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At least 973 records · Page 54Linked to original sources
PubMed2004

Positional-scanning combinatorial libraries of fluorescence resonance energy transfer peptides to define substrate specificity of carboxydipeptidases: assays with human cathepsin B.

We have developed positional scanning synthetic combinatorial libraries to define the substrate specificity of carboxydipeptidases. The library Abz-GXXZXK(Dnp)-OH, where Abz is ortho-aminobenzoic acid, K(Dnp) is N(epsilon)-2,4-dinitrophenyl-lysine with free carboxyl group, the Z position was successively occupied with 1 of 19 amino acids (cysteine was omitted), and X represents randomly incorporated residues, was assayed initially with human cathepsin B, and arginine was defined as one of the best residues at the P(1) position. To examine the selectivity of S(1)('), S(2), and S(3) subsites, the sublibraries Abz-GXXRZK(Dnp)-OH, Abz-GXZRXK(Dnp)-OH, and Abz-GZXRXK(Dnp)-OH were then synthesized. The peptide Abz-GIVRAK(Dnp)-OH, which contains the most favorable residues in the P(3)-P(1)(') positions identified by screening of the libraries with cathepsin B, was hydrolyzed by this enzyme with k(cat)/K(m)=7288 mM(-1)s(-1). This peptide is the most efficient substrate described for cathepsin B to this point, and it is highly selective for the enzyme among the lysosomal cysteine proteases.

Carboxypeptidases↗
PubMed1981

Substrate specificity and mode of action of the cellulases from the thermophilic fungus Thermoascus aurantiacus.

The substrate specificities of three cellulases and a beta-glucosidase purified from Thermoascus aurantiacus were examined. All three cellulases partially degraded native cellulose. Cellulase I, but not cellulase II and cellulase III, readily hydrolyzed the mixed beta-1,3; beta-1,6-polysaccharides such as carboxymethyl-pachyman, yeast glucan and laminarin. Both cellulase I and the beta-glucosidase degraded xylan, and it is proposed that the xylanase activity is an inherent feature of these two enzymes. Lichenin (beta-1,4; beta-1,3) was degraded by all three cellulases. Cellulase II cannot degrade carboxymethyl-cellulose, and with filter paper as substrate the end product was cellobiose, which indicates that cellulase II is an exo-beta-1,4-glucan cellobiosylhydrolase. Degradation of cellulose (filter paper) can be catalysed independently by each of the three cellulases; there was no synergistic effect between any of the cellulases, and cellobiose was the principal product of degradation. The mode of action of one cellulase (cellulase III) was examined by using reduced cellulodextrins. The central linkages of the cellulodextrins were the preferred points of cleavage, which, with the rapid decrease in viscosity of carboxymethyl-cellulose, confirmed that cellulase III was an endocellulase. The rate of hydrolysis increased with chain length of the reduced cellulodextrins, and these kinetic data indicated that the specificity region of cellulase III was five or six glucose units in length.

Ascomycota↗
PubMed1993

Studies on the substrate specificity of the inducible and non-inducible acyl-CoA oxidases from rat kidney peroxisomes.

We have studied the substrate specificity of the inducible (acyl-CoA oxidase I) and non-inducible (acyl-CoA oxidase II) oxidases in peroxisome-enriched fractions from rat kidney. The two oxidases were separated by means of ion-exchange chromatography and shown to accept a variety of acyl-CoA esters as substrates, including lignoceroyl-CoA, palmitoyl-CoA, lauroyl-CoA, caproyl-CoA, and trimethyltridecanoyl-CoA. Glutaryl-CoA was found to react exclusively with the inducible enzyme, and pristanoyl-CoA exclusively with the non-inducible enzyme. We conclude that under normal non-induced conditions both acyl-CoA oxidase I and II contribute to the oxidation of the various acyl-CoA esters with the exception of pristanoyl-CoA and glutaryl-CoA, although the extent to which each enzyme contributes to the oxidation was found to differ between the various acyl-CoA esters.

Acyl Coenzyme A↗
PubMed1995

Reexamination of induced fit as a determinant of substrate specificity in enzymatic reactions.

