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Bangladesh Journal of Biochemistry, Vol. 3, No. 2, 45-52, December 1997
MULTIPLE FORMS OF DIHYDROFOLATE REDUCTASE IN LEUKOCYTES OF CANCER PATIENTS WITH NON-HEMATOLOGICAL MALIGNANCIES

M. Perwaiz IQBAL, Fakhra SULTANA, Naseema MEHBOOBALI, N. Ikram A. BURNEY, Tariq SIDDIQUI and M. Anwar WAQAR
Departments of Biochemistry and Medicine, The Aga Khan Univertity, Stadium Road, Karachi-74800, Pakistan  

(Received April 16, 1998)

Abstract
An immunoreactive form of dihydrofolate reductse, which is different from the active enzyme, has been identified in large quantity in leukocytes of cancer patients with different types of non-hematological malignancies by using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The size of this immunoreactive but apparently non-functional enzyme is larger than the active dihydrofolate reductase.This protein with antegenic homology to dihydrofolate reductase present in leukocytes of a patient with Adenocarcinoma and a patient with Hodgkin’s disease could be converted into small size proteins having no enzyme activity by using  4M urea and 40mM dithioerythritol. However, the protein present in the leukocytes of patients with non Hodgkin’s lymphoma and small cell lung carcinoma could not be dissociated into small size proteins suggesting a heterogeneity in the structure of this protein in different types of cancer.

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Bangladesh Journal of Biochemistry, Vol. 3, No. 2, 53-68, December 1997
CHEMICAL MODIFICATIONS OF LUFFIN-a, A RIBOSOME INACTIVATING PROTEIN FROM LUFFA CYLINDRICA SEEDS- THE INVOLVEMENT OF HIS-140 AND TYR-165 IN ITS ACTIVITY

M. Rafiqul ISLAM, M. Ahad ALI and Gunki FUNATSU
Laboratory of Protein Chemistry and Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812, Japan 

(Received June 16, 1998)