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Highly water-soluble glycopolymers with poly(alpha-L-glutamic acid) (PGA) backbones carrying multivalent sialyl oligosaccharides units were chemoenzymatically synthesized as polymeric inhibitors of infection by human influenza viruses. p-Aminophenyl disaccharide glycosides were coupled with gamma-carboxyl groups of PGA side chains and enzymatically converted to Neu5Acalpha2-3Galbeta1-4GlcNAcbeta-, Neu5Acalpha2-6Galbeta1-4GlcNAcbeta-, Neu5Acalpha2-3Galbeta1-3GalNAcalpha-, and Neu5Acalpha2-3Galbeta1-3GalNAcbeta- units, respectively, by alpha2,3- or alpha2,6-sialytransferases. The glycopolymers synthesized were used for neutralization of human influenza A and B virus infection as assessed by measurement of the degree of cytopathic inhibitory effect in virus-infected MDCK cells. Among the glycopolymers tested, alpha2,6-sialo-PGA with a high molecular weight (260 kDa) most significantly inhibited infection by an influenza A virus, strain A/Memphis/1/71 (H3N2), which predominantly binds to alpha2-6 Neu5Ac residue. The alpha2,6-sialo-PGA also inhibited infection by an influenza B virus, B/Lee/40. The binding preference of viruses to terminal sialic acids was affected by core determinants of the sugar chain, Galbeta1-4GlcNAcbeta- or Galbeta1-3GalNAcalpha/beta- units. Inhibition of infection by viruses was remarkably enhanced by increasing the molecular weight and sialic acid content of glycopolymers.

Condensation reaction between lactose and glycerol was effectively catalyzed by utilizing a commercially available cellulase preparation from Trichoderma reesei. The enzyme induced the formation of 1-O-beta-lactosyl-(R,S)-glycerol (1) and 2-O-beta-lactosyl glycerol (2) in a molar ratio of 7:3 and in a 20% yield based on lactose added. The enzyme also induced the condensation of lactose with 1,3-propanediol to produce O-beta-lactosyl propanediol (3) in a yield of 15%. When various alkanols (N: 2-8) and allyl alcohol were used in the condensation reaction, the corresponding alkyl and allyl beta-lactoside were obtained in the yields of 0.9-3.8% of the desired compounds.

Animal sera were screened for an alternative enzyme source of alpha1,3-fucosyltransferase, and the highest activity was observed in chicken serum. A partially purified enzyme fraction almost devoid of coexisting glycosidases was prepared from the chicken serum, and used for the fucosylation of LacNAc compounds. The enzyme reaction was efficient enough to allow the one-pot preparation of designed Le(x) compounds such as LNFP III.

To facilitate studies on differentiation of adrenocortical cells and regulation of steroidogenic genes, we established cell lines from adrenals of adult transgenic mice harboring a temperature-sensitive large T-antigen gene of simian virus 40. Adrenal glands of the mice exhibited normal cortical zonation including a functionally undifferentiated cell-layer between the aldosterone-synthesizing zona glomerulosa cells and the corticosterone-synthesizing zona fasciculata cells. At a permissive temperature (33 degrees C), established cell lines AcA201, AcE60 and AcA101 expressed steroidogenic genes encoding steroidogenic factor-1, cholesterol side-chain cleavage P450scc, and steroidogenic acute regulatory protein, which are expressed throughout adrenal cortices and gonads. Genes encoding 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and steroid 21-hydroxylase P450c21, which catalyze the intermediate steps for syntheses of both aldosterone and corticosterone, were inducible in the three cell lines in temperature- and/or dibutyryl cAMP-dependent manners. Notably, these cell lines displayed distinct expression patterns of the steroid 11 beta-hydroxylase P45011 beta gene responsible for the zone-specific synthesis of corticosterone. AcA201 cells expressed the P45011 beta gene at 33 degrees C, showing the property of the zona fasciculata cells, while AcE60 cells expressed it upon a shift to a nonpermissive temperature (39 degrees C). On the other hand, AcA101 expressed the P45011 beta gene at 39 degrees C synergistically with exposure to dibutyryl cAMP. None of these clones express the zona glomerulosa-specific aldosterone synthase P450aldo gene under the conditions we tested. These results show that AcE60 and AcA101 cells display a pattern of the steroidogenic gene expression similar to that of the undifferentiated cell-layer and are capable of differentiating into the zona fasciculata-like cells in vitro.

