Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.2.1.23 (beta-galactosidase)
 14,648 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Adler and Martin (1983, Curr. Eye Res. 2, 359-66) found cathepsin D to be present in crude preparations of bovine interphotoreceptor matrix (IPM). The purpose of the present study was to determine, by investigating several acid hydrolases in purer IPM samples, whether hydrolytic enzymes abundant in RPE lysosomes were present also as normal components of the IPM. IPM was prepared from bovine eyes by the introduction of a small bleb of buffer between the neural retina and the RPE. These IPM samples were free from significant contamination by surrounding tissues; they contained IRBP as their only major protein, and had negligible amounts of lactate dehydrogenase and ROS-specific proteins. Most acid hydrolases were assayed fluorometrically by measuring the 4-methylumbelliferone released upon hydrolysis of appropriate derivatives; the substrate for cathepsin was hemoglobin. The amounts of the enzymes found in the IPM were far from uniform and could not be correlated with enzyme activities in either RPE or retina homogenates. The hydrolases in the IPM varied in amount from beta-galactosidase (28% of the RPE level), through N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase (20%), alpha-fucosidase (15%), beta-glucuronidase (12%), alpha-glucosidase (8%), cathepsin D (7%), alpha-mannosidase (7%), down to beta-glucosidase, acid phosphatase, and acid lipase (trace amounts, less than 1%). These results agree with the relative amounts of enzymes found by Wilcox (1987) to be secreted into the medium by cultured human RPE cells. Furthermore, the rank order of hydrolases in the IPM is the same as that for hydrolases secreted (but not recaptured) by human fibroblasts in I-cell disease. The conclusion from these correlations is that lysosomal enzymes are probably secreted, as a normal process, by the RPE into the IPM, where they may have a role in digesting shed outer segments and in catabolizing IPM components.
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PMID:Selective presence of acid hydrolases in the interphotoreceptor matrix. 261 85

We have recently noted marked reductions in the electroretinographic (ERG) b-wave in HIBA transgenic mice expressing bcl-2 under control of the human IRBP promoter. These electrophysiological results are unexpected as this promoter has been shown to specifically target transgene expression to the rod and cone photoreceptors. Here, we have carried out a series of studies to better understand this result. ERGs were recorded from three lines of HIBA transgenic mice. Mice with higher levels of transgene expression developed progressive photoreceptor degeneration, and an associated reduction in the ERG a-wave. These higher-expressing lines also exhibited a severe reduction in the ERG b-wave that affected both rod- and cone-mediated responses. These mice were mated to L7 transgenic mice, which express beta-galactosidase in bipolar cells. In double transgenic mice, the ERG b-wave reduction was associated with a decrease in the number of bipolar cells in the inner retina. These results indicate that bcl-2, targeted to photoreceptors, can induce bipolar cell degeneration, and indicate that the potential benefit for bcl-2 in treating hereditary retinal disease appears limited.
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PMID:Loss of bipolar cells resulting from the expression of bcl-2 directed by the IRBP promoter. 1295 46