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Biomedical subjects

M Cantz

Publications and source records attributed to M Cantz.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Partial deficiency of glycoprotein neuraminidase in some patients with Morquio disease type A.

A deficiency of glycoprotein neuraminidase (sialidase, acylneuraminyl hydrolase, EC 3.2.1.18) activity was found in fibroblasts from a patient with the clinical symptoms of Morquio disease type A (mucopolysaccharidosis IV A). Residual neuraminidase activity was about 5% of the mean normal activity. N-Acetylgalactosamine-6-sulfate (GalNAc-6-S) sulfatase activity was reduced to less than 1% of normal with a pH-optimum of 3.0 as expected for the severe form of Morquio disease. In peripheral leucocytes of the patient, however, neuraminidase activity but not Ga1NAc-6-S sulfatase activity was in the normal range. Mixing experiments excluded the presence of excessive amounts of inhibitors of neuraminidase activity.

Child↗
PubMed1983

Decreased ganglioside neuraminidase activity in fibroblasts from mucopolysaccharidosis patients. Inhibition of the activity in vitro by sulfated glycosaminoglycans and other compounds.

The neuraminidase activities towards the ganglioside substrates GD1a, GD3 and GM3 were found to be markedly diminished in homogenates of fibroblasts cultured from patients with various genetic mucopolysaccharidoses. Mixing normal and patients' fibroblast homogenates revealed this effect to be due to the presence of diffusible inhibitors. The neuraminidase acting on the trisaccharide sialyllactose, on the other hand, showed normal activity in all the cell lines tested. Experiments in vitro revealed the sulfated glycosaminoglycans chondroitin 4-sulfate and heparin, the polysaccharide dextran sulfate, and the trypanocidal drug suramin to be strongly inhibitory on the ganglioside GD1a neuraminidase activity of normal fibroblast homogenates. Regarding chondroitin 4-sulfate, this inhibition was of the non-competitive type. A disulfated tetrasaccharide prepared from chondroitin 4-sulfate, on the other hand, was not at all inhibitory. These and additional findings led us to propose a model for the interaction between enzyme and inhibitor, involving a 'clamping' mechanism by the polysulfated compounds. We conclude that the decreased ganglioside neuraminidase activities of mucopolysaccharidosis fibroblasts are due to an inhibition by the accumulated sulfated glycosaminoglycans and that such inhibition is responsible for the storage of certain gangliosides in the tissues of the patients.

Gangliosides↗
PubMed1983

[Chemotactic activity of fibroblasts in mucopolysaccharidoses].

Certain clinical symptoms such as hernias or joint contracture in patients with mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) cannot be explained as direct consequences of the disturbed glycosaminoglycan metabolism. They may be related to secondary changes of connective tissue components. The glycoprotein fibronectin is a constituent of connective tissue with a high affinity to polyanions such as heparan sulfate or heparin. Fibronectin in addition is a potent stimulus for fibroblasts to migrate chemotactically. We studied this cell property in MPS fibroblasts. The chemotactic activity of all MPS types was diminished. MPS II fibroblasts were chemotactically inactive. When the cells were corrected for the lacking enzyme by adding conditioned medium from control fibroblasts, the chemotactic migration increased except for MPS type II cells. The known enzyme defect in the degradation process of glycosaminoglycans in MPS results in lysosomal storage of degradation products and in addition causes changes of other cell properties.

Chemotaxis↗
PubMed1982

Impaired phosphorylation of lysosomal enzymes in fibroblasts of patients with mucolipidosis III.

