A Review of: “Biological Recognition and Assembly,D. S. Eisenberg,J. A. Lake and C. F. Fox,Eds. Alan R. Liss,New York, 1980; hardbound, 355 pages, $52.00”

Two MMP-7-ase isoenzymes were purified 100-fold from rat muscle extract to apparent homogeneity, with an overall yield of 10%, using homogenization, ultracentrifugation, high-performance aqueous size-exclusion and high-performance anion exchange chromatography methods. When using a TSK G-2000SW column, the separation resulted in a 6-fold purification and 30% recovery of isoenzymes B and C. This concentrated enzyme extract was then passed through a TSK-DEAE-2SW column, using salt gradient at pH 7.5, with an additional 25-fold purification and 90% recovery of the isoenzymes. Two symmetrical enzyme peaks, representing isoenzymes B and C, were detected when performing purity tests of the active enzymes on the anion exchanger and reversed-phase HFLC columns. The procedures involved are extraction, ultracentri-fugation, chromatographies and enzyme assays and require less than five hours.     

Response to: Turner,R.E., J.E. Bodker,and C. Schulz. 2017. The belowground intersection of nutrients and buoyancy in a freshwater marsh. Wetlands Ecology & Management: 1–9

Wetlands Ecology and Management -     

A Review of: “Progress in Separation and Purification Vol. 3, E. S. Perry and C. J,van Oss,eds., Willy/Intersciencc,New York, 1970; xi + 316 pares; hard cover; 515.95”

The optimal culture conditions of exopolysaccharides (EPS) production in submerged culture medium by Pleurotus geesteranus 5 ^# were determined using an orthogonal matrix method. The optimal defined medium (per liter) was 60.0 g maltose, 5.0 g tryptone, 1 mM NaCl, 5 mM KH₂PO₄, and initial pH 6.0 at 28 °C. In the optimal culture medium, the maximum EPS production was 16.97 g/L in a shake flask. Two groups of EPSs (designated as Fr-I and Fr-II) were obtained from the culture filtrates by size exclusion chromatography (SEC), and their molecular characteristics were examined by a multiangle laser-light scattering (MALLS) and refractive index (RI) detector system. The approximate weight-average molar masses of the Fr-I and Fr-II of EPS were determined to be 3.263 × 10⁴ and 5.738 × 10³ g/mol, respectively. The low values of polydispersity ratio (1.176 and 1.124 for Fr-I and Fr-II, respectively) of EPSs mean that these EPS molecules exist much less dispersed in aqueous solution without forming large aggregates. Furthermore, the experiments in vitro indicated that P. geesteranus 5^# EPS exhibit high antitumor and antioxidative effects.     

Bioactive carbohydrates—In chemistry,biochemistry, and biology: By J. F. Kennedy and C. A. White,Halsted Press,New York, 1983, 331 pp. $79.95

A method for analysis of plasma adenosine which combines the principles of radioisotope dilution and enzymatic catalysis is presented. Plasma from venous heparinized blood containing the adenosine deaminase inhibitor 2′-deoxycoformycin is mixed with a small amount of [³H]adenosine and extracted with perchloric acid. Using highly purified enzyme and [γ-³²P]GTP as the phosphate donor, the neutralized extract then serves as substrate for adenosine kinase, and the AMP product is purified by high-performance liquid chromatography. Adenosine concentrations in plasma are linearly proportional to ${}^{32}\text{P}{}^3\text{H}$ ratios in the enzymatically synthesized AMP and are calculated from a standard curve. The advantages of the method are: ease of sample preparation; sensitivity of 20 nm in as little as 0.3 ml plasma; 20 samples per day can be analyzed by a single operator. Care must be used when obtaining plasma since cellular contamination will affect results. Using this assay, human plasma adenosine levels are 0.121 ± 0.054 μm for males and 0.101 ± 0.067 μm for females.