scholarly journals The macromolecular properties of blood-group-specific glycoproteins. Characterization of a series of fractions obtained by density-gradient ultracentrifugation

1974 ◽  
Vol 143 (3) ◽  
pp. 669-679 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Ramakrishnan Bhaskar ◽  
J. Michael Creeth

1. Equilibrium density-gradient ultracentrifugation in caesium salts was used in two stages in the isolation and subfractionation of the glycoprotein component from a human ovarian-cyst fluid. The eight main subfractions thus obtained were the subject of detailed physicochemical characterization. 2. The fractions were unimodal in buoyant-density distribution, but had discrete ρ0 values ranging from 1.31 to 1.35. 3. Weight-average molecular weights and sedimentation coefficients decreased regularly with decreasing density of the fraction, whereas the partial specific volumes and selective solvation parameters increased. The latter behaviour correlates well with the increasing peptide content of the lighter fractions. 4. The fractions exhibited a range of analytical composition, although all were within the limits previously observed for blood-group substances of Lea specificity. All fractions had approximately equal Lea activity. The peptide content varied systematically from 7% for the densest fraction to 15% for the lightest, but the relative distributions of the amino acids remained essentially constant throughout the series. In particular, serine plus threonine plus proline made up about 50% of the peptide content of all the fractions. Fucose, galactose and N-acetylglucosamine contents decreased with increasing peptide content of the fractions, but N-acetylgalactosamine and sialic acid exhibited the opposite trend. Molar ratios of N-acetylgalactosamine to the sum of serine and threonine remained essentially constant at 0.8–0.9, implying a high degree of glycosylation of all the molecules, but the ratio of N-acetylglucosamine to N-acetylgalactosamine decreased steadily with increasing peptide content, suggesting the presence of oligosaccharide side chains of various lengths. The results are discussed in terms of the accepted structure of glycoprotein molecules. 5. Experiments on the glycoproteins extracted with phenol from the same cyst fluid have confirmed that equilibrium centrifugation in caesium salts does not remove any non-covalently bound protein nor cause any changes in the tertiary structures of these glycoprotein molecules.

1970 ◽  
Vol 117 (5) ◽  
pp. 879-891 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Creeth ◽  
M. A. Denborough

1. The method of sedimentation equilibrium in a gradient of caesium chloride has been applied to the preparation of blood-group-specific glycoproteins from human ovarian-cyst fluids: it is shown that virtually complete separation from contaminating protein is easily accomplished in a single step. 2. The glycoproteins isolated in this way have been characterized by analytical density-gradient experiments in both caesium chloride and caesium sulphate and values of the buoyant density, selective solvation and apparent molecular weight have been obtained. 3. In some cases, materials prepared from the same cysts by solvent extraction methods have also been characterized in these terms. 4. The selective solvation values are about 0.1 and 0.5g of water/g of glycoprotein in caesium chloride and caesium sulphate respectively. 5. The apparent molecular-weight values are much lower than the weight-average molecular weights, and it is shown that the origin of the discrepancy is heterogeneity in density of the glycoproteins. 6. Some sources of error in the interpretation of density-gradient schlieren patterns are examined.


1974 ◽  
Vol 143 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Michael Creeth ◽  
K. Ramakrishnan Bhaskar ◽  
Alastair S. R. Donald ◽  
Walter T. J. Morgan

1. The glycoprotein components of a human ovarian-cyst fluid were isolated by a solvent [95% (w/w) phenol]-extraction procedure; the phenol-insoluble water-soluble glycoprotein was further fractionated by (NH4)2SO4 and by ethanol to yield eight fractions. 2. The fractions were analysed in terms of amino acids, fucose, galactose, N-acetylglucosamine, N-acetylgalactosamine and sialic acid. Variations occurred, particularly in the proportion of peptide; these were partly correlated with varying extent of serological activity. 3. The fractions were characterized physicochemically in terms of buoyant density and degree of spreading in a density gradient, sedimentation velocity and molecular weight; their partial specific volumes and specific refraction increments were also determined. 4. The fractions showed wide variations in their sedimentation-velocity and density-gradient patterns, and gave evidence of pauci-dispersity in density. The fraction regarded as the most typical blood-group-specific glycoprotein sedimented as a single rapidly spreading peak and was of high molecular weight. 5. Significant correlations were observed between the physical properties of the glycoprotein fractions and the amount of their peptide component. The buoyant densities and sedimentation coefficients varied in a manner that suggested the existence of two families of glycoproteins. 6. It is suggested that variability in the extent of glycosylation, or in the degree of cross-linking, might account for the two families of glycoproteins, and that the extent of cross-linkage might also be a factor determining the solubility of these glycoproteins in hot saturated (NH4)2SO4.


