Mucopolysaccharides in Beef Retina and Small Cerebral Vessels

¹ Department of Ophthalmology and The Oscar Johnson Institute, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo.

On Ecteola columns in 0.05M HCl (pH 1.3) the sulfate groups of mucopolysaccharides are dissociated while the carboxyl groups are not. In 0.05M acetate buffer (pH 4.8), the carboxyl groups are dissociated and those mucopolysaccharides which do not bind to Ecteola at the lower pH can be resolved. These properties have been utilized to resolve mixtures of beef retina and small beef cerebral blood vessel mucopolysaccharides in order to further characterize and partially identify those mucopolysaccharides which are associated with the nervous elements and those which are associated with the blood vessels. These studies reveal that the retina contains a complex mixture of mucopolysaccharides while the small cerebral vessels contain a more clearly defined mixture.

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This work was done during tenure as an Established Investigator of the American Heart Association. Present address, Department of Pathology, The Albany Medical College, Albany, N.Y.