Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:4.2.2.7 (heparinase)
 1,270 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The effect of specific glycosaminoglycan-hydrolyzing enzymes on the ruthenium red staining of pig spermatozoa was studied. Washed spermatozoa were incubated at 35 degrees C in buffer or with neuraminidase 0.5 units/ml, heparinase 0.2 mg/ml, or chondroitinase ABC 2.0 units/ml. After incubation sperm cells were washed, stained with ruthenium red and studied under the electron microscope. Anionic sites in the surface of untreated spermatozoa follow regularly the plasma membrane, but present are numerous processes constituting what has been defined as the glycocalyx. Neuraminidase did not affect the distribution of ruthenium red on the surface of the spermatozoa, but eliminated almost completely the processes of the glycocalyx. Heparinase caused loss of the ruthenium red-stained sites on the membrane surface of pig spermatozoa with less influence on the dense processes of the glycocalyx. A similar loss of ruthenium red-stained sites was observed with nitrous acid treatment. A striking effect of treatment with chondroitinase ABC was the production of a typical acrosome reaction.
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PMID:Glycosaminoglycan-sulfate as plasma membrane component of pig spermatozoa. 169 1

Using size- uniform mixtures of di-, tetra-, octa- and decasaccharides obtained from the depolymerization of heparin with heparinase, we have studied the activity that these low molecular weight heparin fragments may have on the acrosome reaction and sperm nuclei decondensation processess. Swelling of human spermatozoa nuclei was stimulated by heparin and their fragments and was dependent on the incubation time and directly correlated with the size of the fragment tested. Disaccharides were unable to increase the number of swollen nuclei. At short times (2-8 hrs) decasaccharides were the most active substances tested, including heparin. Only heparin and the tetra- and decasaccharides showed a significant increase in the number of acrosome-reacted spermatozoa, both fragments were more active than heparin at 2 hour incubation. Hexa- and octasaccharides induced a slight increase in the number of acrosome reacted spermatozoa and disaccharides were ineffective. The presence in animal systems of oligosaccharides derived from macromolecules and having specific biochemical properties, remembers the recent discovery of to those mediated by oligosaccharins in plants may exist in animals.
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PMID:Size-uniform heparin fragments as nuclear decondensation and acrosome reaction inducers in human spermatozoa. 283 77