scholarly journals Characterization of a neutral protease from lysosomes of rabbit polymorphonuclear leucocytes

1971 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 559-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Davies ◽  
Giuseppe A. Rita ◽  
Kathrin Krakauer ◽  
Gerald Weissmann

1. The subcellular distribution has been investigated of a protease from rabbit polymorphonuclear leucocytes, obtained from peritoneal exudates. The enzyme, optimally active between pH7.0 and 7.5, hydrolyses histone but not haemoglobin, sediments almost exclusively with a granule fraction rich in other lysosomal enzymes, and is latent until the granules are disrupted by various means. 2. Enzymic analysis of specific and azurophilic granules separated by zonal centrifugation showed that neutral protease activity was confined to fractions rich in enzymes characteristic of azurophile granules. 3. Recovery of neutral protease activity from subcellular fractions was several times greater than that found in whole cells. This finding was explained by the presence of a potent inhibitor of the enzyme activity in the cytoplasm. 4. The effect of the inhibitor was reversed by increasing ionic strength (up to 2.5m-potassium chloride) and by polyanions such as heparin and dextran sulphate, but not by an uncharged polymer, dextran. 5. The enzyme was also inhibited, to a lesser extent, by 1-chloro-4-phenyl-3-l-toluene-p-sulphonamidobutan-2-one, soya-bean trypsin inhibitor and ∈-aminohexanoate (∈-aminocaproate). 6. The granule fractions failed to hydrolyse artificial substrates for trypsin and chymotrypsin. 7. Partial separation of the enzyme was achieved by Sephadex gel filtration at high ionic strength and by isoelectric focusing. The partially separated, activated enzyme showed an approximately 300-fold increase in specific activity over that in whole cells.

1974 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 403-414
Author(s):  
R. H. Pryce-Jones ◽  
J. Saklatvala ◽  
G. C. Wood

1. The cartilage-proteoglycan-degrading activity of synovial fluid cells from rheumatoid patients is primarily due to neutral protease activity; hyaluronidase does not contribute significantly. Evidence for these conclusions is adduced from electrophoresis of degradation products, from comparison of the proteoglycan-degrading and protease activities of extracts and from the effects of activators and inhibitors. 2. Most of the neutral protease activity is insoluble in buffer of low ionic strength and may thus be separated from small amounts of other, soluble, proteoglycan-degrading enzymes. This ‘insoluble’ protease dissolves in KCl (1 mol/l) and has appreciable solubility even at physiological ionic strength. 3. The protease has optimum activity between pH 7.5 and pH 10, with little or no activity below pH 6.0. 4. The enzyme hydrolyses a number of substrates including elastin and two synthetic substrates for elastase. Hydrolysis of the latter is inhibited by dilutions of synovial fluids and serum and it thus differs from the elastase-like esterase activity of synovial fluid and serum. 5. The ‘insoluble’ enzyme fraction caused loss of staining and release of hexuronate from slices of bovine articular cartilage at salt concentrations near physiological and these effects were almost completely inhibited by cell-free synovial fluids. 6. The properties of the synovial fluid cell neutral protease are compared with those of the similar enzyme activity found in granulocytes from blood and it is concluded that the synovial fluid enzyme is probably derived from granulocytes.


1977 ◽  
Author(s):  
F.S. Markland ◽  
J. Chou ◽  
Y. Shih ◽  
H. Pirkle

A new procedure has been developed for large scale, rapid purification of crotalase, the thrombin-1ike enzyme from the venom of the eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus). The three step procedure involves: (1) molecular sieve chromatography on Sephadex G-100 in 0.04 M Tris buffer containing 0.10 M sodium chloride, pH 7.1; (2) gradient elution from DEAE-cellulose with sodium acetate buffer, pH 7.0; and (3) affinity chromatography on p-aminobenzamidine Sepharose using a spacer of 6-aminohexanoic acid. Crotalase was eluted from the affinity resin by 0.05 M Tris buffer containing 0.10 M sodium chloride and 0.15 M benzamidine-hydrochloride, pH 9.0, after first washing with the Tris buffer containing 0.40 M sodium chloride. From the crude venom, pure enzyme was obtained with an overall recovery of 40-60% of clotting activity and a 90-100 fold increase in specific activity. Crotalase was shown to be pure by Polyacrylamide disk gel electrophoresis which gave one band. The molecular weight was estimated to be approximately 31,000 by gel filtration on a calibrated Sephadex G-100 column. Amino acid analysis was performed and the composition was shown to be very similar to that reported earlier (F.S. Markland and P.S. Damus, J. Biol. Chem. 246: 6460, 1971). Clotting activity of the enzyme was not inhibited by heparin, either with or without plasma, whereas, thrombin was rapidly inactivated by heparin in the presence of plasma. In conclusion, we have developed a rapid and reproducible procedure for isolation in high yield of large quantities of the thrombin-like enzyme from the venom of the eastern diamondback rattlesnake. Studies are continuing on the primary structure and possible clinical applications of this enzyme.


