Bovine kappa-casein was fractionated at pH 8.0 on DEAE-Sepharose with an NaCl gradient, followed by DEAE-cellulose chromatography using a decreasing pH gradient from pH 6.0 to 4.5. At least ten components could be identified, each differing in N-acetylneuraminic acid (NeuAc) and/or phosphorus content. Two components appeared to be multiply-phosphorylated, but did not contain NeuAc. The possible significance of this finding in relation to the mode of phosphorylation and glycosylation in vivo is discussed. A carbohydrate-free fraction as well as two NeuAc-containing fractions were compared in their substrate behaviour towards the action of the milk-clotting enzyme chymosin at pH 6.6 and 30 degrees C. To this end the trichloroacetic acid-soluble reaction products were analysed by high-performance gel-permeation chromatography. In order of increasing carbohydrate content the kcat. values found ranged from 40 to 25 s-1 and the Km values from 9 to 3 microM; the overall substrate properties of these components as reflected by the kinetic parameter kcat./Km ranged from 5 to 8 microM-1 X S-1. Irreversible polymerization of the carbohydrate-free fraction brought about a more-than-2-fold increase in Km, the kcat. value remaining virtually constant. The kcat./Km found for the cleavage of whole kappa-casein at pH 6.6 was of the same magnitude as the kcat./Km found for the polymerized carbohydrate-free fraction (i.e. about 3 microM-1 X S-1). No indication of substrate inhibition was found for the carbohydrate-free fraction.

SynopsisLight-scattering, viscosity, and sedimentation experiments on aqueous solutions of y-carrageenan show that this sulfated polygalactose is an expanded flexible random coil. This expansion is due to long-range interactions that are predominantly electrostatic. Extrapolation of viscosity data to infinite ionic strength provided values for the intrinsic viscosity which were subjected to the Stockmayer-Fixman analysis, giving a value for the Mark-Houwink coefficient under theta-conditions, KO, of 0.27. The characteristic ratio, C,, under these conditions is 7.8, and the conformation factor u is 2. In a solution of 0.118 ionic strength, where a Mark-Houwink exponent a , of 0.86 is found, the radii of gyration calculated from viscosity data are lower than those found from the angular dependence of scattered light. On the other hand, the radius of gyration found from the sedimentation rate agrees well with the lightscattering radius. The relations between molecular parameters are corrected for the polydispersity of the sample.

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