It has been argued that a substrate-induced conformational change involving the orientation of catalytic groups cannot affect the specificity for two substrates in an enzymatic system where the chemical step is rate limiting, because such an induced fit would alter the catalytic efficiency for both to an equal extent. To the contrary, the generalized induced-fit treatment described here shows that when critical substrate-specific conformational changes in the enzyme persist in the transition state, specificity is linked to conformational differences between the reactive complex for a good substrate and the related complex for a poor one. Conformational differences are a determinant of specificity when the reaction proceeds via an "induced-fit" transition state. Our treatment also shows that such conformational changes can enhance the specificity of an enzyme with suboptimal catalytic efficiency. If substrate-dependent conformational differences in a primative enzyme can enhance specificity, evolutionary pressure to increase specificity could inseparably link enzymatic specificity to induced conformational changes.

Catalysis↗
PubMed1999

Substrate-specific binding of hook-associated proteins by FlgN and FliT, putative chaperones for flagellum assembly.

During flagellum assembly by motile enterobacteria, flagellar axial proteins destined for polymerization into the cell surface structure are thought to be exported through the 25-30 A flagellum central channel as partially unfolded monomers. How are premature folding and oligomerization in the cytosol prevented? We have shown previously using hyperflagellated Proteus mirabilis and a motile but non-swarming flgN transposon mutant that the apparently cytosolic 16. 5 kDa flagellar protein FlgN facilitates efficient flagellum filament assembly. Here, we investigate further whether FlgN, predicted to contain a C-terminal amphipathic helix typical of type III export chaperones, acts as a chaperone for axial proteins. Incubation of soluble radiolabelled FlgN from Salmonella typhimurium with nitrocellulose-immobilized cell lysates of wild-type S. typhimurium and a non-flagellate class 1 flhDC mutant indicated that FlgN binds to flagellar proteins. Identical affinity blot analysis of culture supernatants from the wild-type and flhDC, flgI, flgK, flgL, fliC or fliD flagellar mutants showed that FlgN binds to the flagellar hook-associated proteins (HAPs) FlgK and FlgL. This was confirmed by blotting artificially expressed individual HAPs in Escherichia coli. Analysis of axial proteins secreted into the culture medium by the original P. mirabilis flgN mutant demonstrated that export of FlgK and FlgL was specifically reduced, with concomitant increased release of unpolymerized flagellin (FliC), the immediately distal component of the flagellum. These data suggest that FlgN functions as an export chaperone for FlgK and FlgL. Parallel experiments showed that FliT, a similarly small (14 kDa), potentially helical flagellar protein, binds specifically to the flagellar filament cap protein, FliD (HAP2), indicating that it too might be an export chaperone. Flagellar axial proteins all contain amphipathic helices at their termini. Removal of the HAP C-terminal helical domains abolished binding by FlgN and FliT in each case, and polypeptides comprising each of the HAP C-termini were specifically bound by FlgN and FliT. We suggest that FlgN and FliT are substrate-specific flagellar chaperones that prevent oligomerization of the HAPs by binding to their helical domains before export.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed2003

Substrate specificity of alkaline serine proteinase isolated from photosynthetic bacterium, Rubrivivax gelatinosus KDDS1.

A novel type of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) combinatorial libraries were used for the characterization of alkaline serine proteinase produced from Rubrivivax gelatinosus KDDS1. This enzyme was the first serine proteinase characterized from photosynthetic bacteria. The proteinase was found to prefer Met and Phe at the P1 position, Ile and Lys at the P2 position, and Arg and Phe at the P3 position. To date, no serine proteinase has exhibited a preference for Met at the P1 position. Thus, the alkaline serine proteinase from R. gelatinosus KDDS1 is very unique in terms of substrate specificity. A highly sensitive substrate, Boc-Arg-Ile-Met-MCA, was synthesized for kinetic study based on the results reported here. The optimum pH of the enzyme for this substrate was pH 10.7, and the values of kcat, Km, and kcat/Km were 23.7 s(-1), 15.4 microM, and 1.54 microM(-1) s(-1), respectively.

Betaproteobacteria↗
PubMed1995

Substrate specificity differences between two catechol 2,3-dioxygenases encoded by the TOL and NAH plasmids from Pseudomonas putida.

