Human 5′-nucleotidase. Properties and Characterization of the Enzyme from Placenta, Lymphocytes and Lymphoblastoid Cells in Culture

Abstract

Significantly decreased activities of the ectoenzyme 5′-nucleotidase (EC 3.1.3.5) in peripheral lymphocytes of patients with primary hypogammaglobulinemia have been described. There is conflicting evidence in the literature whether this concerns the X-linked type of the disease or rather the socalled “adult onset” hypogammaglobulinemia^1,2,3 . Nevertheless, it seemed interesting to study the properties of human 5′-nucleotidase (5′-N) more closely. For reasons of availability of starting material the following approach was chosen: First the placental 5′-N was purified and characterized followed by an extensive comparison of the properties of this enzyme with 5′-N from human lymphocytes and lymphoblastoid cells