The incorporation of [3H]leucine and [32P]phosphate into three lysosomal enzymes, cathepsin D, beta-hexosaminidase and arylsulfatase A by fibroblasts from six patients affected with mucolipidosis III was determined. In the mutant cells the incorporation of 32P in the enzymes was reduced by 70-97% as compared to controls. The residual phosphorylation of lysosomal enzymes is definitely higher than in fibroblasts from patients with mucolipidosis II, where apparently non-phosphorylated enzymes are formed. In mucolipidosis III the major part of the newly formed enzymes accumulated extracellularly and the cellular enzymes were recovered mainly in their processed forms. In mucolipidosis III arylsulfatase A and the processed forms of cathepsin D exhibited a heterogeneity that was not observed in controls. beta-Hexosaminidase and cathepsin D secreted by mucolipidosis III fibroblasts contained only a small amount of phosphorylated oligosaccharides with either one or two phosphate groups per oligosaccharide. As in controls the major fraction of phosphate was present as acid-labile phosphodiester resistant to alkaline phosphatase. The residual phosphorylation of lysosomal enzymes may be related to the partial intracellular retention and processing of these enzymes in fibroblasts from patients with mucolipidosis III.

Cathepsin D↗
PubMed1982

Phosphorylation of lysosomal enzymes in fibroblasts. Marked deficiency of N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphotransferase in fibroblasts of patients with mucolipidosis III.

N-Acetylglucosamine-1-phosphotransferase activity was assayed in human skin fibroblasts using [beta-32P]UDP-N-acetylglucosamine as donor and dephosphorylated beta-N-acetyl-D-hexosaminidase as acceptor. An optimal transfer rate of N-acetylglucosamine 1-phosphate required CDP-choline and ADP in order to inhibit the breakdown of [beta-32P]UDP-N-acetylglucosamine and a combination of leupeptin and iodoacetamide to protect the transferase. The transferase required Mg2 or Mn2. Using doubly labelled UDP-N-acetylglucosamine, simultaneous transfer of N-acetyl-[6-3H]glucosamine and [32P]phosphate to endogenous acceptors was demonstrated. Membranes prepared from fibroblasts from patients with mucolipidosis III were defective in transfer of N-acetylglucosamine 1-phosphate. A residual transferase activity of less than 10% of controls was detectable in fibroblast membranes of eight patients with mucolipidosis III. In membranes from fibroblasts from patients with mucolipidosis II,N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphotransferase activity was not detectable. Our results indicate that the primary defect in mucolipidoses II and III is a deficiency in N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphotransferase, the residual activity being higher in mucolipidosis III than in mucolipidosis II.

Cell Membrane↗
PubMed1981

The mucopolysaccharidoses: biochemistry and clinical symptoms.

The mucopolysaccharidoses are a group of genetic diseases which are characterized by an excessive intralysosomal accumulation of partially degraded mucopolysaccharides. This storage is caused by the inactivity of one of eleven enzymes that are required for the degradation of the different types of mucopolysaccharides. There is a rough correlation between phenotype and chemical nature of the storage material. Similar clinical pictures, however, may be caused by an inactivity of different enzymes. Conversely, different clinical expressions of the defect of a single enzyme may be attributed to allelic mutations. The recent development of specific assay procedures for the respective enzymes allows 1. an early genotype-specific diagnosis of affected patients, 2. prenatal diagnosis of the metabolic defect in families at risk, 3. to prognosticate the course of the disease at least in some instances, and 4. genetic counseling for members of affected families. At present, there is no specific therapy. Attempts of enzyme replacement therapy are still at an experimental stage.

Chemical Phenomena↗
PubMed1978

Mucopolysaccharidosis II (Hunter disease) with corneal opacities. Report on two patients at the extremes of a wide clinical spectrum.

Clinically visible corneal opacities were observed in a patient with an extremely severe form of mucopolysaccharidosis II. In a second patient with an unusually mild form of mucopolysaccharidosis II, discrete corneal opacities were detected by slit-lamp examination. Thus clear corneae can no longer be regarded as a hallmark of mucopolysaccharidosis II.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Increased urinary excretion of keratan sulfate in fucosidosis.

