Pullulan

The measurement of limit-dextrinase (LD) (EC 3.2.1.142) in grain samples such as barley, wheat or rice can be problematic for a number of reasons. The intrinsic LD activity in these samples is extremely low and they often contain a limit-dextrinase inhibitor and/or high levels of reducing sugars. LD also exhibits transglycosylation activity that can complicate the measurement of its hydrolytic activity. A minor modification to the industrial standard Limit-Dextrizyme tablet test is suggested here to overcome this transglycosylation issue.

Specific and highly sensitive colourimetric and fluorometric substrate mixtures have been prepared for the measurement of pullulanase and limit-dextrinase activity and assays employing these substrates have been developed. These mixtures comprise thermostable α- and β-glucosidases and either 4,6-O-benzylidene-2-chloro-4-nitrophenyl-β-maltotriosyl (1-6) α-maltotrioside (BzCNPG₃G₃, 1) as a colourimetric substrate or 4,6-O-benzylidene-4-methylumbelliferyl-β-maltotriosyl (1-6) α-maltotrioside (BzMUG₃G₃, 2) as a fluorometric substrate. Hydrolysis of substrates 1 and 2 by exo-acting enzymes such as amyloglucosidase, β-amylase and α-glucosidase is prevented by the presence of the 4,6-O-benzylidene group on the non-reducing end D-glucosyl residue. The substrates are not hydrolysed by any α-amylases studied, (including those from Aspergillus niger and porcine pancreas) and are resistant to hydrolysis by Pseudomonas sp. isoamylase. On hydrolysis by pullulanase, the 2-chloro-4-nitrophenyl-β-maltotrioside (3) or 4-methylumbelliferyl-β-maltotrioside (4) liberated is immediately hydrolysed to D-glucose and 2-chloro-4-nitrophenol or 4-methylumbelliferone. The reaction is terminated by the addition of a weak alkaline solution leading to the formation of phenolate ions in solution whose concentration can be determined using either spectrophotometric or fluorometric analysis. The assay procedure is simple to use, specific, accurate, robust and readily adapted to automation.

A method for efficient functional modification of starch granules by thermal ethanol pre-treatment and subsequent maltogenic α-amylase (MA) and branching enzyme (BE) post-treatments is described. Ethanol pre-treatment significantly increased the swelling power of starch granules thereby increasing the MA and BE susceptibility. Ethanol pre-treated granules became shrunk and twisted after incubating in buffer. Sequential MA post-treatments remarkably increased the α-1,6 to α-1,4 ratio and the content of amylopectin short chains (DP 1-10), contributing to the low retrogradation rate. BE post-treatments significantly decreased the product yield, increased the relative crystallinity of starch granules, suggesting BE had intramolecular transglucosylation activity which altered the branch position and reduced the molecular size by forming cyclic structures. Moreover, BE post-treatments showed an α-1,6 to α-1,4 transglucosylation activity by decreasing the α-1,6 to α-1,4 ratio, especially during simultaneous MA and BE catalysis. However, in the simultaneous MA and BE post-catalysis, MA dosage was predominant by noticeably hydrolyzing amylopectin and amylose molecules and increasing the α-1,6 to α-1,4 ratio, thereby leading to the lowest digestibility and retrogradation.

β-1,3-D-Glucans are biological response modifiers with potent effects on the immune system. A number of receptors are thought to play a role in mediating these responses, including murine Dectin-1, which we recently identified as a β-glucan receptor. In this study we describe the characterization of the human homologue of this receptor and show that it is structurally and functionally similar to the mouse receptor. The human β-glucan receptor is a type II transmembrane receptor with a single extracellular carbohydrate recognition domain and an immunoreceptor tyrosine activation motif in its cytoplasmic tail. The human β-glucan receptor is widely expressed and functions as a pattern recognition receptor, recognizing a variety of β-1,3- and/or β-1,6-linked glucans as well as intact yeast. In contrast to the murine receptor, the human receptor mRNA is alternatively spliced, resulting in two major (A and B) and six minor isoforms. The two major isoforms differ by the presence of a stalk region separating the carbohydrate recognition domain from the transmembrane region and are the only isoforms that are functional for β-glucan binding. The human receptor also binds T-lymphocytes at a site distinct from the β-glucan binding site, indicating that this receptor can recognize both endogenous and exogenous ligands.