The substrate specificities of two catechol 2,3-dioxygenases, one encoded by xylE on the TOL plasmid pWW0 and the other encoded by nahH on the NAH7 plasmid, were investigated. The XylE catechol 2,3-dioxygenase catalyzes the ring-cleavage of catechol, 3-methylcatechol and 4-methylcatechol. The NahH catechol 2,3-dioxygenase was partially deficient in oxidizing 3-methylcatechol due to defects in two catalytic properties. First, NahH has a lower kcat value for 3-methylcatechol compared to XylE, and secondly, NahH is more susceptible than XylE to suicide inhibition by 3-methylcatechol. To identify the amino acid residues of XylE and NahH responsible for the differences in the efficacy of the 3-methylcatechol oxidation, kcat and kinact (the rate constant for suicide inhibition) for 3-methylcatechol were determined for several NahH-XylE hybrid proteins, each of which consisted of the NahH sequence in the N-terminal region and the XylE sequence in the C-terminal region. It is shown that a single amino acid substitution present in the NahH sequence, His250-->Gln, was responsible for the reduced kcat and increased kinact values for 3-methylcatechol. In addition to the substitution at residue 250, some substitution(s) at residues 77-102 were responsible for the twofold difference in the kinact values for NahH and XylE with 3-methylcatechol. We also show that the binding site of 3-methylcatechol for suicide inhibition is different from the catalytic site.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1995

Stringency of substrate specificity of Escherichia coli malate dehydrogenase.

Malate dehydrogenase and lactate dehydrogenase are members of the structurally and functionally homologous family of 2-ketoacid dehydrogenases. Both enzymes display high specificity for their respective keto substrates, oxaloacetate and pyruvate. Closer analysis of their specificity, however, reveals that the specificity of malate dehydrogenase is much stricter and less malleable than that of lactate dehydrogenase. Site-specific mutagenesis of the two enzymes in an attempt to reverse their specificity has met with contrary results. Conversion of a specific active-site glutamine to arginine in lactate dehydrogenase from Bacillus stearothermophilus generated an enzyme that displayed activity toward oxaloacetate equal to that of the native enzyme toward pyruvate (H. M. Wilks et al. (1988) Science 242, 1541-1544). We have constructed a series of mutants in the mobile, active site loop of the Escherichia coli malate dehydrogenase that incorporate the complementary change, conversion of arginine 81 to glutamine, to evaluate the role of charge distribution and conformational flexibility within this loop in defining the substrate specificity of these enzymes. Mutants incorporating the change R81Q all had reversed specificity, displaying much higher activity toward pyruvate than to the natural substrate, oxaloacetate. In contrast to the mutated lactate dehydrogenase, these reversed-specificity mutants were much less active than the native enzyme. Secondary mutations within the loop of the E. coli enzyme (A80N, A80P, A80P/M85E/D86T) had either no or only moderately beneficial effects on the activity of the mutant enzyme toward pyruvate. The mutation A80P, which can be expected to reduce the overall flexibility of the loop, modestly improved activity toward pyruvate. The possible physiological relevance of the stringent specificity of malate dehydrogenase was investigated. In normal strains of E. coli, fermentative metabolism was not affected by expression of the mutant malate dehydrogenase. However, when expressed in a strain of E. coli unable to ferment glucose, the mutant enzyme restored growth and produced lactic acid as the sole fermentation product.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2005

Impact of remote mutations on metallo-beta-lactamase substrate specificity: implications for the evolution of antibiotic resistance.

Metallo-beta-lactamases have raised concerns due to their ability to hydrolyze a broad spectrum of beta-lactam antibiotics. The G262S point mutation distinguishing the metallo-beta-lactamase IMP-1 from IMP-6 has no effect on the hydrolysis of the drugs cephalothin and cefotaxime, but significantly improves catalytic efficiency toward cephaloridine, ceftazidime, benzylpenicillin, ampicillin, and imipenem. This change in specificity occurs even though residue 262 is remote from the active site. We investigated the substrate specificities of five other point mutants resulting from single-nucleotide substitutions at positions near residue 262: G262A, G262V, S121G, F218Y, and F218I. The results suggest two types of substrates: type I (nitrocefin, cephalothin, and cefotaxime), which are converted equally well by IMP-6, IMP-1, and G262A, but even more efficiently by the other mutants, and type II (ceftazidime, benzylpenicillin, ampicillin, and imipenem), which are hydrolyzed much less efficiently by all the mutants. G262V, S121G, F218Y, and F218I improve conversion of type I substrates, whereas G262A and IMP-1 improve conversion of type II substrates, indicating two distinct evolutionary adaptations from IMP-6. Substrate structure may explain the catalytic efficiencies observed. Type I substrates have R2 electron donors, which may stabilize the substrate intermediate in the binding pocket. In contrast, the absence of these stabilizing interactions with type II substrates may result in poor conversion. This observation may assist future drug design. As the G262A and F218Y mutants confer effective resistance to Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) cells (high minimal inhibitory concentrations), they are likely to evolve naturally.

