Arthrobacter ureafaciens sialidase isoenzymes, L, M1 and M2, cleave fucosyl GM1.

Among bacterial, fungal and viral sialidases, the sialidase from Arthrobacter ureafaciens has the unique property of cleaving sialic acids linked to the internal galactose of gangliotetraose. In this study, we examined the ability to cleave the internal sialic acids of GM1 and fucosyl GM1 of sialidases from several bacterial and fungal origins, including Clostridium perfringens and Vibrio cholerae. We found that A. ureafaciens sialidase could liberate the sialic acid of GM1 at the highest rate, and was the only enzyme which could cleave fucosyl GM1 among the sialidases examined. The affinity-purified sialidase derived from the culture medium of A. ureafaciens was comprised of four isoenzymes with different molecular weights and isoelectric points, the isoenzymes that cleaved fucosyl GM1 being L (88 kDa, pl 5.0), M1 (66 kDa, pl 6.2) and M2 (66 kDa, pl 5.5), but not S (52 kDa, pl 6.2) which showed the highest specific activity toward colominic acid among the four isoenzymes.