Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.2.1.31 (beta-glucuronidase)
 7,680 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

Recent studies suggest that chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans in the retinal interphotoreceptor matrix (IPM) play a role in maintaining photoreceptor viability. We report herein studies on the retinas from mice with mucopolysaccharidosis type VII (MPS VII), a storage disorder resulting from virtual absence of beta-glucuronidase, an enzyme that is involved in the lysosomal degradation of chondroitin sulfate and other beta-glucuronide-containing proteoglycans. The distribution of IPM chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans was examined by immunohistochemistry and lectin-based histochemistry, and compared with the morphology of photoreceptor and retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) cells at various ages in MPS VII-affected mice. A number of lectins and antibodies were employed that react with epitopes of IPM chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans, including Triticum vulgaris agglutinin (WGA), Arachis hypogaea agglutinin (PNA), Phaseolus vulgaris agglutinin (PHA-L), and an antibody directed against chondroitin 6-sulfate (AC6S). In MPS VII-affected animals, slight shortening of photoreceptor outer segments occurs between postnatal months 1 and 8. This is associated with changes in the distribution of some of the IPM chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans and hypertrophy of the retinal pigmented epithelium due to the accumulation of cytoplasmic membrane-bounded vesicles. WGA- and PHA-L-, but not AC6S-binding glycoconjugates accumulate within the RPE of affected mice during this time. Immunoreactive chondroitin 6-sulfate is not observed within the RPE of affected animals, probably since the antibody employed does not label free chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycan fragments. A loss of the normal apical-basal distribution of chondroitin 6-sulfate and PHA-L-binding IPM proteoglycans is apparent by 4 postnatal months. In contrast, WGA-binding proteoglycan remains uniformly distributed through 8 months. Pyknotic photoreceptor nuclei are observed in months 2-5 and photoreceptor loss is observed by 6 months. Cone photoreceptor loss appears to occur prior to that of rod photoreceptors. These observations suggest that the absence of beta-glucuronidase in the RPE of MPS VII mice may lead to an altered distribution of at least some IPM chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans. The resultant changes in the biochemical composition and/or physical structure of the IPM may affect subsequently its photoreceptor cell-supportive function leading to photoreceptor degeneration.
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PMID:Photoreceptor degeneration and altered distribution of interphotoreceptor matrix proteoglycans in the mucopolysaccharidosis VII mouse. 850 May 64