In two children exhibiting the clinical symptoms of fucosidosis, the diagnosis was biochemically ascertained by the demonstration of a profound altpha-L-fucosidase deficiency in cultured skin fibroblasts. The non-dialysed urines of these fucosidosis patients were separated into two fractions by chromatography on Biogel P-2. The first fraction containing the glycosaminoglycans was further fractionated on Dowex 1 X 2 by stepwise elution with increasing NaCl concentrations. Keratan sulfate-chondroitin sulfates attached to the same peptide core were assayed and characterised mainly in the fractions eluted with 1.25, 1.5, 2.0 and 3.0 mol/1 NaCl. Whereas the excretion of normal children of the same age was found to be 0.77 mumol glucosamine equivalents per day in the 2 mol/1 and 3 mol/1 NaCl fraction, the two patients excreted 6.7 (M. C.) and 3.5 (M. S.) mumol glucosamine equivalents per day, respectively. Since keratan sulfate contains alpha-fucose at the non-reducing terminal, this increase in excretion of long chain keratan sulfate in fucosidosis could result from impaired degradation of keratan sulfate, due to the alpha-fucosidase deficiency.

Acid Phosphatase↗
PubMed1977

Mucolipidosis I--a sialidosis.

Mucolipidosis I is characterized by Hurler-like features and skeletal dysplasia with a cherry-red macular spot and signs of neurodegeneration involving neuronal cells and myelin. Excessive amounts of sialic acid-containing compounds were found in cultured fibroblasts, leukocytes, and urine of a patient with a clinical phenotype of mucolipidosis I. In cultured fibroblasts, profoundly diminished activity of an alpha-N-acetylneuraminidase (sialidase) was found. Mucolipidosis I thus appears to be a distinct disorder of complex carbohydrate catabolism caused by the genetic deficiency of a neuraminidase.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1976

The mucopolysaccharidoses: inborn errors of glycosaminoglycan catabolism.

The mucopolysaccharidoses are genetic disorders of glycosaminoglycan metabolism. Patients with these diseases accumulate within the lysosomes of most tissues excessive amounts of dermatan and/or heparan sulfates, or of keratan sulfate. The clinical consequences of such glycosaminoglycan storage range from skeletal abnormalities to cardiovascular problems, and to motor and mental retardation. In all mucopolysaccharidoses, except Morquio disease, an excessive accumulation of sulfate-labeled glycosaminoglycans has been demonstrated in fibroblasts cultured from the patient's skin. It was subsequently shown that this was due to the deficiency of specific proteins which were named "corrective factors", because their addition to the culture medium effected a normalization of the impaired glycosaminoglycan catabolism in the respective mucopolysaccharidosis fibroblasts. The investigation of the function of the corrective factors, and other studies, led to the identification of the enzymatic defect in each of the mucopolysaccharidoses. Seven lysosomal enzyme deficiencies are now recognized among this group of disorders. A classification of the diseases, according to the mutant gene products, reveals that there is considerable phenotypic variation not only between diseases, but also within several disease types. With the availability of the appropriate enzyme assays, the previous difficulties in diagnosing these disorders have now been overcome. Methods are also available for the prenatal diagnosis, and the detection of heterozygous individuals, in most of the mucopolysaccharidoses. Although correction of the metabolic defect through enzyme replacement has been achieved in tissue culture, many problems remain to be solved before such therapy may become applicable in the patients themselves.

Glycosaminoglycans↗
PubMed1976

Prenatal diagnosis of mucolipidosis II (I-cell disease).

A pregnancy at risk for mucolipidosis II (I-cell disease) was monitored in which an affected fetus was predicted on the basis of the analyses of lysosomal hydrolases in amniotic fluid and cultured amniotic fluid cells, and by the demonstration of an excessive accumulation of [35S] sulfate-labeled glycosaminoglycans in cultured amniotic cells. This diagnosis was confirmed by performing enzyme assays and [35S] sulfate incorporation studies on material derived from the aborted fetus.

Amniotic Fluid↗