1983 ◽  
Vol 209 (2) ◽  
pp. 461-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Londei ◽  
A Teichner ◽  
P Cammarano ◽  
M De Rosa ◽  
A Gambacorta

1. The ribosomal subunits of one thermoacidophilic archaebacterium (Caldariella acidophila) and of two reference eubacterial species (Bacillus acidocaldarius, Escherichia coli) were compared with respect to ribosome mass and protein composition by (i) equilibrium-density sedimentation of the particles in CsCl and (ii) gel-electrophoretic estimations of the molecular weights of the protein and the rRNA. 2. By either procedure, it is estimated that synthetically active archaebacterial 30S subunits (52% protein by wt.) are appreciably richer in protein than the corresponding eubacterial particles (31% protein by wt.) 3. The greater protein content of the archaebacterial 30S subunits is accounted for by both a larger number and a greater average molecular weight of the subunit proteins; specifically, C. acidophila 30S subunits yield 28 proteins whose combined mass is 0.6×10(6) Da, compared with 20 proteins totalling 0.35×10(6) Da mass for eubacterial 30S subunits. 4. No differences in protein number are detected among the large subunits, but C. acidophila 50S subunits exhibit a greater number-average molecular weight of their protein components than do eubacterial 50S particles. 5. Particle weights estimated by either buoyant-density data, or molecular weights of rRNA plus protein, agree to within less than 2%. By either procedure C. acidophila 30S subunits 1.15×10(6) Da mass) are estimated to be about 300 000 Da heavier than their eubacterial counterparts (0.87×10(6) Da mass); a smaller difference. 0.15×10(6) Da, exists between the archaebacterial and the eubacterial 50S subunits (respectively 1.8×10(6) and 1.65×10(6) Da). It is concluded that the heavier-than-eubacterial mass of the C. acidophila ribosomes resides principally in their smaller subunits.


1979 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 656-659 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Shizukuishi ◽  
T. Taniguchi ◽  
S. Shibata ◽  
R. Nakamura ◽  
A. Tsunemitsu ◽  
...  

a-L-Fucosidase isolated from the growth culture of Streptococcus sanguis ATCC 10557 acted on H- and Leb-blood group substances in porcine gastric lining, human gastric lining, human ovarian cyst fluid and human whole saliva, with consequent loss of H- and Leb -activities and a concomitant increase of Lea activity.


1979 ◽  
Vol 181 (3) ◽  
pp. 717-724 ◽  
Author(s):  
J M Creeth ◽  
J L Bridge ◽  
J R Horton

1. Some mucus glycoproteins form soluble complexes with lysozyme at neutral pH values. 2. The extent of complex-formation was determined, by an ultracentrifugal difference method, for a range of glycoproteins covering the common blood-group specificities. 3. Interaction was strongest with those glycoproteins of blood-group Lea specificity; these were also richest in sialic acid. 4. Interaction diminished with increase of ionic strength, and was not detectable at I 0.50; however, an asialoglycoprotein was found to retain some activity. The interaction is accordingly primarily, but probably not exclusively, coulombic in origin. 5. The buoyant density of lysozyme in CsCl, CsBr, CsI and Cs2SO4 was determined; the values in the last three salts are anomalously high. This finding accounts for the previously noted difficulty of separating free protein from glycoproteins by single-stage centrifugation in CsBr. 6. Conditions for effective separation of glycoproteins from secretions containing lysozyme by density-gradient centrifugation are reported.


1983 ◽  
Vol 244 (5) ◽  
pp. E513-E516 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Tall ◽  
C. B. Blum ◽  
S. M. Grundy

The incorporation of orally administered phospholipid into plasma high-density lipoproteins (HDL) was studied in three subjects. Plasma was analyzed by equilibrium density gradient ultracentrifugation, 5, 6, and 8 h after ingestion of 1.1 g [3H-choline, 14C-dilinoleoyl]phosphatidylcholine. At all time points in all subjects, there was a peak of phosphatidylcholine specific activity in fractions of density approximately 1.10-1.13 g/ml, corresponding to the subclass previously designated HDL2a. There was also a more variable, smaller peak of specific activity of phospholipids in HDL2b (1.063-1.100 g/ml) and in fractions of density approximately 1.19 g/ml. In the 1.10-1.13 fraction, 97 and 71%, respectively, of the 3H and 14C radioactivity were in phospholipids. The 3H/14C ratio was similar in phospholipids of HDL subfractions, the d less than 1.07 fraction, and in the administered phospholipid. The results show preferential transfer or exchange or absorbed phosphatidylcholine into specific subclasses of HDL.


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