The 1,4-addition of magnesium divinylcuprate prepared from vinylmagnesium bromide and cuprous bromide to some 4-O-crotonyl derivatives of methyl alpha-D-glucopyranoside proceeds with a high level of diastereochemical induction, providing the adduct in good-to-excellent yields. Other organocuprates also serve as effective carbon nucleophiles for the 1,4-addition. Removal of the carbohydrate moiety from each adduct afforded a variety of beta-C-substituted butanoic esters in remarkable enantiomeric excess. The 1,4-addition of the same cuprate to some methyl alpha-D-manno- or alpha-D-galactopyranosidic substrates in which a crotonyl group was incorporated, each at 3-OH, was also investigated. The reverse pi-facial attack of the cuprate was observed when some D-manno-type substrates were subjected to 1,4-addition conditions similar to those used for the D-gluco-type substrates. Furthermore, some D-galacto-type substrates provided 1,4-adducts with higher diastereoselectivities.

Aliphatic beta-lactosides were directly synthesized by beta-lactosyl transfer reaction from p-nitrophenyl beta-lactoside (Lac beta-pNP) to various 1-alkanols (n = 2-12), utilizing commercially available cellulase preparation of Trichoderma reesei C1. With ethanol acceptor, the enzyme induced ethyl beta-lactoside (1) in 18% yield based on the donor added in aqueous buffer system. When 1-octanol and dodecanol were acceptors, octyl beta-lactoside (2) and dodecyl beta-lactoside (3) were also obtained as transfer products, respectively. In both cases, the addition of sodium cholate as detergent to the reaction system ensured a sufficient solubility of these acceptors and resulted in a remarkable increase of the desired compounds (5-13% yields based on the donor added). Furthermore, the enzyme catalyzed the N-acetyllactosaminyl transfer reaction from p-nitrophenyl beta-N-acetyllactosaminide (LacNAc beta-pNP) not only to 1-alkanol, but also to the OH-4 position of Man and Glc to produce the trisaccharides, Gal beta1-4GlcNAc beta1-4Man (4) and Gal beta1-4GlcNAc beta1-4Glc (5), respectively. The enzyme activities transferring lactosyl and N-acetyllactosaminyl groups were not separated by chromatographies using DEAE-Sepharose Fast Flow and Sephadex 75 pg columns, indicating that the two reactions were catalyzed by a single enzyme. It was specified that a single enzyme works both transglycosylations, based on the substrate competition assay on hydrolysis.

Asparagine-linked sugar chains of sphingolipid activator protein 1 (SAP-1) purified from normal human liver and GM1 gangliosidosis (type 1) liver were comparatively investigated. Oligosaccharides released from the two SAP-1 samples by hydrazinolysis were fractionated by paper electrophoresis and by Aleuria aurantia lectin-Sepharose and Bio-Gel P-4 (under 400 mesh) column chromatography. Structures of oligosaccharides in each fraction were estimated from data on their effective molecular sizes, behavior on immobilized lectin columns with different carbohydrate-binding specificities, results of sequential digestion by exoglycosidases with different aglycon specificities, and methylation analysis. Sugar chains of SAP-1 purified from normal human liver and from GM1 gangliosidosis (type 1) liver were different from each other, although both of them were derived from complex-type sugar chains. The sugar chains of the former were the following eight degradation products from complex-type sugar chains by exoglycosidases in lysosomes: Man alpha 1----6(Man alpha 1----3)Man beta 1----4GlcNAc beta 1----4GlcNAcOT, Man alpha 1----6(Man alpha 1----3)Man beta 1----4GlcNAc beta 1----4(Fuc alpha 1----6)GlcNAcOT, Man alpha 1----6Man beta 1----4GlcNAc beta 1----4GlcNAcOT, Man alpha 1----6Man beta 1----4GlcNAc beta 1----4(Fuc alpha 1----6)GlcNAcOT, Man beta 1----4GlcNAc beta 1----4GlcNAcOT, Man beta 1----4GlcNAc beta 1----4(Fuc alpha 1----6)GlcNAcOT, GlcNAc beta 1----4GlcNAcOT, and GlcNAcOT. In contrast to these, the sugar chains of the latter were sialylated and nonsialylated mono- to tetraantennary complex-type sugar chains that were not fully degraded due to a metabolic defect in acid beta-galactosidase activity.

