The desorption of Trichoderma reesei cellulase from Avicel by a wide range of desorbents was measured. Emphasis was placed on desorption at alkaline pH. A maximum desorption of 65-68% Avicelase activity was achieved by contact with NaOH, pH 10.0, at 40 degrees C for 5 min in the presence of 0.005% Triton X-100 or Tween 80. The design of a suitable desorption process using these conditions is discussed. Glycerol was also effective as a desorbent either alone or in combination with alkali and detergent. However, relatively high concentrations of glycerol were needed and the maximum desorption achieved, 68%, was not significantly greater than that with only alkali and detergent.

Previous laboratory based investigations of a commercially prepared freeze-dried extract of the NZ green-lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus) showed that the material had the capacity to inhibit experimentally induced inflammation. The activity was thought to reside within an aqueous fraction containing high molecular weight material, possibly a polysaccharide. In the present study, a polysaccharide (glycogen) has been extracted from Perna canaliculus and its anti-inflammatory activity examined in an attempt to characterise further the high molecular weight components of this mollusc. Glycogen extracts administered i.v. demonstrated a dose-dependent anti-inflammatory effect in rats with carrageenin-induced footpad oedema. Mobilisation of neutrophils to the site of an inflammatory stimulus was also significantly reduced. This activity was lost if the glycogen extract was treated with KOH or proteinase K, suggesting that the anti-inflammatory properties resided within a protein moiety associated with the glycogen.

Lysosome-rich fractions were isolated from rat liver homogenates. In some fractions the lysosomes were separated from the contaminating mitchondria by the use of discontinuous Ficoll/sucrose gradients. Some glycogen was associated with lysosome fractions. This glycogen was of very large molecular size and of a quite different molecular-weight distribution from that isolated from the cytosol. It is suggested that appreciably more than 10% of cellular glycogen is located within the lysosome.

No abstract

The molecular-weight distribution of liver glycogen has been established from the analysis of sedimentation rates of fractions separated on sucrose density gradients and from the direct measurement of the diffusion coefficients of these fractions by laser-intensity-fluctuation spectroscopy. Hydrodynamic studies indicated that all fractions of glycogen of mol.wt.exceeding 25x10(6) had about 1.1 g of water per g of polysaccharide associated with them. The hydration and hydrodynamic behaviour of all fractions of mol.wt. exceeding 25x10(6) was similar, whereas smaller fractions behaved anomalously, indicating a substantially different overall structure.