The acid mucopolysaccharides of cattle retina

Abstract

1. Two polysaccharides were isolated from the interstitial matrix surrounding the photoreceptor cells of cattle retina. They were liberated from this region of the tissue in a soluble form after agitation of whole retinas in 0·9% sodium chloride. One, which comprises two-thirds of the polysaccharides present, is a hyaluronidase-sensitive ‘half-sulphated’ chondroitin sulphate containing uronic acid, galactosamine and sulphate in the molar proportions 1·27:1·0:0·54. The other is a hyaluronidase-resistant non-sulphated heteropolysaccharide for which the name sialoglycan is proposed. It contains galactose, glucosamine and sialic acid in the molar proportions 2·4:1·0:0·4. Both polysaccharides contain only small amounts of nitrogen in excess of the amount calculated from their amino sugar and sialic acid content. 2. A similar combination of mucopolysaccharides is associated with the pigment epithelial-cell layer but in quantities only one-fifth of those present in the adjacent matrix area. 3. The ease with which they are released into aqueous media is consistent with the assumption that they are present in the extracellular spaces in both of these tissue layers. 4. The retinal residue left after removal of the two soluble polysaccharides is rich in amino sugar- and sialic acid-containing polymers, which appear to be firmly bound to the tissue fragments. 5. About one-third of the sialic acid and one-tenth of the amino sugar could be extracted with chloroform–methanol. The components in this fraction were tentatively identified as gangliosides. 6. Digestion of the chloroform–methanol-insoluble residue with Pronase yielded as the principal product a heteropolysaccharide containing 16·5% of glucosamine, 24·3% of neutral sugar (galactose plus fucose) and 18·1% of sialic acid. This substance has been classified as a sialoglycan of composition similar to (but not identical with) that of the soluble one isolated from the matrix area of the tissue.