The sugar chains of gamma-glutamyltranspeptidases, purified from human hepatoma and from normal human liver, were released quantitatively as oligosaccharides by hydrazinolysis. Comparative study of their structures revealed that the following structural alterations are induced by hepatocyte carcinogenesis: 1) high mannose type sugar chains are detected in the hepatoma enzyme but not in the normal liver enzyme; 2) abnormal biantennary sugar chains containing C-2,4 outer chain branches newly appeared; 3) the total amounts of tri- and tetraantennary sugar chains containing C-2,6 outer chain branches increased up to three times.

Effects of pH on the ligand-binding reactions of ferric heme in cytochrome P-450 from Pseudomonas putida (camphor 5-monooxygenase, EC 1.14.15.1) were studied by using cyanide, N-methylimidazole, pyridine, and ethylisocyanide as ligands. In all cases, affinity of the ferric heme for the ligand was found to increase as pH of the medium was raised from around 6 to 9. Depending on the ligand, the increase was 10- to 1000-fold and the shapes of their pH-affinity curves were remarkably different. Analyses such pH profiles disclosed the presence of a dissociable group in the enzyme with a pK value of approximately 9.5 and that its ionization greatly enhanced the affinity of the heme for ligands. When a dissociable ligand such as hydrogen cyanide and N-methylimidazole was used, the dissociated form of the ligand had a higher affinity toward the heme than the undissociated form. The shapes of the pH-affinity curves were successfully simulated as overlapping curves of ionization reactions of the ligand and the dissociable group. In addition, size of the ligand molecule was shown to be also important in the binding reaction: relatively large molecules such as pyridine, ethylisocyanide, and N-methylimidazole bound to the enzyme in a competitive manner against d-camphor concentration, whereas the binding of a smaller molecule such as cyanide was inhibited by the substrate in a noncompetitive manner. On the basis of these findings, control mechanisms for the ligand-binding reactions of the cytochrome P-450 from P. putida are discussed.

Three samples of carcinoembryonic antigens were purified from liver metastases of primary colon cancer. The asparagine-linked sugar chains of carcinoembryonic antigens (CEA) were released as oligosaccharides by hydrazinolysis and the structures of oligosaccharides, thus obtained, was studied in combination with methylation analysis and several limited exoglycosidase digestions. All three CEAs contain approximately 25 asparagine-linked sugar chains in one molecule and about 10% of them was high mannose type. However, structural features of the outer chain moieties of the remaining complex-type sugar chains were different by CEA samples. The complex-type sugar chains were mono-, bi-, tri-, and tetraantennary with Man alpha 1----6(+/- GlcNAc beta 1----4)(Man alpha 1----3)Man beta 1----4GlcNAc beta 1----4(+/- Fuc alpha 1----6)GlcNAc as their cores, half of which were bisected; 86% of their proximal N-acetylglucosamine was fucosylated. The major outer chains in two samples were N-acetyllactosamine and Gal beta 1----4(Fuc alpha 1----3)GlcNAc (X-antigenic determinant) and the remaining one sample contained Fuc alpha 1----2Gal beta 1----4(Fuc alpha 1----3)GlcNAc (Y-antigenic determinant) as an additional major outer chain. Furthermore, small amounts of type 1 chain and Lea antigenic determinant were found in some samples. Acidic oligosaccharides consisted of sialic acid containing fractions and sialidase-resistant fractions, and their contents seemed to be in a reciprocal relationship. Sialic acid was linked at the C-3 and C-6 positions of the nonreducing terminal galactose residues of the outer chains.