21 Vertebrate Lysozymes

TLDR: This chapter focuses on vertebrate lysozymes, particularly hen egg-white (HEW) lysozyme, which is small and basic, and it separates well on weak acid resins, like Amberlite XE-64 or Bio-Rex 70 or carboxymethyl cellulose and on calcium phosphate gel.

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on vertebrate lysozymes, particularly hen egg-white (HEW) lysozyme. Lysozymes of other types generally are distinguishable from HEW lysozyme in having higher molecular weights and somewhat different enzymic activities. Lysozyme is small and basic, and it separates well on weak acid resins, like Amberlite XE-64 or Bio-Rex 70 or carboxymethyl cellulose and on calcium phosphate gel. Affinity chromatography of lysozyme has been carried out using dispersed chitin or carboxymethyl (CM)-chitin. The conditions required for elution from chitin columns suggest that there are two classes of adsorbent sites that are differently affected by pH and ionic strength in their interaction with the enzyme. The preparation of lysozyme from diverse animal sources is generally achieved in four main steps, which include (1) the preparation of a lysozyme-rich extract, (2) chromatography on CM-cellulose, (3) filtration on Sephadex G-25, and (4) ion exchange chromatography on Amberlite CG-50 at 20° C with a 0.2 M phosphate buffer. The chromatography is sensitive to the pH and small variation of no more than 0.1 pH unit can involve complete retention or exclusion.