1988 ◽  
Vol 252 (3) ◽  
pp. 865-874 ◽  
Author(s):  
R A Harrison

A study was made of hyaluronidase in ram semen. The end-group assay conditions used to determine activity quantitatively were chosen to ensure reliability as well as sensitivity [Gacesa, Savitsky, Dodgson & Olavesen (1981) Anal. Biochem. 118, 76-84]; they led to 1 W.H.O. Standard International Hyaluronidase Unit displaying 0.1263 EC munit (1 EC unit of activity releases 1 mumol equivalent of N-acetylglucosamine end groups/min at 37 degrees C). All the activity in the semen was shown to be sperm-derived, and intact spermatozoa were estimated to contain 1.23 EC units per 10(9) cells. In a low-ionic-strength medium, only some 20% of the hyaluronidase was extractable, although up to 80% of the activity could be extracted as the ionic strength was increased; further addition of detergent extracted the remainder. During purification of the enzyme, it was found that inclusion of poly(vinyl alcohol) in the media stabilized the activity; detergent inclusion also improved the yield, especially during early stages. As a consequence both of reliable quantitative determination and of stabilization, a number of forms of hyaluronidase could be isolated in high yield, by using anion-exchange chromatography, cation-exchange chromatography, affinity chromatography and gel filtration. The existence of all these forms was confirmed by electrophoresis and immunoblotting with the use of a monoclonal anti-(ram hyaluronidase) antibody, and their presence in very freshly prepared sperm extracts was demonstrated. The specific activity of the isolated major hyaluronidase form was 15.0 EC units/mg; this was equivalent to 119,000 W.H.O. units/mg, higher than any other previously reported values.


1978 ◽  
Vol 40 (02) ◽  
pp. 316-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ira I Sussman ◽  
Harvey J Weiss

SummaryWhen gel filtration of factor VIII is performed with buffers of high ionic strength (1.0 M NaCl or 0.25 M CaCl2), the procoagulant activity elutes with proteins of relatively low molecular weight. It has been suggested that in the presence of proteolytic inhibitors, the procoagulant activity would appear at the void volume. To test this hypothesis, chromatography with buffers of high ionic strength was performed in the presence of benzamidine hydrochloride, soy bean trypsin inhibitor, heparin, DFP, and aprotinin. Under all of these conditions, the procoagulant activity continued to elute with proteins of low molecular weight. Similar findings were obtained after chromatographing cryoprecipitate prepared from the plasma of a normal subject who had received heparin. Thus, at present there is no direct evidence to suggest that proteolysis is involved in the dissociation of factor VIII by buffers of high ionic strength.


1986 ◽  
Vol 55 (01) ◽  
pp. 024-030 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Kosugi ◽  
Y Ariga ◽  
M Nakamura ◽  
K Kinjo

SummaryThere has been no previous report indicating whether thrombin-like enzyme is contained in the venomof Trimeresurus flavoviridis whichhas the strongest toxic effect in the case of Habu bite. The presentstudy was undertaken to clarify the existence of thrombin-like enzyme in Trimeresurus flavoviridis venom. As a starting material, lyophilized crude venom of Trimeresurus flavoviridis was used, and ammonium sulphate fractionation, gel filtration using Sephadex G-25, Sephadex G-150 and arginine-Sepharose affinity chromatography were carried out to separate and purify a thrombin-like enzyme from the crude venom. The enzyme was purified to a 137-fold increase in specific activity and the purified preparation revealed a single band on SDS-PAGE. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 65,000-70,000 daltons by means of SDS-PAGE and gel filtration, and its isoelectric point was pH 4.5-5.5. Furthermore, the optimal pH of the enzyme was in the range of pH 8.0 to 8.5. Some of the differences in enzymatic properties between this enzyme and bovine thrombin were studied. The snake enzyme could coagulate only rabbit plasma and convert only purified rabbit fibrinogen to fibrin gel. In addition, this thrombin-like enzyme released only fibrinopeptide A from purified rabbit fibrinogen and did not release fibrinopeptide B.


1967 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Capesius ◽  
Gerhard Richter

A method for the isolation and purification of polynucleotide phosphorylase from the blue-green alga Anacystis nidulans is described. It consists in an initial fractional centrifugation which yields up to 70% of the enzyme associated with the ribosomal fraction while the RNA-polymerase together with the bulk DNA is mainly confined to the supernatant. The ribosomal fraction is then subjected to column chromatography (DEAE-cellulose) and gel filtration (Sephadex G-200) to obtain a 120 — 150 fold increase in specific activity over the crude extract. The enzyme is essentially free from nucleic acids, phosphatases, kinases and RNA-polymerase. With ADP, UDP or CDP as substrate the corresponding homopolymers poly-A, poly-U and poly-C, respectively, are synthesized with good yields; no lag phase occurs. Equimolar mixtures of these nucleoside diphosphates give rise to heteropolymers. The optimal formation of poly-G and of AGUC polymer, both of which have rather low yields under standard conditions is achieved by incubating at higher temperatures (45° and 60°) and by replacing Mg2⊕ by Mg2⊕. In the presence of inorganic phosphate the highly purified enzyme also catalyzes the cleavage, to nucleoside diphosphates, of synthetic polynucleotides and of native high molecular RNA from various organisms. The possible association of polynucleotide phosphorylase with the ribosomes and its function is discussed.


