scholarly journals Mucus glycoproteins from cystic fibrotic sputum. Macromolecular properties and structural ‘architecture’

1991 ◽  
Vol 276 (3) ◽  
pp. 667-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
D J Thornton ◽  
J K Sheehan ◽  
H Lindgren ◽  
I Carlstedt

Mucus glycoproteins (mucins) were isolated from sputum of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) after separation into sol and gel phases. The mucus gel was solubilized with gentle stirring in 6 M-guanidinium chloride supplemented with proteinase inhibitors, and purification of mucins was subsequently achieved by isopycnic density-gradient centrifugation in CsCl/guanidinium chloride. Density-gradient centrifugation also revealed a heterogeneity of the macromolecules, the pattern of which varied between individuals, and mucins from the gel phase was pooled as ‘heavy’ and ‘light’ fractions. Gel chromatography on Sepharose CL-2B showed that the heavy fraction contained a larger proportion of smaller species than the ‘light’ fraction and that the gel phase mucins were much larger than those from the sol. An apparently homogeneous high-Mr mucin population from one individual contained approx. 70% (w/w) carbohydrate, the major sugars being N-acetylglucosamine (17.8%), N-acetylgalactosamine (6.7%), galactose (20.7%), fucose (13.2%) and sialic acid (11.4%). These mucins had an S020.w of 47 S, and an Mr of 15 x 10(6) -20 x 10(6), and rate-zonal centrifugation revealed a polydisperse size distribution [range (5-30) x 10(6)] with a weight-average Mr of 17 x 10(6). The whole mucins were visualized with electron microscopy as linear and apparently flexible threads, disperse in size. Reduction produced subunits which were included on Sepharose CL-2B, and subsequent trypsin digestion yielded high-Mr glycopeptides which were further retarded. The size distributions and fragmentation patterns of mucin from two other CF patients were the same, as studied by gel chromatography, rate-zonal centrifugation and electron microscopy. We conclude that CF mucins are heterogeneous in both size and buoyant density and that the various populations, though differing in buoyant density, share the same architecture and macromolecular properties and are, in this respect, similar to mucins from normal respiratory secretions [Thornton, Davies, Kraayenbrink, Richardson, Sheehan & Carlstedt (1990) Biochem. J. 265, 179-186] and human cervical mucus [Carlstedt & Sheehan (1989) SEB Symp. XLIII 289-316].

1990 ◽  
Vol 265 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
D J Thornton ◽  
J R Davies ◽  
M Kraayenbrink ◽  
P S Richardson ◽  
J K Sheehan ◽  
...  

Mucous secretions were collected from tracheas of patients undergoing minor surgery under general anaesthesia with tracheal intubation, and mucus glycoproteins were isolated by using isopycnic density-gradient centrifugation in CsCl/guanidinium chloride. ‘Whole’ mucins were excluded from a Sepharose CL-2B gel, whereas subunits obtained after reduction were included. Trypsin digestion of subunits afforded high-Mr glycopeptides (T-domains), which were further included in the gel. The latter fragments are heterogeneous and comprise two or three populations, as indicated by gel chromatography and ion-exchange h.p.l.c. Rate-zonal centrifugation showed that the ‘whole’ mucins are polydisperse in size, with a weight-average Mr of (14-16) x 10(6). The macromolecules were observed by electron microscopy, as linear and apparently flexible thread-like structures. Subunits and T-domains had weight-average contour lengths of 490 nm and 160 nm respectively. It is concluded that mucus glycoproteins are present in secretions from the healthy lower respiratory tract. The ‘whole’ tracheal mucins are assembled from subunits, which in turn can be fragmented into high-Mr glycopeptides corresponding to the oligosaccharide domains typically found in mucus glycoproteins. The size and macromolecular architecture of the tracheal mucins is thus similar to that observed for mucins from human cervical mucus, chronic bronchitic sputum and pig stomach, providing yet another example of this general design of these macromolecules, i.e. subunits assembled end-to-end into very large linear and flexible macromolecules.


1983 ◽  
Vol 211 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Carlstedt ◽  
H Lindgren ◽  
J K Sheehan ◽  
U Ulmsten ◽  
L Wingerup

Mucus glycoproteins (mucins) were extracted from human cervical pregnancy mucus by 6 M-guanidinium chloride in the presence of proteinase inhibitors. Purification was subsequently achieved by isopycnic density-gradient centrifugation in CsCl/ guanidinium chloride gradients. The purified macromolecules represented approx. 85% of the total and were devoid of nucleic acids and proteins, as judged by analytical density-gradient centrifugation, disc electrophoresis and u.v. spectroscopy. Sedimentation-velocity centrifugation revealed a single unimodal peak with S20,W 50.1S in 0.2M-NaCl and 37.0S in 6 M-guanidinium chloride. Molecular weights obtained by light-scattering were 9.7 × 10(6) and 5.9 × 10(6) in 0.2M-NaCl and 6 M-guanidinium chloride respectively. The chemical analyses were typical of those of epithelial mucins. The macromolecules contained approx. 20% (w/w) of protein, and 65% (w/w) was accounted for as carbohydrate. Serine and threonine constituted 32 mol/100 mol and proline 10 mol/100 mol of the amino acids. The major sugars found were N-acetylglucosamine (12.8%), N-acetylgalactosamine (9.7%), galactose (18.7%), sialic acid (15.0%) and fucose (7.5%).


