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The combined effect of the gene copy number and chaperone overexpression on the recombinant bovine chymosin production in Pichia pastoris, with mutant ADH2 promoter.

Chymosin is an enzyme used to coagulate milk, in the cheese industry. This study aimed to increase recombinant production of the chymosin in Pichia pastoris by determining the optimum copy number and overproduction of a Protein Disulfide Isomerase (PpPDI) chaperon protein. Bos taurus chymosin was expressed under the control of a mutant ADH2 promoter. The clones containing 1-4 gene copy numbers of the chymosin were constructed using the in vitro cloning method, and the effect of chaperone protein on chymosin secretion was investigated. The enzyme production levels are 4, 6.3, 4.5, and 3 IMCU/mL for 1, 2, 3, and 4-copy clones. The secreted chymosin levels increased up to two copies, and increasing the number of copies decreased the secretion level. Therefore, PpPDI was over-expressed in the clones regulated with the ADH2 promoter. The over-expression of PDI gene increased chymosin secretion in clones compared to the counterpart host. However, the highest chymosin level was obtained with C2 (2-copy chymosin containing clone; 6.3 IMCU/mL) and C2P2 (2-copy chymosin/2-copy PDI containing clone; 8.2 IMCU/mL). The maximum production was 39 IMCU/mL with the clone C2P2 in the fermenter scale production. The enzyme activity increased approximately 2-fold by adding two copies of the chaperone protein. The combined effect of gene copy number and chaperone overexpression on chymosin production was investigated. Two copies of the chymosin and PpPDI genes were the optimum among the tested clones.

Animals

Synthetic peptides for chymosin and pepsin assays: pH effect and pepsin independent-determination in mixtures.

Peptide I [H-Phe-Gly-His-Phe(NO2)-Phe-Ala-Phe-OMe] hydrolyzed by chymosin with kcat=.3+/-.3 s-1 and KM=7+/-3 mM (pH 4.7) inhibited competitively peptide II [H-Leu-Ser-Phe(NO2)-Nle-Ala-Leu-OMe] hydrolysis by chymosin with KI=.23 +/- .12 mM at pH 4.7. In reference conditions (.4 mM peptide, .01 M acetate buffer pH 4.7), the specific activities of porcine pepsin and chymosin on peptide I were 470 +/- 70 nM S-1 and .8 nM S-1 per mg of enzyme. This difference in specific activity for peptide I allowed development of a chymosin-independent pepsin assay for mixtures of these enzymes. In addition, peptide II with a specific activity of 2400 +/- 300 nM S-1 and 154 +/- 20 nM S-1 per mg of porcine pepsin and chymosin provides an alternative to measurement of milk clotting for measurement of chymosin- and pepsin-like activities in commercial rennets. Hydrolysis products of peptide II by chymosin exhibited one ionized group of apparent pK of 3.5 +/- .2 and a molar absorption coefficient change of 1000 +/- 100 at pH 4.7 and at 310 nm. From measurements of the kinetic constants, kcat and KM, from pH 2.5 to 7 with peptide II, chymosin activity depends on the protonation of one group of apparent pK 5.3 +/- .2 in the free enzyme. Rennet powder proved to be fairly stable after a 17-month storage at 4 C. Within the same period, a crystalline chymosin solution kept at --18 C lost 30 to 50% of its activity.

Animals

Recombinant bovine chymosin expression in microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii chloroplast: A step towards algal biomanufacturing of dairy enzymes.

Chymosin is the major proteolytic enzyme for cheese manufacture, where it plays an important role in the co-precipitation of milk casein. Traditional extraction of chymosin from the abomasum of young ruminants is associated with high limitations, including low yield, high production cost, and ethical issues of animal slaughter. In this study, we report on a recombinant strategy towards the production of bioactive Bos taurus chymosin in the chloroplasts of the microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The cym gene encoding preprocymosin was inserted into the chloroplast genome by the glass bead-mediated DNA transformation procedure. Successful integration and expression of the transgene were confirmed by spot test analysis, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), western blot, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The functional activities of the recombinant enzyme were checked by the standard milk clotting assay. The engineered microalgal strains produced chymosin with an average concentration of 90 mg/kg fresh weight, i.e., 1.6% of the total soluble protein. These results show that chloroplast-engineered C. reinhardtii is a promising, sustainable, and animal-free platform for the efficient production of the industrially relevant chymosin.