2002 ◽  
Vol 57 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 541-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fanny B. Zamora-Veyl ◽  
Herbert L. M. Guedes ◽  
Salvatore Giovanni-De-Simone

A proteolytic activity was identified in Dugesia tigrina planaria using the chromogenic substrate Phe-Ala-Ala-Phe (4-NO2)-Phe-Val-Leu-O4MP. The activity of the enzyme increased four times during the regeneration and presented a maximum at 120 hr being higher in tail than head regenerating segments. The protease that displays this activity was purified from worms by a single step on pepstatin-agarose followed by gel-filtration high performance liquid chromatography. The purification resulted in a 34-fold increase in specific activity and the final yield was 10%. The active D. tigrina hydrolase appears to be a dimeric protein composed of identical subunits with 34 kDa associated by disulphide bridges similar to vertebrate cathepsin D. By SDS-PAGE several bands were detected but upon gel filtration HPLC one proteolytically active component, termed Asp-68, was detected and isolated. The maximal activity was observed in a range between pH 3.5-5.0 and the enzyme became inactivated at a pH value above 7.2. The purified enzyme was not inhibited by inhibitors from serine (aprotinin, TPCK, PMSF and TLCK), metallo (EDTA) and cysteine proteinase (E-64) classes. In contrast, inhibitors such as pepstatin, EPNP, and 4-β-PMA efficiently inhibited the activity of the 68-kDa protease.


2002 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 1980-1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yolanda Sanz ◽  
Fidel Toldrá

ABSTRACT An arginine aminopeptidase (EC 3.4.11.6) that exclusively hydrolyzes basic amino acids from the amino (N) termini of peptide substrates has been purified from Lactobacillus sakei. The purification procedure consisted of ammonium sulfate fractionation and three chromatographic steps, which included hydrophobic interaction, gel filtration, and anion-exchange chromatography. This procedure resulted in a recovery rate of 4.2% and a 500-fold increase in specific activity. The aminopeptidase appeared to be a trimeric enzyme with a molecular mass of 180 kDa. The activity was optimal at pH 5.0 and 37°C. The enzyme was inhibited by sulfhydryl group reagents and several divalent cations (Cu2+, Hg2+, and Zn2+) but was activated by reducing agents, metal-chelating agents, and sodium chloride. The enzyme showed a preference for arginine at the N termini of aminoacyl derivatives and peptides. The Km values for Arg-7-amido-4-methylcoumarin (AMC) and Lys-AMC were 15.9 and 26.0 μM, respectively. The nature of the amino acid residue at the C terminus of dipeptides has an effect on hydrolysis rates. The activity was maximal toward dipeptides with Arg, Lys, or Ala as the C-terminal residue. The properties of the purified enzyme, its potential function in the release of arginine, and its further metabolism are discussed because, as a whole, it could constitute a survival mechanism for L. sakei in the meat environment.


1982 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naotika Toki ◽  
Sumiyoshi Takasugi ◽  
Hiroyuki Sumi

1. An elastase-like enzyme in plasma of patients with acute pancreatitis was purified by DEAE-cellulose column chromatography and polyacrylamide-gel disc electrophoresis. 2. In this way 0.24 mg of purified enzyme with a specific activity of 3.94 succinyl-l-alanyl-l-alanyl-l-alanyl-p-nitroanilide units/mg of protein was obtained from 10 ml of plasma. 3. The purified material was homogeneous as ascertained by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel disc electrophoresis and had an apparent molecular weight of 24 000 as measured by gel filtration on Sephadex G-100. 4. This enzyme hydrolysed denatured casein and Congo Red—elastin as well as succinyl-l-alanyl-l-alanyl-l-alanyl-p-nitroanilide. Its amidolytic activity was inhibited by soya bean trypsin inhibitor, but not by aprotinin. 6. We propose that an elastase-like enzyme, probably different from elastase 1 or elastase 2, is liberated from the pancreas into blood during acute pancreatitis and becomes combined with α2-macroglobulin.


1986 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 457-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Fairbairn ◽  
Barry A. Law

SUMMAEYPseudomonas fluorescensNCDO 2085 produced a single heat-stable extracellular proteinase in Na caseinate medium at 20 °C and pH 7·0. The proteinase was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity using chromatofocusing, gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography. The purification procedure resulted in a 158-fold increase in the specific activity and a yield of 3·5% of the original activity. The enzyme is a metalloproteinase containing Zn and Ca, with an isoelectric point at 5·40±0·05 and a mol. wt of 40200±2100. It is heat-stable having D-values at 74 and 140 °C of 1·6 and 1·0 min respectively; 40 and 70% of the original activity remained after HTST (74 °C/17 s) and ultra high temperature (140°C/4 s) treatments respectively. The amino acid composition of the proteinase was determined and compared with those from otherPseudomonasspp.


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