Pyruvic acid is an immunological determinant of the quite rigorously type-specific capsular polysaccharide of pneumococcal type IV (S IV). Removal of pyruvic acid by mild hydrolysis converts the capsular polysaccharide of type IV into an analog of the pneumococcal group-specific C-substance. Depyruvylated S IV resembles C-substance so closely immunologically that it not only precipitates a high...

While the yolk traverses the hen oviduct, albumen, shell membranes, and the calcified shell are successively secreted (3). The isthmus, a short section 2 to 8 cm in length, synthesizes and secretes the inner shell membrane, a lace-like envelope composed of fibers of an acid glycoprotein (see below). A number of nucleotides have been shown to occur in the isthmus, including cytosine diphosphate ...

The macrophage and epithelial cell mannose receptor (MR) binds carbohydrates on foreign and host molecules. Two portions of MR recognize carbohydrates: tandemly arranged C-type lectin domains facilitate carbohydrate-dependent macrophage uptake of infectious organisms, and the NH(2)-terminal cysteine-rich domain (Cys-MR) binds to sulfated glycoproteins including pituitary hormones. To elucidate ...

We have previously documented the properties of a approximately 220-kDa cell surface glycosyltransferase that transfers N-acetylgalactosamine to oligosaccharide chains (Balsamo et al., 1986b). Because N-acetylgalactosamine-terminated carbohydrates are concentrated at the neuromuscular junction (Scott et al., 1988), we assayed skeletal muscle for the presence of the N-acetylgalactosaminyl transf...

An α-N-acetylgalactosamine-containing quenched activity-based probe (qABP) was designed and successfully synthesized, and it was subsequently used in directed enzyme evolution experiments aided by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) for the discovery of an α-N-acetylgalactosaminidase variant with improved catalytic activity.

Nucleotide sugar transporters play an essential role in protein and lipid glycosylation, and mutations can result in developmental phenotypes. We have characterized a transporter of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine and UDP-N-acetylgalactosamine encoded by the Caenorhabditis elegans gene C03H5.2. Surprisingly, translocation of these substrates occurs in an independent and simultaneous manner that is neit...