Biological Evolution↗
PubMed1984

Developmental changes in the activity and substrate specificities of mouse brain monoamine oxidase.

Developmental changes in monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity in the mouse brain were investigated with the substrates beta-phenylethylamine (PEA), tryptamine, and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT). In the newborn brain, MAO activity towards PEA was found to be much lower than the adult and to be inhibited by clorgyline in a double-sigmoidal fashion. The inhibition curve shifted to a single-sigmoidal pattern with age. MAO activity towards 5-HT as substrate was inhibited by 90% and in a single-sigmoidal manner by clorgyline throughout the postnatal life. Lineweaver-Burk plots with PEA as substrate presented two linear lines (apparent Km: 28.6 and 4.1 microM) for the newborn and one line (apparent Km: 11.4 microM) for the adult, respectively. The plot with high Km value for the newborn brain disappeared in a clorgyline-treated preparation. These findings suggest that age-dependent alterations in the ratio of MAO-A/MAO-B activity affect the substrate specificity of the enzyme.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Bacterial beta-peptidyl aminopeptidases with unique substrate specificities for beta-oligopeptides and mixed beta,alpha-oligopeptides.

We previously discovered that BapA, a bacterial beta-peptidyl aminopeptidase, is able to hydrolyze two otherwise metabolically inert beta-peptides [Geueke B, Namoto K, Seebach D and Kohler H-PE (2005) J Bacteriol 187, 5910-5917]. Here, we describe the purification and characterization of two distinct bacterial beta-peptidyl aminopeptidases that originated from different environmental isolates. Both bapA genes encode a preprotein with a signal sequence and were flanked by ORFs that code for enzymes with similar predicted functions. To form the active enzymes, which had an (alphabeta)(4) quaternary structure, the preproteins needed to be cleaved into two subunits. The two beta-peptidyl aminopeptidases had 86% amino acid sequence identity, hydrolyzed a variety of beta-peptides and mixed beta/alpha-peptides, and exhibited unique substrate specificities. The prerequisite for peptides being accepted as substrates was the presence of a beta-amino acid at the N-terminus; peptide substrates with an N-terminal alpha-amino acid were not hydrolyzed at all. Both enzymes cleaved the peptide bond between the N-terminal beta-amino acid and the amino acid at the second position of tripeptidic substrates of the general structure H-betahXaa-Ile-betahTyr-OH according to the following preferences with regard to the side chain of the N-terminal beta-amino acid: aliphatic and aromatic > OH-containing > hydrogen, basic and polar. Experiments with the tripeptides H-d-betahVal-Ile-betahTyr-OH and H-betahVal-Ile-betahTyr-OH demonstrated that the two BapA enzymes preferred the peptide with the l-configuration of the N-terminal beta-homovaline residue as a substrate.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1975

Substrate specificity of the cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase.

The protein substrate specificity of the catalytic subunit of rabbit skeletal muscle cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (EC 2.7.1.37; ATP:protein phosphotransferase) has been studied using genetic variants of beta casein. It was found that beta casein-B was phosphorylated at a much greater rate than beta caseins A1, A2, A3, or C. The enhanced phosphorylation of beta casein-B, as compared with the most common variant A2, was attributed to an arginine substitution for a serine at position 122, which caused a nearby residue, serine 124, to become a phosphorylation site for the protein kinase. These results further support the concept that the local primary structure is important in specificity and that arginine may be a specific determinant common to all the local phosphorylation site sequences recognized by the cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1997

Characterization of the substrate specificity of the major cysteine protease (cruzipain) from Trypanosoma cruzi using a portion-mixing combinatorial library and fluorogenic peptides.

