Hyaluronidase is present in high amount in testis as it aids fertilization of the mammalian egg. Mammalian hyaluronidase has a catalytic epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like domain and a C-terminal cysteine rich region.

Hyaluronidase has been used:

• as a component of enzyme mix for the isolation of sertoli and germ cells from seminiferous tubules
• in the pre-treatment of deparaffinized adenomas sections for immunohistochemistry
• in the digestion of umbilical cord blood vessel for the generation of umbilical cord stromal stem cell lines

Hyaluronidase from sheep testis is commercially used to depolymerise hyaluronic acid and chondroitin-sulphate in connective tissue and cartilage respectively.

These enzymes randomly cleave β-N-acetylhexosamine-(1−4)-glycosidic bonds in hyaluronic acid, chondroitin, and chondroitin sulfates.

One unit will degrade 0.75 μg of the polysaccharide hyaluronic acid per minute at pH 5.35 at 37 ºC (as measured by turbidimetric absorbance (λ: 600nm) when complexed with BSA after 45 minutes).

View more information on enzymes for complex carbohydrate analysis at www.sigma-aldrich.com/enzymeexplorer