Efficacy of ice slurry and carbohydrate-electrolyte solutions for firefighters.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the thermoregulatory and fluid-electrolyte responses of firefighters ingesting ice slurry and carbohydrate-electrolyte solutions before and after firefighting operations. METHODS: Twelve volunteer firefighters put on fireproof clothing and ingested 5 g/kg of beverage in an anteroom at 25°C and 50% relative humidity (RH; pre-ingestion), and then performed 30 minutes of exercise on a cycle ergometer (at 125 W for 10 minutes and then 75 W for 20 minutes) in a room at 35℃ and 50% RH. The participants then returned to the anteroom, removed their fireproof clothing, ingested 20 g/kg of beverage (post-ingestion), and rested for 90 minutes. Three combinations of pre-ingestion and post-ingestion beverages were provided: a 25℃ carbohydrate-electrolyte solution for both (CH condition); 25℃ water for both (W condition); and a -1.7℃ ice slurry pre-exercise and 25℃ carbohydrate-electrolyte solution post-exercise (ICE condition). RESULTS: The elevation of body temperature during exercise was lower in the ICE condition than in the other conditions. The sweat volume during exercise was lower in the ICE condition than in the other conditions. The serum sodium concentration and serum osmolality were lower in the W condition than in the CH condition. CONCLUSIONS: The ingestion of ice slurry while firefighters were wearing fireproof clothing before exercise suppressed the elevation of body temperature during exercise. Moreover, the ingestion of carbohydrate-electrolyte solution by firefighters after exercise was useful for recovery from dehydration.

Molecular insight into regioselectivity of transfructosylation catalyzed by GH68 levansucrase and ß-fructofuranosidase.

Glycoside hydrolase family 68 (GH68) enzymes catalyze ß-fructosyltransfer from sucrose to another sucrose, the so-called transfructosylation. Although regioselectivity of transfructosylation is divergent in GH68 enzymes, there is insufficient information available on the structural factor(s) involved in the selectivity. Here, we found two GH68 enzymes, ß-fructofuranosidase (FFZm) and levansucrase (LSZm), encoded tandemly in the genome of Zymomonas mobilis, displayed different selectivity: FFZm catalyzed the ß-(2→1)-transfructosylation (1-TF), whereas LSZm did both of 1-TF and ß-(2→6)-transfructosylation (6-TF). We identified His79FFZm and Ala343FFZm and their corresponding Asn84LSZm and Ser345LSZm respectively as the structural factors for those regioselectivities. LSZm with the respective substitution of FFZm-type His and Ala for its Asn84LSZm and Ser345LSZm (N84H/S345A-LSZm) lost 6-TF and enhanced 1-TF. Conversely, the LSZm-type replacement of His79FFZm and Ala343FFZm in FFZm (H79N/A343S-FFZm) almost lost 1-TF and acquired 6-TF. H79N/A343S-FFZm exhibited the selectivity like LSZm but did not produce the ß-(2→6)-fructoside-linked levan and/or long levanooligosaccharides that LSZm did. We assumed Phe189LSZm to be a responsible residue for the elongation of levan chain in LSZm and mutated the corresponding Leu187FFZm in FFZm to Phe. An H79N/L187F/A343S-FFZm produced a higher quantity of long levanooligosaccharides than H79N/A343S-FFZm (or H79N-FFZm), although without levan formation, suggesting that LSZm has another structural factor for levan production. We also found that FFZm generated a sucrose analog, ß-D-fructofuranosyl α-D-mannopyranoside, by ß-fructosyltransfer to d-mannose and regarded His79FFZm and Ala343FFZm as key residues for this acceptor specificity. In summary, this study provides insight into the structural factors of regioselectivity and acceptor specificity in transfructosylation of GH68 enzymes.

Substrate recognition of the catalytic α-subunit of glucosidase II from Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

The recombinant catalytic α-subunit of N-glycan processing glucosidase II from Schizosaccharomyces pombe (SpGIIα) was produced in Escherichia coli. The recombinant SpGIIα exhibited quite low stability, with a reduction in activity to <40% after 2-days preservation at 4 °C, but the presence of 10% (v/v) glycerol prevented this loss of activity. SpGIIα, a member of the glycoside hydrolase family 31 (GH31), displayed the typical substrate specificity of GH31 α-glucosidases. The enzyme hydrolyzed not only α-(1→3)- but also α-(1→2)-, α-(1→4)-, and α-(1→6)-glucosidic linkages, and p-nitrophenyl α-glucoside. SpGIIα displayed most catalytic properties of glucosidase II. Hydrolytic activity of the terminal α-glucosidic residue of Glc2Man3-Dansyl was faster than that of Glc1Man3-Dansyl. This catalytic α-subunit also removed terminal glucose residues from native N-glycans (Glc2Man9GlcNAc2 and Glc1Man9GlcNAc2) although the activity was low.