Abstract
Two types of hyaluronidases have been described: one, found in testicular extracts and in snake venom, randomly cleaves the hexosaminidic bonds and yields a consecutive series from disaccharide through higher homologues of disaccharide units1; the other, found in micro-organisms, yields a Δ4–5 (glucuronido) unsaturated disaccharide2. In this communication, a third type of hyaluronidase is described, found thus far only in extracts of the leech (Hirudo medicinalis), which hydrolyses the endoglucuronidic linkages of hyaluronic acid.
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References
Weissmann, B., Meyer, K., Sampson, P., and Linker, A., J. Biol. Chem., 208, 417 (1954).
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Corbett, W. M., and Kenner, J., J. Chem. Soc., 3281 (1954).
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LINKER, A., HOFFMAN, P. & MEYER, K. The Hyaluronidase of the Leech: an Endoglucuronidase. Nature 180, 810–811 (1957). https://doi.org/10.1038/180810b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/180810b0
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