STUDIES ON THE BIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF COELOMIC FLUID OF SEA URCHIN. II. NATURALLY OCCURRING HEMAGGLUTININ IN SEA URCHIN

¹ Department of Experimental Therapeutics, Cancer Research Institute, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa (Japan)

The occurrence of natural hemagglutinins in the coelomic fluid of sea urchins, Anthocidaris crassispina, Pseudocentrotus depressus, and Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus, was reported.

The coelomic fluid preparations from three species of sea urchin were found to have hemagglutinating activity against rabbit and human erythrocytes but not against mouse and sheep erythrocytes so far examined. Dog erythrocytes were sensitive to the coelomic fluids of A. crassispina and H. pulcherrimus. The coelomic fluids of P. depressus and H. pulcherrimus also agglutinated guinea pig erythrocytes.

The hemagglutinins against rabbit erythrocytes from A. crassispina and P. depressus might be a protein or a protein-like substance and were heat-unstable and resistant to trypsin digestion, but not to bromelain, and were affected by 2-mercaptoethanol though the activity of the former was recovered when 2-mercaptothanol was removed. On the other hand, the hemagglutinin of H. pulcherrimus might be a large molecular, complicated carbohydrate, which was heat stable and resistant to trypsin, bromelain, 2-mercaptoethanol, and periodate.

The hemagglutinating activity of the coelomic fluids was greatly enhanced by the addition of calcium but not magnesium, and the hemagglutination by them was not dependent on temperature. Inhibition tests with simple sugars on hemagglutinating activity of the coelomic fluids resulted in failure to determine the specificity of receptor sites for these hemagglutinins. In addition, the results of absorption test on the specificity of the hemagglutinin of sea urchin were discussed.

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