Bacterial Glycosulphatases and Sulphomucin Degradation

The presence of a high bacterial population in a region of the gastrointestinal tract is usually associated with the secretion of sulphomucins into the mucus gel covering that region. The...

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Main Authors: Anthony M Roberton, Damian P Wright
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 1997-01-01
Series:Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/1997/642360
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author Anthony M Roberton
Damian P Wright
author_facet Anthony M Roberton
Damian P Wright
author_sort Anthony M Roberton
collection DOAJ
description The presence of a high bacterial population in a region of the gastrointestinal tract is usually associated with the secretion of sulphomucins into the mucus gel covering that region. The term 'sulphomucin' is a histochemical description of the staining properties of mucin. At present this term can only be qualitatively related to the percentage of sulphate in the mucin molecule, which makes the term difficult to use in a biochemical and functional sense. Sulphomucins are thought to carry out the normal functions attributed to mucins; in addition, heavy sulphation rate-limits the degradation of mucins by bacterial mucin-degrading glycosidases. A number of mucin-specific glycosulphatases have been reported in bacteria, although only two such enzymes have been purified. These enzymes remove part of the sulphate content from sulphomucins and make them more susceptible to further enzymic degradation. The variety of chain locations and sugar attachment sites of sulphate esters on the mucin oligosaccharides, taken together with the data on the enzymes, suggest there will be a spectrum of bacterial glycosulphatases, with different properties, cellular locations and substrate specificities. Bacterial glycosulphatases have the potential to modify sulphated glycoconjugates at mucosal surfaces and should prove useful as biochemical tools for the study of sulphated glycoconjugates.
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spelling doaj-art-910d281594524ffea717137eaa37488f2025-02-03T05:44:16ZengWileyCanadian Journal of Gastroenterology0835-79001997-01-0111436136610.1155/1997/642360Bacterial Glycosulphatases and Sulphomucin DegradationAnthony M RobertonDamian P WrightThe presence of a high bacterial population in a region of the gastrointestinal tract is usually associated with the secretion of sulphomucins into the mucus gel covering that region. The term 'sulphomucin' is a histochemical description of the staining properties of mucin. At present this term can only be qualitatively related to the percentage of sulphate in the mucin molecule, which makes the term difficult to use in a biochemical and functional sense. Sulphomucins are thought to carry out the normal functions attributed to mucins; in addition, heavy sulphation rate-limits the degradation of mucins by bacterial mucin-degrading glycosidases. A number of mucin-specific glycosulphatases have been reported in bacteria, although only two such enzymes have been purified. These enzymes remove part of the sulphate content from sulphomucins and make them more susceptible to further enzymic degradation. The variety of chain locations and sugar attachment sites of sulphate esters on the mucin oligosaccharides, taken together with the data on the enzymes, suggest there will be a spectrum of bacterial glycosulphatases, with different properties, cellular locations and substrate specificities. Bacterial glycosulphatases have the potential to modify sulphated glycoconjugates at mucosal surfaces and should prove useful as biochemical tools for the study of sulphated glycoconjugates.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/1997/642360
spellingShingle Anthony M Roberton
Damian P Wright
Bacterial Glycosulphatases and Sulphomucin Degradation
Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology
title Bacterial Glycosulphatases and Sulphomucin Degradation
title_full Bacterial Glycosulphatases and Sulphomucin Degradation
title_fullStr Bacterial Glycosulphatases and Sulphomucin Degradation
title_full_unstemmed Bacterial Glycosulphatases and Sulphomucin Degradation
title_short Bacterial Glycosulphatases and Sulphomucin Degradation
title_sort bacterial glycosulphatases and sulphomucin degradation
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/1997/642360
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