Abstract
AQUEOUS extracts of mammalian testis contain a 'spreading’ factor which dramatically increases the permeability of the skin to injected fluids1. This factor is associated with the germinal epithelium and can be extracted from spermatozoa. Factors with similar diffusing properties have been obtained from the most diverse sources, for example, from nitrates of staphylococcus and streptococcus2, from organisms of the gas gangrene group and virulent pneumococci3, from extracts of malignant tissues4, from snake and spider venoms5 and from leech extracts6. Many of these factors have been partially purified by various methods7, but no one had succeeded in elucidating the mechanism whereby this diffusing effect is produced until Chain and Duthie8 made the important observation that purified testis extracts exhibit a remarkable mucolytic activity characterized by a rapid fall in the viscosity of the substrate and the liberation of reducing substances.
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References
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MCCLEAN, D., HALE, C. Mucolytic Effect of Natural and Artificial Spreading Factors: Mucinase and Tissue Permeability. Nature 145, 867–868 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/145867a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/145867a0
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