A Study on the efficacy of alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (naga) from clostridium perfringens in cleaving N-galactosamine from type a blood /

A Study on the efficacy of alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (naga) from clostridium perfringens in cleaving N-galactosamine from type a blood / Section D1; Anna Belen I. Alensuela. - Fairview, Quezon City: Department of Biochemistry, FEU-NRMF, 2012. - 31 pages: illustration, tables, photos; 258 cm.

Includes appendices and bibliographical references.

Abstract: Blood is an essential component of the human body. It serves a multitude of functions among which are oxygenation, waste product elimination, immunity and, most importantly, maintenance of homeostasis. Blood replacement or transfusion has been proven to be a highly effective therapy which saves lives of millions of people every day. Non-government organization (NGOs) and other globally-accredited organizations have acknowledged the fact that blood scarcity has been a problem both for the third world and developing countries alike. The study aimed to investigate a possible solution to this problem by extracting and isolating alpha-N-acetylgalactoseaminidase from the bacteria Clostridium perfringens. Partial isolation of C. perfringens was accomplished through gel-filtration chromatography using Sephadex G-100 column. Alpha-N-acetylgalactoseaminidase is known to convert type A to type O red cells. It cleaves the type A red cell`s immunodominant sugar leaving behind the L-fucose terminal end which makes the type A red cell similar to type O red cells. Two volunteers with blood types A and O participated in this study and 6ml of bloods are extracted. Three set-ups were used. Set-up A is the positive control, set-up B is the negative control and set-up C is the experimental control with type A blood and NAGA. The mixture of type A blood and enzyme solution was positive for agglutination when tested with anti-A serum. Hence, results were negative for the conversion of Type A into Type O blood.

Thesis - Department of Biochemistry & Nutrition

M BIO 2012 0009