Animals

The involvement of one of the three histidine residues of cow kappa-casein in the chymosin-initiated milk clotting process.

Cow kappa-casein has been modified by photo-oxidation in the presence of rose bengal and by the chemical reagents diethyl pyrocarbonate, 2-hydroxy-5-nitro-benzyl bromide and iodoacetic acid. Photo-oxidation resulted in the destruction of histidine and tryptophan residues and all of the histidines could be ethoxy-formylated by treatment with diethyl pyrocarbonate. Both procedures caused a loss in the susceptibility of the Phe-Met linkage of kappa-casein to chymosin hydrolysis. Treatment of kappa-casein with 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl bromide and iodoacetic acid caused the loss of tryptophan and methionine residues respectively but, in both cases, the susceptibility of the modified protein to chymosin hydrolysis remained unaffected. Of the amino acids examined it is concluded that only the histidine residues of cow kappa-casein are important for the hydrolytic action of chymosin and, furthermore, the treatment with diethyl pyrocarbonate suggests that only one of the three histidines plays an essential role.

Amino Acid Sequence

X-ray analysis and circular dichroism of the acid protease from Endothia parasitica and chymosin.

The structure of an acid proteinase from Endothia parasitica has been solved by x-ray diffraction using multiple isomorphous replacement. A 3 A resolution map was interpreted in terms of a bilobal structure with a long 25 A cleft. The secondary structure is mostly distorted beta-sheet. The circular dichroism was measured and model curves for different secondary structures were fitted by least squares indicating a large component of beta-structure. The structure was seen to be homologous with that of the acid proteinase from R. Chinensis and hence with pepsin and chymosin. A rotation function against diffraction data from chymosin crystals confirm confirm this and suggested an approach to the solution of this structure.

Ascomycota

Peptide substrates for chymosin (rennin). Kinetic studies with bovine kappa-casein-(103-108)-hexapeptide analogues.

Kinetic parameters have been determined for the reaction between chymosin (EC 3.4.23.4) and synthetic peptide analogues of the sequence Leu-Ser-Phe-Met-Ala-Ile around the chymosin-sensitive Phe(105)-Met(106) bond of bovine kappa-casein. From the present and earlier results it is concluded that a minimum length of the molecular backbone with three amino acid units on both sides of the scissile bond is required to make the peptide a good substrate for the enzyme. In addition, hydrophobic side chains in the positions 103 and 108, and particularly the hydroxyl group of Ser-104 contribute to the effectiveness of the enzyme-substrate interactions. The substrate properties are markedly influenced by changes in the steric and/or polar character of the amino acid side chains in the positions 105 and 106.

Caseins

Demonstration of chymosin (EC 3.4.23.4) in the stomach of newborn pig.

The stomach of newborn pig contains a proteinase that is immunologically closely related to calf chymosin (rennin) (EC 3.4.23.4.). None of the pepsins from the stomach of adult pig is present in the newborn pig. Pig chymosin has optimal general proteolytic activity around pH 3.5. The ratio of milk-clotting activity to general proteolytic activity is about 30--70 times higher than that of pyloric and fundic pepsins.

Animals

The primary structure of calf chymosin.

The complete amino acid sequence of calf chymosin (rennin) (EC 3.4.23.4) has been determined. The sequence consists of a single peptide chain of 323 amino acid residues. The primary structure of the precursor part of calf prochymosin was published previously (Pedersen, V.B., and Foltmann, B. (1975) Eur. J. Biochem. 55, 95-103), thus we are now able to account for the total 365 amino acid residues of calf prochymosin. Comparison of the sequence of calf prochymosin with that of pig pepsinogen A (EC 3.4.23.1) shows extensive homology. In the precursor part of the sequence, 15 residues are located at identical positions, as compared to 189 identical residues in the respective enzymes. Furthermore comparison to Penicillium janthinellum acid proteinase (penicillopepsin) (EC 3.4.23.7) shows that 76 residues are common to this enzyme and to the two gastric proteinases. These homologies in sequence further suggest that the folding of the peptide chain in chymosin is very similar to that of other acid proteinases.

