Various models proposed for heparin have been examined by a stereochemical approach involving contact distance criteria and potential energy calculations. The present study suggests that the model favored by Atkins and coworkers [Biochem. J . (1973) 135,729-733 and (1974) 143,251-2521 is not stereochemically satisfactory. An alternative model has been proposed with N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and on...

We tested the carbon substrate assimilation patterns of 40 Corynebacterium amycolatum strains, 19 C. minutissimum strains, 50 C. striatum strains, and 1 C. xerosis strain with the Biotype 100 system (bioMérieux, Marcy-l'Etoile, France). Twelve carbon substrates of 99 allowed discrimination among the species tested. Additionally, assimilation of 3 of these 12 carbon substrates (maltose, N-acetyl...

In allosteric regulation, protein activity is altered when ligand binding causes changes in the protein conformational distribution. Little is known about which aspects of protein design lead to effective allosteric regulation, however. To increase understanding of the relation between protein structure and allosteric effects, we have developed theoretical tools to quantify the influence of pro...

Mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIB is a devastating neurological disease caused by lack of the lysosomal enzyme, α-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAGLU), leading to toxic accumulation heparan sulfate. Herein we explored pharmacological chaperone approach enhance residual activity NAGLU in patient fibroblasts. Capitalizing on three-dimensional structures two modest homoiminosugar-based inhibitors complex...

Purpose: Hyperpigmentation occurs when melanin is overproduced in certain spots on the skin and is one of the most challenging skin conditions to treat. Although it is usually harmless, for cosmetic reasons, it is dreadfully bothersome to those who undergo it. It was reported that N-acetyl-glucosamine (NAGA) prevents melanin synthesis and alters the expression of numerous genes related to pigme...

Understanding microsecond-timescale dynamics is crucial to establish three-dimensional (3D) structure-activity relationships in sugars but has been intractable to experiments and simulations. As a consequence, whether arguably the most important chemical scaffold in glycobiology, N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (GlcNAc), deviates from a rigid (4)C(1) chair is unknown. Here, conformer populations and exc...

This study was designed to determine the time in the intracellular life of immunoglobulin when the carbohydrate moieties are added . Plasma cells from a mouse myeloma tumor were exposed to glucosamine-3H (a "bridge" sugar), galactose-3H, or leucine3H. With each of the above isotopes, the percentage of total radioactive immunoglobulin that has been secreted after different periods of labeling an...

The biopolymer is characterized as either chitin or chitosan according to the degree of deacetylation (DD) which is determined by the proportion of D-glucosamine and N-acetylD-glucosamine. Structurally, chitosan is a straight-chain copolymer composed of D-glucosamine and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine being obtained by the partial deacetylation of chitin. Chitosan is the most abundant basic biopolymer ...