In a previous study on heparin biosynthesis, incubation of a mouse mastocytoma microsomal fraction with UDP-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and UDP-D-glucuronic acid resulted in the formation of two nonsulfated polysaccharides, one of which was fully N-acetylated whereas the other contained about equal amounts of Nacetylated and N-unsubstituted glucosamine residues. In the presence of 3’-phosphoadenylyl...

Chitosan is a partially deacetylated linear polysaccharide composed of ?-1,4-linked units d-glucosamine and N-acetyl glucosamine. As well as structural component fungal cell walls, chitosan potent antifungal agent. However, the mode action poorly understood. Here, we report that effective for control rice blast disease. application impairs growth fungus Magnaporthe oryzae has pronounced effect ...

BACKGROUND The role of lectins is important in interaction between pathogens and mosquito vectors. This study was performed to identify agglutinin activities of protein molecules on the midgut of Culex pipiens. METHODS Culex pipiens was reared in insectray condition and the midguts of males and females (blood fed and unfed) were dissected separately in Tris-HCl buffer. The extracts of midguts...

Chitooligosaccharides (COS) are homo- or hetero-oligomers of D-glucosamine (GlcN) and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc) that can be obtained by chitosan chitin hydrolysis. Their enzymatic production is preferred over other methodologies (physical, chemical, etc.) due to the mild conditions required, fewer amounts waste its efficiency control product composition. By properly selecting enzyme (chit...

BACKGROUND Two sequential enzymes in the production of sialic acids, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine 2-epimerase (GlcNAc 2-epimerase) and N-acetyl-D-neuraminic acid aldolase (Neu5Ac aldolase), were overexpressed as double-tagged gene fusions. Both were tagged with glutathione S-transferase (GST) at the N-terminus, but at the C-terminus, one was tagged with five contiguous aspartate residues (5D), and th...

Two major components of pineapple bromelain, purified to electrophoretical homogeneity, appeared to have the same oligosaccharide group consisting of n-glucosamine, n-mannose, D-xylose, and L-fucose in ratios of 2:2: 1: 1. By exhaustive proteolysis of the bromelains, glycopeptides containing only Asx, Glx, and Ser were obtained. Periodate oxidation, methylation, and glycosidase digestion showed...

Many patients with arthritis are using alternative modes of therapy, including nutritional supplements, to treat their arthritis. Most patients never tell their doctors that they are taking alternative medications, and few doctors even ask about such activities. Over-the-counter supplements are expensive and consume large amounts of patients' healthcare dollars. Glucosamine has been widely tout...

Proteoglycan synthesis is dependent on N-acetyl glucosamine (GlcNAc) produced by the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway or obtained exogenously. Although used therapeutically to relieve symptoms of osteoarthritis, the actions of glucosamine and its analogs on cartilage are poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects on chondrocytes of N-acylated-glucosamine analogs be...