Partial Purification and Characterization of an Enzyme Releasing 2-Sulfo-α-L- fucopyranose from 2-Sulfo-α-L-fucopyranosyl-(1→2) Pyridylaminated Fucose from a Sea Urchin, Strongylocentrotus nudus

We purified an enzyme hydrolyzing 2-sulfo-α-L-fucopyranose pyridylaminated 2-sulfo-α-L-fucopyranosyl-(1→2)-fucose from the acetone powder of the digestive tract of a sea urchin. The enzyme was purified 307-fold with an overall recovery of 1.63% by ammonium sulfate precipitation, cation exchange chromatography, and gel filtration chromatography. The enzyme is useful for the structural analysis of sulfated fucan.