Oligopeptidase B: protease II from Escherichia coli.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D Tsuru.
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The Aeromonas sobria pap gene encoding prolyl aminopeptidase (PAP) was cloned. It consists of 425 codons and encodes a homotetrameric enzyme of 205 kDa. The purified enzyme showed an almost absolute specificity for amino-terminal proline. Proline and hydroxyproline residues from many peptide and amide substrates could be easily removed, while no activity was detected for substrates having other amino terminals. The enzyme was very similar to that from Bacillus coagulans in many aspects, such as the strong inhibition caused by PCMB and the weak or no inhibition caused by DFP and chelators, respectively. However, these enzymes show only 15% identity in their amino acid sequences. Differences were also observed in their molecular weight, stability and activity toward some peptide substrates. When aligning the deduced amino acid sequence with known sequences from other microorganisms, conserved sequences were found at the amino-terminal region; the significance of these conserved regions is discussed. Based on the results of this work, and on the studies available to date, the occurrence of at least two types of PAPs is postulated. One group would be formed by the Bacillus, Neisseria, and Lactobacillus enzymes, and the other by enzymes such as the Aeromonas PAP.
A DNA fragment of 485 bp was specifically amplified by PCR with primers based on the N-terminal sequence of the purified formaldehyde dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.1.46) from Pseudomonas putida and on that of a cyanogen bromide-derived peptide. With this product as a probe, a gene coding for formaldehyde dehydrogenase (fdhA) in P. putida chromosomal DNA was cloned in Escherichia coli DH5 alpha. Sequencing analysis revealed that the fdhA gene contained 1,197-bp open reading frame, encoding a protein composed of 399 amino acid residues whose calculated molecular weight was 42,082. The transformant of E. coli DH5 alpha harboring the hybrid plasmid, pFDHK3DN71, showed about 50-fold-higher formaldehyde dehydrogenase activity than P. putida. The predicted amino acid sequence contained several features characteristic of the zinc-containing medium-chain alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) family. Most of the glycine residues strictly conserved within the family, including a Gly-Xaa-Gly-Xaa-Xaa-Gly pattern in the coenzyme binding domain, were well conserved in this enzyme. Regions around both the catalytic and the structural zinc atoms were also conserved. Analyses of structural and enzymatic characteristics indicated that P. putida FDH belongs to the medium-chain ADH family, with mixed properties of mammalian class I and III ADHs.
The active site structure of the Zn-containing neutral protease from Bacillus subtilis var. amylosacchariticus (BANP) was predicted by computer-aided modeling on the basis of the three-dimensional structure of thermolysin (TLN). As expected from the high homology in amino acid sequence of the two enzymes, the overall folding of BANP was very similar to that of TLN. Glu144, Tyr158, and His228 of BANP were located near the active site Zn ion, to which three amino acid residues, His143, His147, and Glu167, were coordinated. This model is supported by the previous results that chemical modifications of Tyr158 and photooxidation of His228 of BANP markedly affect the proteolytic activity of the enzyme. Interestingly, BANP was found to be significantly less sensitive to metalloprotease inhibitors such as phosphoramidon and talopeptin. From a comparison of the enzyme-inhibitor complex models between BANP and thermolysin, it is suggested that replacement of Thr129 in TLN by Phe130 in BANP is related to difference in inhibitor sensitivity between BANP and TLN.
The pyroglutamyl peptidase [EC 3.4.11.8] gene from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli DH1. The transformant of E. coli DH1 harboring plasmid pBPG 1 with a 2.1 kb chromosomal DNA fragment showed 80-fold higher activity than B. amyloliquefaciens. The nucleotide sequence of a 0.9 kb fragment that contains the promoter and the mature protein coding region was determined by the dideoxy chain-termination method. An open reading frame of 648 bp starting with an ATG methionine codon was found, which encodes a protein of 215 amino acid residues with a deduced molecular weight of 23,286. The enzyme has two cysteine residues (Cys68 and Cys144) per subunit molecule. Substitution of Cys144 with Ser by site-directed mutagenesis resulted in a complete loss of the activity, while that of Cys68 with Ser did not affect the activity at all. This result and titration with DTNB suggest that Cys144 is concerned in the catalytic action and Cys68 is located inside the enzyme. The expressed enzyme was purified to homogeneity by hydrophobic chromatography on a Toyopearl HW-65C column and crystallization, with an activity recovery of 42.7%. The enzyme was most active at pH 6.5 and stable at pH 7.0-9.0. Its molecular weight was estimated to be 51,000 by gel filtration, suggesting it to be a dimer. Big crystals of the wild and PCMB-modified enzymes were obtained by the hanging drop method.