The substrate specificity of the major cysteinyl proteinase of the parasitic protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi (cruzipain) was investigated, by combinatorial replacement of amino acid residues at positions P5-P'5, using a fluorescent quenched solid-phase library assay. Positively charged residues appear to be a general preference in the P5-P3 and the P'5-P'3 positions, while a hydrophobic residue was always required at the P2 position. A broad range of amino acids could be accepted at the P'1 position. A clear difference in terms of specificity between cruzipain and human cathepsin L was observed for the accommodation of Pro at the P2 position. The P1 specificity was investigated by a more detailed enzyme kinetic analysis using peptidyl-MCA (where MCA is methylcoumarin amide) and Abz-peptidyl-EDDnp [where Abz is o-aminobenzoic acid and EDDnp is N-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)ethylenediamine] as substrates, and the results were compared with those obtained using human cathepsin L. Cruzipain showed a clear preference for benzyl-Cys or Arg at the P1 position. Human cathepsin L presented similar behaviour to that of cruzipain for the hydrolysis of the epsilon-NH2-Cap-Leu-Xaa-MCA (where Cap is epsilon-aminocaproyl) and Abz-Lys-Leu-Xaa-Phe-Ser-Lys-Gln-EDDnp series, whereas the mammalian enzyme was able to tolerate large P1 residues, such as phenylalanine, better than cruzipain in the latter series.

Alanine↗
PubMed1994

The amine-donor substrate specificity of tissue-type transglutaminase. Influence of amino acid residues flanking the amine-donor lysine residue.

The amine-donor substrate specificity of tissue-type transglutaminase has been studied in a series of recombinant alpha A-crystallin mutants. These mutant proteins have been provided with a potential substrate lysine residue, flanked by different amino acid residues, in the C-terminal extended arm of alpha A-crystallin. A biotinylated amine-acceptor hexapeptide was used as a probe for labelling the amine-donor sites. Wild-type bovine alpha A-crystallin does not function as an amine-donor substrate for tissue-type transglutaminase. Yet, upon introduction of a lysine residue at the C-terminal or penultimate position, all mutant alpha A-crystallins act as amine-donor substrates, although to different extents. This shows that accessibility is the primary requirement for a lysine residue to function as an amine-donor substrate for transglutaminase and that the enzyme has a broad tolerance towards the neighbouring residues. However, the nature of the flanking amino acid residues does clearly affect the reactivity of the substrate lysine residue. Notably, we found that a proline or glycine residue in front of the substrate lysine has a strong adverse effect on the substrate reactivity as compared to a preceding leucine, serine, alanine or arginine residue.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2005

Human paraoxonases (PON1, PON2, and PON3) are lactonases with overlapping and distinct substrate specificities.

The paraoxonase (PON) gene family in humans has three members, PON1, PON2, and PON3. Their physiological role(s) and natural substrates are uncertain. We developed a baculovirus-mediated expression system, suitable for all three human PONs, and optimized procedures for their purification. The recombinant PONs are glycosylated with high-mannose-type sugars, which are important for protein stability but are not essential for their enzymatic activities. Enzymatic characterization of the purified PONs has revealed them to be lactonases/lactonizing enzymes, with some overlapping substrates (e.g., aromatic lactones), but also to have distinctive substrate specificities. All three PONs metabolized very efficiently 5-hydroxy-eicosatetraenoic acid 1,5-lactone and 4-hydroxy-docosahexaenoic acid, which are products of both enzymatic and nonenzymatic oxidation of arachidonic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, respectively, and may represent the PONs' endogenous substrates. Organophosphates are hydrolyzed almost exclusively by PON1, whereas bulky drug substrates such as lovastatin and spironolactone are hydrolyzed only by PON3. Of special interest is the ability of the human PONs, especially PON2, to hydrolyze and thereby inactivate N-acyl-homoserine lactones, which are quorum-sensing signals of pathogenic bacteria. None of the recombinant PONs protected low density lipoprotein against copper-induced oxidation in vitro.

Aryldialkylphosphatase↗
PubMed2000

Modulation of activity and substrate specificity by modifying the backbone length of the distant interdomain loop of D-amino acid aminotransferase.

