Isolation and characterization of the sulfated glycosaminoglycans of the vitreous body.

Ester sulfate containing glycosaminoglycans comprising approx. 3% of the total glycosaminoglycan content, have been isolated from protease-digested bovine vitreous body by stepwise fractionation on AG-1X2(Cl-) and gel filtration on Bio-Gel P-300. Two heparan sulfate and two chondroitin-4-sulfate fractions were isolated in nearly pure form. The heparan sulfate fractions were undersulfated and contained the same relative proportions of N- and O-sulfate (1:2), although the total sulfate content differed by approx. 100%. No chondroitin-6-sulfate was present in the isolates, based on evidence obtained from chondroitin ABC lyase experiments.

Human umbilical cord hyaluronate. Neutral sugar content and carbohydrate-protein linkage studies.

Paper chromatography of neutral sugars and gas chromatography of their aldononitrile acetates indicated the presence of fucose, arabinose and a small amount of glucose in purified human umbilical cord hyaluronate. The molar ratios of serine, threonine and aspartic acid to neutral sugars were not unity, suggesting the non-involvement of the neutral sugars and the amino acids in a carbohydrate-protein linkage. The same was indicated by an increase in the percentage of the aforementioned amino acids and by the absence of sugar alditols in umbilical cord hyaluronate reduced eith NaBH4 -PdCl2, after alkali treatment. This reduction caused a decrease in the intrinsic viscosity and molecular wieght to about one-half and an appreciable decrease in the specific rota tion of hyaluronate, suggesting a separation of the two antiparallel chains o the double helical hyaluronate. The umbilical cord hyluronate containe contained bound silicon and it is possible that this bound silicon may cross-link the two chains at interspersed intervals through the uronic acid moiety and/or through neutral sugars.

Strontium mobility in germinating seeds and plants.

The uptake of strontium in the bean plant (Phaseolus vulgaris) was linear for the first 34 hr during continuous exposure to radiostrontium. After 35 hr there was a sharp increase in the rate of uptake to 48 hr. Radioactivity could be detected in the plant as early as 1 hr after addition of radiostrontium to the growth medium.Seventy-five percent of the radiostrontium was located in the seed coat immediately after soaking bean seed in an (89)Sr solution. This radioactivity in the seed coat decreased rapidly up to the tenth day, while the proportion of strontium in the cotyledons increased, after which time the proportion of radiostrontium in the cotyledons began to decrease. The amount of radioactivity of the seedling axis increased constantly, as did the activity of the first and second leaves after their appearance on about the seventh day. The radioactivity in the developing third and fourth leaves of cotton plants (Gossypium hirsutum) increased at the expense of the radioactivity in the first 2 leaves and stems. This represents a movement into certain parts and then a retranslocation out of these parts as other tissue begins to develop.