A strain of Aeromonas hydrophila was found to show prolyl endopeptidase activity. The enzyme gene was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli JM83. A 12 kbp EcoRI fragment containing the enzyme gene was subcloned at the HincII site of pUC19 to construct plasmid pAPEP-3 with a 3.5 kbp insert. E. coli JM83 transformed with this plasmid showed about 100-fold higher activity than the parent Aeromonas. Analysis of the nucleotide sequence of the insert revealed that the mature enzyme-encoding sequence starts just after the ATG initiation codon of the open reading frame. The enzyme was a single polypeptide composed of 689 amino acid residues with a molecular weight of 76,383. It showed properties very similar to those of Flavobacterium prolyl endopeptidase, except that the isoelectric point was 5.5. The amino acid sequence was 56 and 41% homologous to those of Flavobacterium and porcine brain prolyl endopeptidases, respectively. From a survey of sequence homology with other members of the prolyl endopeptidase family, the amino acid residues involved in the catalytic triad were deduced to be Ser-537, His-656, and Asp-512 (or Asp-621).
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Several proteolytic enzymes and dehydrogenases of microbial origin were studied with special regard to structure-activity relationship. Enzyme genes of Zn-proteases, subtilisin and pyroglutamyl aminopeptidase from genus Bacillus, prolyl endopeptidases from Flavobacterium and Aeromonas, and of protease II from E. coli were cloned, sequenced and overproduced in E. coli, their active site structures being elucidated by chemical modification as well as by site-directed mutagenesis. Homology analysis revealed that there is a prolyl endopeptidase family as a new family of serine endopeptidases. In addition, enzymatic properties and the primary structures of glutathione-independent formaldehyde dehydrogenase of Pseudomonas putida and 7 alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase from E. coli were elucidated. Amino acid sequences deduced from the nucleotide sequences of their genes indicated that the former enzyme should be classified into a long-chain metallo alcohol dehydrogenase family, and the latter belongs to a member of the short-chain nonmetallo-alcohol dehydrogenase family.
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The gene coding for proline iminopeptidase in Bacillus coagulans was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Nucleotide sequencing revealed an 861-bp open reading frame with an unusual TTG initiation codon, encoding a 287-amino-acid protein. The calculated molecular weight of the product was 32,415. The amino acid sequences of the amino-terminal region and those of some peptide fragments obtained by endoproteinase Asp-N digestion of the purified enzyme completely coincided with those deduced from the nucleotide sequence. The rare TTG initiation codon that normally codes for leucine was translated as a formal initiation codon; a methionine residue was found at the amino terminus of the enzyme. By using a vector bearing the strong tac promoter, an expression level as high as 200-fold that of the first clone was achieved. The replacement of the TTG initiation codon with ATG and a simultaneous reduction of the distance to the tac promoter resulted in a further increase of 2.5-fold. The expressed enzyme was easily purified to homogeneity by hydrophobic chromatography on a Toyopearl HW-65C column and crystallization, with a recovery of activity of 36%. The molecular weight was found to be 33,000 by both sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and gel filtration on a Hi-Load 16/60 Superdex 200 fast protein liquid chromatography column. The expressed enzyme showed the same catalytic and physicochemical properties as those of the wild type, specifically cleaving the N-terminal proline from small substrates.