The activity and substrate specificity of D-amino acid aminotransferase (D-AAT) (EC 2.6.1.21) can be rationally modulated by replacing the loop core (P119-R120-P121) with glycine chains of different lengths: 1, 3, or 5 glycines. The mutant enzymes were much more active than the wild-type enzyme in the overall reactions between various amino acids and pyruvate. The presteady-state kinetic analyses of half-reactions revealed that the 5-glycine mutant has the highest affinity (Kd) among all mutant enzymes and the wild-type enzyme towards various amino acids except D-aspartate. The 5-glycine mutant was much more efficient as a catalyst than the wild-type enzyme because the mutant enzyme showed the highest value of specificity constant (kmax/Kd) for all amino acids except D-aspartate and D-glutamate. The kmax/Kd values of the three mutants decreased with decrease in glycine chain length for each amino acid examined. Our findings may provide a new approach to rational modulation of enzymes.

Alanine Transaminase↗
PubMed2005

Determinants of substrate specificity in omega-aminotransferases.

Ornithine aminotransferase and 4-aminobutyrate aminotransferase are related pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzymes having different substrate specificities. The atomic structures of these enzymes have shown (i) that active site differences are limited to the steric positions occupied by two tyrosine residues in ornithine aminotransferase and (ii) that, uniquely among related, structurally characterized aminotransferases, the conserved arginine that binds the alpha-carboxylate of alpha-amino acids interacts tightly with a glutamate residue. To determine the contribution of these residues to the specificities of the enzymes, we analyzed site-directed mutants of ornithine aminotransferase by rapid reaction kinetics, x-ray crystallography, and 13C NMR spectroscopy. Mutation of one tyrosine (Tyr-85) to isoleucine, as found in aminobutyrate aminotransferase, decreased the rate of the reaction of the enzyme with ornithine 1000-fold and increased that with 4-aminobutyrate 16-fold, indicating that Tyr-85 is a major determinant of specificity toward ornithine. Unexpectedly, the limiting rate of the second half of the reaction, conversion of ketoglutarate to glutamate, was greatly increased, although the kinetics of the reverse reaction were unaffected. A mutant in which the glutamate (Glu-235) that interacts with the conserved arginine was replaced by alanine retained its regiospecificity for the delta-amino group of ornithine, but the glutamate reaction was enhanced 650-fold, whereas only a 5-fold enhancement of the ketoglutarate reaction rate resulted. A model is proposed in which conversion of the enzyme to its pyridoxamine phosphate form disrupts the internal glutamate-arginine interaction, thus enabling ketoglutarate but not glutamate to be a good substrate.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed2001

Substrate specificity of the integral membrane protease OmpT determined by spatially addressed peptide libraries.

Escherichia coli outer membrane protease T (OmpT) is an endopeptidase that specifically cleaves between two consecutive basic residues. In this study we have investigated the substrate specificity of OmpT using spatially addressed SPOT peptide libraries. The peptide acetyl-Dap(dnp)-Ala-Arg/Arg-Ala-Lys(Abz)-Gly was synthesized directly onto cellulose membrane. The peptide contained the aminobenzoyl (Abz) fluorophore, which was internally quenched by the dinitrophenyl (dnp) moiety. Treatment of the SPOT membrane with the small, water-soluble protease trypsin resulted in highly fluorescent peptide SPOTs. However, no peptide cleavage was observed after incubation with detergent-solubilized OmpT, a macromolecular complex with an estimated molecular mass of 180 kDa. This problem could be solved by the introduction of a long, polar polyoxyethylene glycol linker between the membrane support and the peptide. Peptide libraries for the P(2), P(1), P(1)', and P(2)' positions in the substrate were screened with OmpT, and peptides of positive SPOTs were resynthesized and subjected to kinetic measurements in solution. The best substrate Abz-Ala-Lys-Lys-Ala-Dap(dnp)-Gly had a turnover number k(cat) of 40 s(-)(1), which is 12-fold higher than the starting substrate. Peptides containing an acidic residue at P(2) or P(2)' were not substrates for OmpT, suggesting that long-range electrostatic interactions are important for the formation of the enzyme-substrate complex. OmpT was highly selective toward L-amino acids at P(1) but was less so at P(1)' where a peptide with D-Arg at P(1)' was a competitive inhibitor (K(i) of 19 microM). An affinity chromatography resin based on these findings was developed, which allowed for the one-step purification of OmpT from a bacterial lysate. The implications of the determined consensus substrate sequence (Arg/Lys)/(Arg/Lys)-Ala for the proposed biological function of OmpT in defense against antimicrobial peptides are discussed.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins↗