2000 ◽  
Vol 351 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claes WICKSTRÖM ◽  
Cecilia CHRISTERSSON ◽  
Julia R. DAVIES ◽  
Ingemar CARLSTEDT

Stimulated human submandibular/sublingual (HSMSL) and whole saliva were separated into sol and gel phases and mucins were isolated by density-gradient centrifugation in CsCl/4M guanidinium chloride. MUC5B and MUC7 were identified using anti-peptide antisera raised against sequences within the MUC5B and MUC7 apoproteins respectively. MUC7 was found mainly in the sol phase of both HSMSL and whole saliva, but some MUC7 was consistently present in the gel phase, suggesting that this mucin may interact with the salivary gel matrix. In HSMSL saliva, MUC5B was found in the gel phase; however, most of the material was ‘insoluble’in guanidinium chloride and was only brought into solution by reduction. In whole saliva, the MUC5B mucin was present both in the sol and gel phases although some material was again ‘insoluble’. Rate-zonal centrifugation of whole saliva showed that MUC5B mucins in the sol phase were smaller than those in the gel phase, suggesting differences in oligomerization and/or degradation. Antibodies against IgA, secretory component, lysozyme and lactoferrin were used to study the distribution of non-gel-forming proteins in the different phases of saliva. The majority of these proteins was found in the sol phase of both HSMSL and whole saliva. However, a significant fraction was present in the gel phase of whole saliva, suggesting a post-secretory interaction with the salivary gel matrix. A monoclonal antibody against a parotid salivary agglutinin was used to show that this protein is present mainly in the gel phase of both whole saliva and parotid secretion.


1979 ◽  
Vol 181 (3) ◽  
pp. 717-724 ◽  
Author(s):  
J M Creeth ◽  
J L Bridge ◽  
J R Horton

1. Some mucus glycoproteins form soluble complexes with lysozyme at neutral pH values. 2. The extent of complex-formation was determined, by an ultracentrifugal difference method, for a range of glycoproteins covering the common blood-group specificities. 3. Interaction was strongest with those glycoproteins of blood-group Lea specificity; these were also richest in sialic acid. 4. Interaction diminished with increase of ionic strength, and was not detectable at I 0.50; however, an asialoglycoprotein was found to retain some activity. The interaction is accordingly primarily, but probably not exclusively, coulombic in origin. 5. The buoyant density of lysozyme in CsCl, CsBr, CsI and Cs2SO4 was determined; the values in the last three salts are anomalously high. This finding accounts for the previously noted difficulty of separating free protein from glycoproteins by single-stage centrifugation in CsBr. 6. Conditions for effective separation of glycoproteins from secretions containing lysozyme by density-gradient centrifugation are reported.


1983 ◽  
Vol 215 (3) ◽  
pp. 705-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
M T Bayliss ◽  
G D Ridgway ◽  
S Y Ali

Pieces of adult human articular cartilage and chondrosarcoma were incubated in the presence of [35S]sulphate. After continuous or pulse-change incorporation of radioactivity, proteoglycans were extracted with 4.0 M-guanidinium chloride, purified by equilibrium density-gradient centrifugation and fractionated by gel chromatography. A comparison of the results suggests that the formation of stable aggregates occurs at a lower rate in articular cartilage than in chondrosarcoma.


1992 ◽  
Vol 283 (3) ◽  
pp. 807-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
E C I Veerman ◽  
P A M van den Keybus ◽  
M Valentijn-Benz ◽  
A V Nieuw Amerongen

By using CsCl-density-gradient ultracentrifugation, two high-Mr mucin species were isolated from human whole saliva, having buoyant densities in 0.2 M-guanidinium chloride of approx. 1.56 g/ml (pool IA) and 1.48 g/ml (pool IIA). Analytical density-gradient centrifugation of submandibular, sublingual, labial and palatal saliva, followed by immunochemical analysis with anti-mucin monoclonal antibodies, indicated immunochemical and physicochemical similarities between the high-density mucins of pool IA and mucins from palatal salivary glands. Chemical analysis indicated that the putative palatal mucin was rich in sulphate, but poor in sialic acid. The lower-density mucins of pool IIA equated with the high-Mr mucins of submandibular-sublingual saliva, both immunochemically and physicochemically (buoyant density).


