Immunoenzymic studies on testicular hyaluronidase from rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta)

Hyaluronidase from rhesus monkey testes was purified by detergent extraction, ammonium sulphate fractionation, Sephadex G-200 column chromatography and concanavalin A-Sepharose affinity chromatography. The purified hyaluronidase showed one protein band on acrylamide gel electrophoresis. Antibodies to the purified hyaluronidase were raised in rabbits and showed a single precipitin line by Ouchterlony gel diffusion. The enzyme had a molecular weight of 62,000. The Km was 0.5 mg/ml for hydrolysis of hyaluronic acid at 37 degrees C. The optimum pH for the enzyme was 5.0 but activity was present over a broad pH range. The hyaluronidase was inhibited by HgCl2, CuSO4, FeSO4 and p-chloromercuribenzoate all at a concentration of 2 x 10(-4) M. Cysteine protected the enzyme against HgCl2 inhibition.