The strictly anaerobic intestinal Peptococcus niger H4 synthesizes three different steroidsulfatase enzymes: a constitutive arylsulfatase and two inducible alkylsteroidsulfatases. The arylsulfatase desulfates estrogen-3-sulfates and phenylsulfates. The two alkylsteroidsulfatases desulfate, respectively, 3 alpha-sulfates and 3 beta-sulfates of delta 5, 5 alpha, and 5 beta androstanes, pregnanes,...

Specific hydrolysis of the separate groups of steroid conjugates appeared to offer the simplest technique for achieving the hydrolysis without chemical modification of the steroids (3-5). A partial solution to this problem was offered when it was found that steroid glucuronides could be hydrolyzed specifically by the use of /3-glucuronidase concentrates of either animal (Cohen (3)) or bacterial...

Fucosylated chondroitin sulfates are complex polysaccharides extracted from sea cucumber. They have been extensively studied for their anticoagulant properties and have been implicated in other biological activities. While nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy has been used to extensively characterize fucosylated chondroitin sulfate oligomers, we herein report the first detailed mass characte...

There has been an increasing number of reports in recent years on the natural occurrence of flavonoid sulfates in the plant kingdom [2—21]. This considerable interest seems to be related to their suggested role in the detoxification of excess sulfate in response to high sulfur environment [2], From structural point of view, the naturally occurring flavonoid sulfates are derivatives of common hy...

[1] CRISM is a hyperspectral imager onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO; NASA, 2005) which has been acquiring data since November 2006 and has targeted hydrated minerals previously detected by OMEGA (Mars Express; ESA, 2003). The present study focuses on hydrated minerals detected with CRISM at high spatial resolution in the vicinity of Capri Chasma, a canyon of the Valles Marineris sy...

Interstitial lung diseases associated with hypoxia, such as lung fibrosis, are characterized by enhanced production of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) and increased deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules, including glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). In this study, we investigated the effect of hypoxia (3% O(2)) on TGF-beta-induced GAG synthesis by primary human pulmonary fibrobla...

We investigated the nonlinear dynamics of the pressure vs. hydraulic conductivity (L(p)) relationship in lung microvascular endothelial cells and demonstrate that heparan sulfates, an important component of the endothelial glycocalyx, participate in pressure-sensitive mechanotransduction that results in barrier dysfunction. The pressure vs. L(p) relationship was complex, possessing both time- a...

The formation of the intermediate state of papain was induced by n-alkyl sulfates including sodium octyl sulfate, SOS; sodium decyl sulfate, SDeS; and sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS at different concentrations. A systematic investigation of n-alkyl sulfates induced conformational alteration in molten globule state under an acidic condition and the native state of papain was examined by tryptophan ...