Talk:Lysozyme

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What is the mechanism of action of lysozymes? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.23.193.89 (talk • contribs)

Perhaps you should read the article first: "This enzyme functions by attacking peptidoglycan by hydrolyzing the bond that connects N-acetylmuramic acid with carbon four of N-acetylglucosamine." These substances are part of the bacterial cell wall, and lysozyme therefore affects the integrity of the cell wall. JFW | T@lk 16:50, 31 May 2005 (UTC)

Somebody could define the term "opsonins"? good piece. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.199.52.106 (talk • contribs)

How about a molecular mass, and isoeclectic point Jasoninkid 15:58, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

The connection expressed in the line "Most of the bacteria affected by lysozyme are not pathogenic. In some cases, lysozyme is a primary reason these organisms do not become pathogenic." is not clear. A brief explanation of how lysozyme prevents pathogenicity, or a link to the mechanism, would be usefull. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.10.158.247 (talk • contribs) 20:31, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

We need a section that details lysozyme's use in industry and foods - it's a common preservative (E1105) in the grated cheese you can buy on the non-refrigerated aisle in the store. What do you guys think? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.111.223.101 (talk) 00:10, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Doubious statement

Removed from the article:

Lysozyme is commonly referred to as the "body's own antibiotic" since it kills bacteria.

...as the opening sentence of the article. Seems misguided and false, unless, anyone can provide a rationale? 82.16.7.63 21:51, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] T4 or other?

This article makes it completely ambiguous as to whether it is referring to T4 lysozyme, or one of its many other variants. To compound this problem, it cites a specific molecular weight and AA length without saying to which lysozyme it belongs. Not to mention there isn't anything in the lysozyme family with a MW of 14.4 kDa. Chicken lysozyme is 14.3 kDa and T4 is considerably more (around 18.7 kDa according to this paper). T4 lysozyme also isn't 129 residues, that's chicken lysozyme. So not only does this article fail to distinguish between the two main types of lysozyme, it also contains information which is incorrect for both types.--129.49.7.125 (talk) 16:09, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

And please don't respond on my talk page, you'll be sending a new message at random to any of the many users of stony brook's library proxy. It represents anywhere from dozens to hundreds of physical machines. --129.49.7.125 (talk) 16:16, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

SigmaAlrdich lists chicken lysozyme as anywhere from 14.6 kDa to 14.7 kDa, while oddly enough a bottle of chicken lysozyme purchased from Sigma lists it as 14.3, either way since this article seems to be talking about chicken lysozyme the 14.4 number is completely wrong.--129.49.7.125 (talk) 16:21, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

According to this article in J. Biochem it's 14.3 kDa. I'd go with a published paper over a chemical supplier.--129.49.7.125 (talk) 16:23, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Time to disambiguate?

This article is a mixture of information, some of it pertaining to T4, some of it to chicken lysozyme, and the rest to human lysozyme. Would it be worth splitting this into T4 Lysozyme, Chicken Lysozyme, Human Lysozyme, and making Lysozyme into a disambiguation page? This article seems to be relatively low traffic so this discussion seems likely to go unnoticed. Since it's considered within the scope of Wikiproject MCB I'll propose this change there. --129.49.7.125 (talk) 15:19, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Disagree Well, the policies and guidelines in wikipedia state that it is an encyclopedia to understand stuff and not a dictionary with word for word listing, the example given is acid and base form a single article calle acidity. The article just needs fixing (separate paragraphs (general,T4,chick, human) if you want). The concepts are linked so I strongly disagree with disambiguation. But the article is so short (general, T4, chick, human). btw. Unless you are running a gel its precise weight is not important. it is actually just information and not knowledge (in addition, the glycosylation make it weigh more so the precise number by calculation from sequence is useless) --Squidonius (talk) 21:11 + correction, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Which is exactly why I removed the assertion of a specific molar mass.--129.49.7.125 (talk) 17:05, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

The only this I dislike on the article are

Most of the bacteria affected by lysozyme are not pathogenic... Because Most bacteria are commensal in westerners!
they developed penicillin, which Fleming had failed to do. that sentence is so odd I donno what it is about; yes, it took twenty years to develop penicillin but I though people at Merk did it. --Squidonius (talk) 00:18, 3 May 2008 (UTC)