Sulfatases from Helix pomatia

Abstract

This chapter discusses the sulfatases from Helix pomatia. Sulfate esters are common metabolites, and their characterization can be aided by the use of a homogeneous, or highly purified, sulfatase of broad specificity as a hydrolyzing agent. The highly specific mammalian arylsulfatases are not suitable. The intestinal juice of the snail, Helix pomatia, which is commercially available, contains large amounts of aryl, steroid and glucosinolate sulfatase activities. A more sensitive spectrophotometric method was used to follow the chromatography of the arylsulfatase. The arylsulfatase is highly dependent on the concentration of Tris, and the specific activity determined spectrophotometrically is about 2.5 times that measured in the pH-stat. The chapter describes a slightly modified methylene blue method for steroid sulfatases. For the purification procedure, only arylsulfatase activity is used to follow chromatography. Dialysis is avoided in the early stages because of the presence of a factor, presumably a cellulase, which attacked dialysis tubing.