The zinc-containing neutral endopeptidase (neutral protease: BANP) from Bacillus subtilis var. amylosacchariticus was inhibited by the proteinaceous metalloprotease inhibitor isolated from Streptomyces nigrescens (SMPI). The degree of inhibition was, however, significantly less than that for thermolysin (TLN). During incubation of BANP with SMPI, the inhibitor was proteolytically degraded and inactivated. Analysis of the digestion products suggested that a minor diversity in their substrate specificities between TLN and BANP affects the sensitivity to the proteinaceous metalloprotease inhibitor, SMPI.
Biotin carboxylase [biotin-carboxyl-carrier-protein:carbon-dioxide ligase (ADP-forming), EC 6.3.4.14] is the enzyme mediating the first step of the acetyl-CoA carboxylase [acetyl-CoA:carbon-dioxide ligase (ADP-forming), EC 6.4.1.2] reaction. We screened an Escherichia coli DNA library and a DNA fragment carrying the biotin carboxylase gene fabG, and its flanking regions were cloned. The gene for biotin carboxyl carrier protein was found 13 base pairs upstream of the fabG gene. Nucleotide sequencing of the recombinant plasmids revealed that the fabG codes for a 449-amino acid residue protein with a calculated molecular weight of 49,320, a value in good agreement with that of 51,000 determined by SDS/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the purified enzyme. The deduced amino acid sequence of biotin carboxylase is also consistent with the partial amino acid sequence determined by Edman degradation. The primary structure of this enzyme exhibits a high homology with those of other biotin-dependent enzymes and carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase [carbon-dioxide:L-glutamine amino-ligase (ADP-forming, carbamate-phosphorylating), EC 6.3.5.5]; therefore, all these enzymes probably function through the same mechanism of reaction.
Protease II gene of Escherichia coli HB101 was cloned and expressed in E. coli JM83. The transformant harboring a hybrid plasmid, pPROII-12, with a 2.4 kbp fragment showed 90-fold higher enzyme activity than the host. The whole nucleotide sequence of the inserted fragment of plasmid pPROII-12 was clarified by the dideoxy chain-terminating method. The sequence that encoded the mature enzyme protein was found to start at an ATG codon, as judged by comparison with amino terminal protein sequencing. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 81,858 from the nucleotide sequence. The reactive serine residue of protease II was identified as Ser-532 with tritium DFP. The sequence around the serine residue is coincident with the common sequence of Gly-X-Ser-X-Gly, which has been found in the active site of serine proteases. Except for this region, protease II showed no significant sequence homology with E. coli serine proteases, protease IV and protease La (lon gene), or other known families of serine proteases. However, 25.3% homology was observed between protease II and prolyl endopeptidase from porcine brain. Although the substrate specificities of these two enzymes are quite different, it seems possible to classify protease II as a member of the prolyl endopeptidase family from the structural point of view.
The prolyl endopeptidase [EC 3.4.21.26] gene of Flavobacterium meningosepticum was cloned in Escherichia coli with the aid of an oligonucleotide probe which was prepared based on the amino acid sequence. The hybrid plasmid, pFPEP1, with a 3.5 kbp insert at the HincII site of pUC19 containing the enzyme gene, was subcloned into pUC19 to construct plasmid pFPEP3. The whole nucleotide sequence of an inserted HincII-BamHI fragment of plasmid pFPEP3 was determined by the dideoxy chain-terminating method. The purified prolyl endopeptidase was labeled with tritium DFP, and the sequence surrounding the reactive serine residue was found to be Ala (551)-Leu-Ser-Gly-Arg-*Ser-Asn(557). Ser-556 was identified as a reactive serine residue. The enzyme consists of 705 amino acid residues as deduced from the nucleotide sequence and has a molecular weight of 78,705, which coincides well with the value estimated by ultra centrifugal analysis. The amino acid sequence was 38.2% homologous to that of the porcine brain prolyl endopeptidase [Rennex et al. (1991) Biochemistry 30, 2195-2203] and 24.5% homologous to E. coli protease II, which has substrate specificity for basic amino acids [Kanatani et al. (1991) J. Biochem. 110, 315-320].
