Distribution of lysosomal hydrolases in glomerular and tubular fractions of rabbit kidney cortex

Potentilla fulgens (Family Rosaceae), a medicinal plant of north-east India: a natural anthelmintic?

The cestode parasite, Raillietina echinobothrida and the trematode, Gastrothylax crumenifer were exposed to the ethanolic root peel extract of Potentilla fulgens, an antiparasitic local medicinal plant of Meghalaya, India, to evaluate the anthelmintic efficacy of the plant. The parasites were incubated in 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 mg crude alcoholic extract per ml of phosphate buffered saline (PBS) at a temperature of 37 ± 1°C. Paralysis and death were observed at 2.00 ± 0.05 and 2.80 ± 0.06 h for the cestode and 1.21 ± 0.06 and 2.18 ± 0.04 h for the trematode parasites at the highest test concentration of the plant extract. The commercial anthelmintic, Praziquantel (PZQ) showed higher activity at the tested concentration (0.02 mg/ml). To further investigate the efficacy of the plant extract, vital tegumental enzymes of the parasite viz. Acid phosphatase (AcPase), Alkaline phosphatase (AlkPase) and Adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) were studied. Quantitatively, the total enzyme activity of AcPase, AlkPase and ATPase was found to be reduced significantly by 69.20, 66.43 and 29.63% for R. echinobothrida and 47.96, 51.79 and 42.63% for G. crumenifer, respectively compared to the respective controls; histochemical study also showed reduction in the visible staining of the enzymes. The reference drug, PZQ also showed more or less similar effect like that of the plant extract. The result suggests that phytochemicals of P. fulgens have anthelmintic potential.

Isolation and purification of bovine myeloperoxidase from neutrophil granules

Bovine myeloperoxidase (MPO) was isolated and purified from neutrophil granules using protein extraction at pH 4 and gel filtration combined with fast protein liquid chromatography. The extracted protein was identified as MPO based on its absorption spectrum, amino acid composition, peroxidase activity and polypeptide structure. Bovine neutrophils contained three different forms of MPO (I, II and III). When subjected to sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis each of the three purified forms showed two distinct bands corresponding to heavy and light polypeptide chains of approximately 57,000 and 15,000 molecular radius. Amino acid analysis of the three forms showed that there was an overall similarity between them. Slight differences were found between MPO Form III and the other two forms. The three forms of bovine MPO were shown to differ in their specific enzyme activities in a luminol-dependent chemiluminescence assay. MPO Form III showed the highest enzyme activity. The amount recovered during purification of the respective MPO forms varied, with the recovery being highest for MPO I. Our findings suggest that there are intrinsic differences between the three forms of bovine MPO. In terms of their amino acid composition and molecular weight, the bovine MPO closely resembled human and canine MPO.

Partial purification and characterization of acid phosphatase from sporulated oocysts of Eimeria tenella

Acid phosphatase of Eimeria tenella oocysts (Peak II) was purified 77-fold with a recovery of 26% using protamine sulfate precipitation, DEAE-cellulose chromatography and Sephadex G-200 gel filtration. This enzyme occurs in multiple forms as indicated by two peaks which can be separated by DEAE-cellulose chromatography and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The partially purified enzyme has optimal activity at pH 4.5. With p-nitrophenyl phosphate the Km and Vmax values for (Peak II) were 25 mM and 1.57 mumol/min/mg protein, respectively. The enzyme (Peak II) is strongly inhibited by Hg++, Cu++, iodoacetamide, fluoride and molybdate. Tartrate and other divalent metal ions have no effect on enzyme activity. The partially purified Peak II phosphatase is not a glycoprotein as it is not absorbed on concanavalin-A Sepharose and its treatment with bacterial neuraminidase does not alter its elution profile through DEAE cellulose.

Acid hydrolases of the coccidian Eimeria tenella

Activities of acid hydrolases were higher in sporozoites of Eimeria tenella than in unsporulated and sporulated oocysts. These enzymes along with proteinases may be involved in the penetration of epithelial cells of chicken cecum by sporozoites.

Multiple forms of myeloperoxidase from human neutrophilic granulocytes: evidence for differences in compartmentalization, enzymatic activity, and subunit structure

Multiple forms of myeloperoxidase from normal human neutrophilic granulocytes obtained from a single donor can be resolved by carboxymethyl (CM)-cellulose ion-exchange column chromatography into three forms (I, II, and III) designated in order of elution of adsorbed enzyme using a linear salt gradient. Selective solubilization of individual forms of the enzyme by detergent (form I) or high-ionic-strength procedures (forms II and III) suggested that these forms of the enzyme were compartmentalized differently. All three forms were purified by a combination of preferential extraction, manipulation of ionic strength, and ion-exchange and molecular sieve chromatography. Purified forms II and III had similar specific activities for a variety of substrates. Form I was less active toward several of these same substrates, most notably iodide, with a specific activity about one-half that of forms II and III. All forms had similar spectral properties characteristic of a type alpha heme. The amino acid compositions of the three forms were similar, yet significant differences were found in selected residues such as the charged amino acids. Native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis resolved small differences in mobility between the forms which were consistent with the charge heterogeneity observed on CM-cellulose. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis data were consistent with the generally accepted subunit structure of two heavy chains and two light chains. All three forms contained a small-molecular-weight subunit of Mr 11,500. Form I contained a large subunit of Mr 63,000, while forms II and III contained a corresponding subunit of Mr approximately 57,500. We conclude that heterogeneity of human myeloperoxidase is accompanied by differences in cellular compartmentalization, enzymatic activity, and subunit structure.