Highly purified acidic (pI 4.9) and basic (pI 8.7) phospholipases A2 from snake (Agkistrodon halys blomhoffii) venom hydrolyzed approximately 20% and 60%, respectively, of the phosphatidylcholine (PC) of intact human erythrocytes prior to hemolysis. Sequential use of the acidic enzyme followed by the basic phospholipase A2 or vice versa manifested a characteristic PC hydrolysis pattern. For exa...

The breakdown of aggrecan in cartilage is, in part, mediated by an enzyme named aggrecanase that cleaves within the interglobular domain of the molecule between a glutamic residue and an alanine residue. Although the enzyme cleavage site has been identified, the identity, characteristics and localization of this enzyme remain unclear. We have demonstrated that membranes isolated from stimulated...

There are two distinct cyclic AMP phosphodiesterases associated with the liver mitochondrion: one with the outer membrane and one with the inner membrane. No activity is associated with the lysosomal fraction. Both of the enzymes are peripheral proteins and can be released from the membranes by high-ionic-strength treatment. Treatment of intact mitochondria with trypsin and insoluble trypsin lo...

A B S T R A C T The specific activity of 5'-nucleotidase was determined in lymphocyte plasma membranes from 14 normal subjects and 10 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Whereas the enzyme was present in the preparation from normal lymphocytes, in 7 out of 10 CLL patients the membranes had markedly decreased or no detectable 5'-nucleotidase activity. The lack of this activity from...

severe problem: when they are able to degrade a membrane structure, the structure of a membranebound enzyme may be altered simultaneously. This may result not simply in an inactivation of an enzyme (e.g. Mg2+-ATPase; Schoner et al., 1967; J0rgensen & Skou, 1969) but rather in an alteration of some, e.g. kinetic, properties. The present paper describes some results on the side effects ofEDTA and...

11-cis retinol dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.105) catalyses the last step in the biosynthetic pathway generating 11-cis retinaldehyde, the common chromophore of all visual pigments in higher animals. The enzyme is abundantly expressed in retinal pigment epithelium of the eye and is a member of the short chain dehydrogenase/reductase superfamily. In this work we demonstrate that a majority of 11-cis r...

olipin and is responsible for increased catalysis, whereas direct interaction between CT V< 5 and acidic PLA 2 inhibits enzyme activity. It is concluded tha t variabilít} in substrate composition and the chemical nature of both PLA 2 and cationic peptide determine whether enzyme activity is affected by substrate packing or by direct enzyme-peptide interaction. Models of interactions of PLA 2 wi...

On a substrate of rostral/caudal tectal membrane stripes of adult fish, regenerating temporal retinal axons avoid the caudal membranes. Thus they behave like embryonic chick axons on chick E9 membranes. The caudal membranes of adult fish contain a repellent component that, as has previously been shown in the chick, is inactivated by the enzyme PI-PLC. Fish axons respond not only to their own bu...