The 7 alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.159) gene from Escherichia coli HB101 was cloned and expressed in E. coli DH1. The hybrid plasmid pSD1, with a 2.8-kbp insert of chromosomal DNA at the BamHI site of pBR322, was subcloned into pUC19 to construct plasmid pSD3. The entire nucleotide sequence of an inserted PstI-BamHI fragment of plasmid pSD3 was determined by the dideoxy chain-termination method. Within this sequence, the mature enzyme protein-encoding sequence was found to start at a GTG initiation codon and to comprise 765 bp, as judged by comparison with the protein sequence. The deduced amino acid sequence of the enzyme indicated that the molecular weight is 26,778. The transformant of E. coli DH1 harboring pSD3 with a 1.8-kbp fragment showed about 200-fold-higher enzyme activity than the host. The enzyme was purified by a single chromatography step on DEAE-Toyopearl and obtained as crystals, with an activity yield of 39%. The purified enzyme was homogeneous, as judged by sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis. The enzyme was most active at pH 8.5 and stable between pH 8 and 9. The enzyme was NAD+ dependent and had a pI of 4.3. The molecular mass was estimated to be 120 kDa by the gel filtration method and 28 kDa by electrophoresis, indicating that the enzyme exists in a tetrameric form.
A rat serum enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of a pro-drug, 7-ethyl-10-[4-(1-piperidino)-1-piperidino] carbonyloxycamptothecin (CPT-11), to an anticancer drug, 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN-38), was purified and its properties were characterized. The enzyme was purified by column chromatography on diethylaminoethyl Toyopearl 650M, QAE-Sephadex, Sephadex G-150, Con A-Sepharose and high performance liquid chromatography with an ion-exchanger column. It was most active at pH 7.5 and was stable at pH 4-9 for 1 h at 30 degrees C. The molecular weight was estimated to be 60 and 57 kDa by gel filtration and sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis methods, respectively, and the isoelectric point was 4.6, as determined by isoelectric focusing. The Km value for CPT-11 was 0.28 microM. This enzyme was inhibited by diisopropyl phosphorofluoridate (DFP) and phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) but insensitive to eserine, p-chloromercuribenzoate (PCMB) and ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA). The enzyme also hydrolyzed p-nitrophenylacetate (p-NPA), a commonly used substrate for esterases, but was not active toward acetylcholine, suggesting that the enzyme is a carboxylesterase[EC 3.1.1.1]. During the hydrolyses of CPT-11 and p-NPA, an initial burst phenomenon similar to that found in the alpha-chymotrypsin-catalyzed hydrolysis of p-NPA was observed. Kinetic analysis revealed that the deacylation of the enzyme is the rate-limiting step in substrate hydrolysis. This enzyme was found to also split other ester derivatives of SN-38 besides CPT-11.
Structural requirements of N-blocked L-proline derivatives as specific inhibitors for prolyl endopeptidase were investigated using a series of substrate analogs. Replacement of L-proline by its D-isomer remarkably reduced the inhibition. Introduction of a sulfur atom in proline and/or in the penultimate pyrrolidine rings significantly increased the inhibition, but the introduction of oxygen rather diminished the activity. A peptide linkage (acid-amide bond) between the proline and the pyrrolidine ring was also required to keep the inhibitory activity. A benzyloxycarbonyl group was most effective as an N-blocked component of the inhibitors.
The neutral protease of Bacillus subtilis var. amylosacchariticus was photooxidized in the presence of methylene blue, by which treatment the enzyme was rapidly inactivated. The inactive enzyme was digested with endoproteinase Asp-N, the resultant peptides were separated by HPLC, and their amino acid sequences were compared with those obtained from the unmodified enzyme. Of four peptides that contained histidine residues, only the recovery of one peptide was found to be decreased by the photooxidation with the appearance of a new peptide. Comparisons of amino acid compositions and sequences between these two peptides showed that the latter peptide lacked His228 of the former one, indicating that His228 was photooxidized. This result suggests that His228 is involved in the catalytic reaction of the neutral protease or interaction with substrates.