• BMB Reports
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.313-319
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• 2002

N-Acetyl-$\beta$-D-hexosaminidase ($\beta$-HexNAc'ase) (EC 3.2.1.52) was purified from rice seeds (Oryza sative L. var. Dongjin) using ammonium sulfate (80%) precipitation, Sephadex G-150, CM-Sephadex, and DEAE-Sephadex chromatography, sequentially. The activities were separated into 7 fractions($F_1-F_7$) by CM-Sephadex chromatography. Among them, F6 was further purified to homogeneity with a 13.0% yield and 123.3 purification-fold. The molecular mass was estimated to be about 52 kDa on SDS-PAGE and 37.4 kDa on Sephacryl S-300 gel filtration. The enzyme catalyzed the hydrolysis of both p-nitrophenyl-N-acetyl-$\beta$-D-hexosaminide (pNP-GlcNAc) and p-nitrophenyl-N-acetyl-$\beta$-D-hexosaminide (pNP-GalNAc) as substrates, which are typical properties of $\beta$-HexNAc'ase. The ratio of the pNP-GlcNAc'ase activity to the pNP-GalNAc'ase activity was 4.0. However, it could not hydrolyze chitin, chitosan, pNP-$\beta$-glucopyranoside, or pNP-$\beta$-glucopyranoside. The enzyme showed $K_m$, $V_{max}$ and $K_{cat}$ for pNP-GlcNAc of 1.65 mM, $79.49\;mM\;min^{-1}$, and $4.79{\times}10^6\;min^{-1}$, respectively. The comparison of kinetic values for pNP-GlcNAc and pNP-GalNAc revealed that the two enzyme activities are associated with a single binding site. The purified enzyme exhibited optimum pH and temperature for pNP-GlcNAc of 5.0 and $50^{\circ}C$, respectively. The enzyme activity for pNP-GlcNAc was stable at pH 5.0-5.5 and $20-40^{\circ}C$. The enzyme activity was completely inhibited at a concentration of 0.1 mM $HgCl_$ and $AgNO_3$, suggesting that the intact thiol group is essential for activity. Chloramine T completely inhibited the activity, indicating the possible involvement of methionines in the mechanism of the enzyme.