is also important for these activities.

Studies on the permeability of rat liver lysosomes to carbohydrates

1. The latency of nitrocatechol sulphatase activity was measured in rat liver lysosomes before and after preincubation in 0.25m solutions of 25 different carbohydrates. 2. Preincubation in disaccharides, hexitols, gluconate, glucuronate or lactate gave little or no rise in ;free' sulphatase activity, indicating that these compounds do not easily penetrate the lysosomal membrane, but incubation in monosaccharides or the lower glycitols caused a progressive loss of latency. 3. Rates of increase in ;free' activity were taken as an indication of rates of solute penetration into lysosomes and were correlated with the structure and molecular weight of each sugar. 4. Additional evidence for non-penetration of maltose was obtained by demonstrating that the latency of lysosomal alpha-glucosidase is independent of substrate concentration employed. 5. The results are discussed in the light of published data on the latency of lysosomal enzymes.

Purification and properties of a beta-hexosidase from Sporobolomyces singularis

A β-hexosidase has been isolated from Sporobolomyces singularis by conventional techniques involving ammonium sulfate precipitation and chromatography on columns of Sephadex G-200 and DEAE-Sephadex A-50. Electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gel was used as the final preparative step. The sedimentation coefficient (s°20,w) of the enzyme was 7.6 and its molecular weight was in the range 140 000–145 000. Although the β-hexosidase performed the functions of a β-D-galactoside galactohydrolase (β-galactosidase), it also catalyzed the hydrolytic function normally performed by a β-D-glucoside glucohydrolase; both these functions appear to reside in the same molecule.

Phospho-beta-glucosidases and beta-glucoside permeases in Streptococcus, Bacillus, and Staphylococcus

The presence of phospho-beta-glucosidases and beta-glucoside permeases was found in strains of Streptococcus, Bacillus, and Staphylococcus. In streptococci, the phospho-beta-glucosidase activity depends on the antigenic group. The highest activity was found in strains of group D. In group D strains, phospho-beta-glucosidase activity is induced by beta-methyl glucoside and cellobiose but not by thiophenyl beta-glucoside (TPG). With the exception of four strains isolated in Japan, all strains of B. subtilis tested possess an inducible phospho-beta-glucosidase activity, beta-methyl glucoside, cellobiose, and TPG acting as inducers. S. aureus strains possess phospho-beta-glucosidase A but not phospho-beta-glucosidase B, whereas most S. albus strains show no detectable phospho-beta-glucosidase activity. The prompt fermentation of beta-methyl glucoside by S. aureus strains could serve as an additional criterion for their differentiation from S. albus. A comparative investigation of the active uptake of (14)C-TPG showed that a Streptococcus group D strain and a B. subtilis strain posses two inducible permeases with characteristics similar to the beta-glucoside permeases I and II of Enterobacteriaceae. In S. aureus, TPG is accumulated by a constitutive permease with high affinity for aromatic beta-glucosides and glucose. The active uptake of TPG by S. aureus appears to depend on the activity of the phosphoenol pyruvate-dependent phosphotransferase system.

Cellulolysis by Mucor pusillus

Culture filtrates of Mucor pusillus NRRL 2543 contained hydrolytic enzymes that attacked native cellulose, acid-swollen cellulose, carboxymethylcellulose, and cellobiose. The distribution profiles of cellulolytic and beta-glucosidase activities after gel filtration on Sephadex G-75 showed the presence of several active peaks. Glucose was the only product of hydrolysis when native cellulose was used as the substrate. Acid-swollen cellulose, when treated with cellulase free of beta-glucosidase activity, gave rise to glucose, cellobiose, and at least two higher molecular weight components which were also hydrolyzed in turn to cellobiose and glucose. The presence of a multiple cellulolytic enzyme system was indicated, the components of which may have specific roles in the degradation of cellulose.