1988 ◽  
Vol 251 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
M R Jahnke ◽  
C A McDevitt

Nuclei pulposi were dissected from lumbar discs of radiologically normal human spines of cadavers aged 17, 20 and 21 years. Proteoglycans were extracted with 4 M guanidine hydrochloride (dissociative conditions) with proteinase inhibitors and isolated as A1 fractions by associative density-gradient centrifugation. Aggregating and non-aggregating proteoglycans were separated by Sepharose 2B chromatography. Both aggregating and non-aggregating proteoglycans contained a keratan sulphate-rich region as isolated by chondroitinase/trypsin/chymotrypsin digestion and Sepharose CL-6B chromatography. Agarose/acrylamide-gel electrophoresis of individual fractions of a Bio-Gel A-50m dissociative-column separation of the aggregating proteoglycans revealed two, well-separated bands: S and F, the slower and faster migrating bands respectively. The non-aggregating proteoglycan fractions were eluted under associative conditions (0.5 M-sodium acetate, pH 6.8) and migrated as a single band in the electrophoretic system. The gel-electrophoretic heterogeneity of the aggregating proteoglycans was still evident after hydroxylamine fragmentation and removal of the hyaluronate-binding portion of the molecule. Dissociative density-gradient centrifugation of the aggregating proteoglycans partially separated the Band-S proteoglycans from the Band-F population. Subsequent dissociative chromatography of the high-buoyant-density Band F proteoglycans permitted discrimination of this band into two gel-electrophoresis-distinguishable populations (Bands F-1 and F-2). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays with a monoclonal antibody that recognized keratan sulphate demonstrated that the D1 fraction containing the Band F-1 proteoglycans was enriched in keratan sulphate compared with the total aggregating or non-aggregating pool of proteoglycans. The proteoglycans of young adult nucleus pulposus could then be ascribed to one of four structurally and/or electrophoretically distinct populations: (1) the non-aggregating population, which comprised about 70% of the total extractable proteoglycans; (2) the aggregating pool, comprising: (a) Band F-1 proteoglycans, which had a relatively large hydrodynamic size, uronate/protein weight ratio, were enriched in keratan sulphate and had a high buoyant density; (b) Band S proteoglycans, which migrated slower in agarose/acrylamide gels, had a smaller hydrodynamic size, lower buoyant density and a lower uronate/protein ratio than the Band F-1 population; (c) Band F-2 proteoglycans, which were lower in buoyant density, smaller in hydrodynamic size and slightly faster in electrophoretic mobility than the Band F-1 proteoglycans.


1991 ◽  
Vol 276 (3) ◽  
pp. 677-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
D J Thornton ◽  
J K Sheehan ◽  
I Carlstedt

High-Mr mucin glycopeptides prepared from sputum of an individual with cystic fibrosis (CF) were studied by ion-exchange h.p.l.c. The glycopeptides were heterogeneous and a number of partially resolved populations were identified. Whole mucins from the gel phase were separated into four fractions by isopycnic density-gradient centrifugation in CsCl, and high-Mr glycopeptides from these fractions were examined by ion-exchange h.p.l.c. The acidic nature of the high-Mr glycopeptides increased with increasing buoyant density of the intact mucins, and a periodate-Schiff (PAS)-rich and an extremely high-iron diamine (HID)-reactive component were present in the lowest and highest density fractions respectively. The various glycopeptide populations were identified in different proportions in mucins from four other individuals with CF. CF sputum thus seems to contain distinct mucin populations containing different oligosaccharide clusters corresponding to these high-Mr glycopeptides.


Author(s):  
Lee F. Ellis ◽  
Richard M. Van Frank ◽  
Walter J. Kleinschmidt

The extract from Penicillum stoliniferum, known as statolon, has been purified by density gradient centrifugation. These centrifuge fractions contained virus particles that are an interferon inducer in mice or in tissue culture. Highly purified preparations of these particles are difficult to enumerate by electron microscopy because of aggregation. Therefore a study of staining methods was undertaken.


1978 ◽  
Vol 173 (3) ◽  
pp. 935-939 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Speziale ◽  
M S Speziale ◽  
L Galligani ◽  
C Balduini

Proteoglycans were extracted from bovine cornea with 4M-guanidinium chloride and purified by CsCl-density-gradient centrifugation. Under associative conditions two fractions were found: one capable of forming assemblies of high molecular weight and another lacking this property. The heavier fraction (density 1.59 g/ml) was eluted as a single retarded peak from Sepharose 2B, but on DEAE-Sephadex chromatography, gave two peaks: the first (eluted with 0.75 M-NaCl) contained mainly proteochondroitin sulphate and the second (eluted with 1.25 M-NaCl) mainly proteokeratan sulphate. Each of these proteoglycans was more retarded on Sepharose 2B than was the original sample from density-gradient centrifugation. Re-aggregation was obtained by recombination of the two fractions. The lighter fraction (density 1.44 g/ml), containing predominantly keratan sulphate chains, was eluted from DEAE-Sephadex as a single peak with 1.25 M-NaCl and was retarded on Sepharose 2B: this fraction was not able to form aggregates with proteochondroitin sulphate. Chemical analyses of the carbohydrate and protein moieties of the proteoglycans from DEAE-Sephadex confirmed that, in the cornea, different subunits are present with characteristic aggregation properties and hydrodynamic volumes.


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