Mammalian cells are generally considered to be unable to utilize polysaccharides for cell growth because the phospholipid bilayer in the cell membrane has very low permeability to sugars. With the recent discovery of the only known animal disaccharide transporter, a sucrose transporter, we considered the potential use of polysaccharides as energy source, because that can impact biopharmaceutica...

We have examined by the liposome swelling technique the permeability properties of the modified LamB proteins isolated from mutants of Escherichia coli K12 with altered affinities toward starch and/or maltose (Ferenci, T., and Lee, K-S. (1982) J. Mol. Biol. 160, 431-444). The results revealed the following. A mutant strain exhibiting a markedly lowered affinity toward starch produced a LamB pro...

In the course of genetic studies, a mutant strain of Escherichia coli was developed which is characterized by rapid fermentation and oxidat,ion of maltose but not of glucose. Since this mutant offered an excellent opportunity to invest,igate the so called direct utilization of disaccharides (l), a study of the enzyme systems involved in maltose decomposition was undertaken. Experiments with dry...

The ability of an inulosucrase (IS) from Lactobacillus gasseri DSM 20604 to synthesize fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and maltosylfructosides (MFOS) in the presence of sucrose and sucrose-maltose mixtures was investigated after optimization of synthesis conditions, including enzyme concentration, temperature, pH, and reaction time. The maximum formation of FOS, which consist of β-2,1-linked fruct...

Inhibition of wheat β-amylase (WBA) by glucose and maltose was studied by kinetics and thermodynamics. The inhibitory effects of fructose, difructose, sucrose, trehalose, cellobiose, acarbose, and 1-deoxynojirimycin on WBA were also evaluated. The half maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of acarbose, maltose and glucose were 0.06±0.01M, 0.22±0.09M, and 1.41±0.17M, respectively. The inhibit...

When wild-type Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains pregrown in maltose-limited chemostat cultures were exposed to excess maltose, release of glucose into the external medium was observed. Control experiments confirmed that glucose release was not caused by cell lysis or extracellular maltose hydrolysis. To test the hypothesis that glucose efflux involved plasma membrane glucose transporters, exper...

In previous studies on the utilization of maltose and glucose by lfeisseria meningitidis (meningococcus) it has been found that the disaccharide is utilized more rapidly than glucose (1, 2). Phosphate esterification was observed with growing cultures, washed cells, and cell-free extracts of this organism in the presence of maltose but not of glucose (3). The properties of the phosphate ester ap...

Background & Aims: Postprandial hyperglycemia results in the development of chronic complications. Therefore, its control is critical in the treatment of diabetes. One of the main therapeutic approaches for reducing postprandial hyperglycemia is to reduce the absorption of carbohydrates by enzyme inhibitors such as Acarbose which have already been clinically used as a medicine for diabetic pati...