We describe a family of 32 subjects, including two healthy siblings without detectable pancreatic amylase in serum and five healthy relatives (one of them a sister) exhibiting subnormal pancreatic amylase activities. Comparisons of immunoreactive amylase concentrations with the corresponding amylase activities may justify the assumption of a "silent" Amy-2 allelic variant.

The gene for beta-amylase was isolated from Bacillus polymyxa by molecular cloning in B. subtilis. B. subtilis cells containing this gene express and secrete an amylase which resembles the B. polymyxa beta-amylase and barley beta-amylase in terms of the products it generates during carbohydrate hydrolysis. Starch hydrolysis with this beta-amylase produces maltose, not glucose, whereas maltotrio...

The present review describes the structural features of alpha-amylase, beta-amylase and glucoamylase that are the best known amylolytic enzymes. Although they show similar function, i.e. catalysis of hydrolysis of alpha-glucosidic bonds in starch and related saccharides, they are quite different. alpha-Amylase is the alpha --> alpha retaining glycosidase (it uses the retaining mechanism), and b...

Bacillus stearothermophilus grew better on complex and semisynthetic medium than on synthetic medium supplemented with amino acids. Amylase production on the complex medium containing beef extract or corn steep liquor was higher than on semisynthetic medium containing peptone (0.4%). The synthetic medium, however, did not provide a good yield of extracellular amylase. Among the carbohydrates wh...

In 1988, Hata et al. [1] reported a case of ectopic production of salivary-type amylase by an IgA-type multiple myeloma. Subsequently, seven cases of amylaseproducing multiple myeloma have been reported [2-8]. According to Delannoy et al. [7], amylase-producing myeloma should be added to the list of amylaseproducing tumors. In 1991, we reported a neuraminidase sensitive, so-called sialyl, saliv...

α-Amylase from Trichoderma harzianum was covalently immobilized on activated wool by cyanuric chloride. Immobilized α-amylase exhibited 75% of its initial activity after 10 runs. The soluble and immobilized α-amylases exhibited maximum activity at pH values 6.0 and 6.5, respectively. The immobilized enzyme was more thermally stable than the soluble one. Various substrates were hydrolyzed by imm...

Stimulation of the beta-adrenergic or cholinergic muscarinic receptors are the principal mechanisms by which parotid salivary secretion is regulated in vivo. In this study we have examined the effects of cholinergic stimulation on amylase gene expression in dispersed rat parotid cells. [3H]Leucine incorporation into amylase and total protein was inhibited by carbamylcholine. Within 5 min of its...

Fungal alpha-amylase is an important occupational allergen in the bakery industry. Epidemiologic studies focusing on the relationship between alpha-amylase allergen exposure and work-related respiratory allergy, however, have not been reported yet. In this cross-sectional study, sensitization to occupational allergens and work-related symptoms were studied in 178 bakery workers and related to a...

Human salivary amylase and pancreatic amylase were purified and characterized. These amylases gave two bands and one band, respectively, each staining for both protein and sugar, after electrophoresis on sodium dodecyl sulfate--polyacrylamide gel. The relative molecular mass (Mr) or pancreatic amylase was calculated to be 60 000; for the two components (A and B) of salivary amylase the Mr were ...