Amino Acid Sequence

Influence of age, dietary protein and weaning on calf abomasal enzymic secretion.

Using fistulated calves, the influence of the age, type of dietary protein and weaning on the secretion of chymosin and pepsin by the abomasum were studied. The abomasum secreted both chymosin and pepsin when the animals were fed milk. Chymosin secretion appeared to be independent of the age of the animals whereas a slow increase in pepsin secretion was observed as the calves aged. Several preruminant animals were fed either a skim-milk diet or a milk substitute in which proteins were provided by fish, soya or whey concentrates. Each of these 3 milk substitutes led to a decrease in chymosin secretion without modification of pepsin secretion. Chymosin secretion was partly restored when the claves were again given a skim-milk diet. At weaning, chymosin secretion dropped abruptly, but the pepsin level was not affected. These results indicate that milk (most probably its casein fraction) is responsible for the activation of chymosin secretion.

Abomasum

Investigations on the activation of bovine prochymosin.

Activation of prochymosin at pH below 2.5 results in formation of the active enzyme pseudochymosin by proteolytic cleavage of the bond 27--28. Pseudochymosin is 15 amino acid residues longer than chymosin. It is the final activation product at low pH, whereas chymosin is formed by activation between pH 4 and 5. Pseudochymosin is converted to chymosin when it is brought to pH 5.5. Our present knowledge does not allow quantitative evaluation of the possible reactions involved in formation of pseudochymosin, but the course of activation at pH 2 is in accordance with an intermolecular reaction between two zymogen molecules as the predominant reaction. We find indications of an intramolecular reaction when intermolecular reactions are prevented by immobilization of the zymogen.

Amino Acid Sequence

Isolation and characterization of porcine beta-casein.

Porcine beta-casein was isolated by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. The protein had a molecular weight of 24 900 as determined by gel filtration on Sephadex G-100 in guanidine-HCl. Its amino acid composition differed from bovine beta-casein especia-ly in respect to serine, alanine and leucine. In common with bovine beta-casein the N-terminal amino acid was arginine; the C-terminal was either alanine or valine, while the C-terminal of bovine beta-casein is valine. At any temperature porcine beta-casein was more sensitive to Ca2+ than bovine beta-casein, while at a fixed Ca2+ concentration porcine beta-casein aggregated at a lower temperature than bovine beta-casein. Porcine beta-casein was susceptible to hydrolysis by calf chymosin but the proteolytic specificity differed from that of calf chymosin on bovine beta-casein.

Amino Acids

[Quantitative determination of the activity of acid peptidases of industrial origin].

Reagent ninhydrine-Cd++, reacts with free alpha and epsilon amino groups of proteins. Horse-heart apomyoglobin was subjected to exhaustive succinylation, rendering the product non reactive to ninhydrine. The succinylglobin was submitted to enzyme digestion at pH 2.0, 4.0, 4.7 and 6.0. The commercially available enzymes contain mainly pepsin-like and chymosin-like enzymes. The enzymatic digests of succinyl-globin contain new free alpha-amino groups reacting with ninhydrin. Enzymatic digestion was performed under various condition (ratio E/S, pH). The results were compared to those obtained with synthetic substrate: PRO-HIS-LEU-SER-PHE(NO2)-NLEU-ALA-LEU-OME. The price of the synthetic substrate used, was more than 100 times the cost of succinyl-globin, thus the use of this substrate is a valuable tool for the quantitative estimation of peptidase activity in commercially available (pepsin, chymosin-like) enzymes.

Apoproteins

Characterization of the amino acids of bovine fibrinogen involved in the fibrinogen-thrombin interaction of the blood clotting process. Comparison with the milk clotting process.

Bovine fibrinogen and the Aalpha and Bbeta chains of bovine fibrinogen have been subjected to chemical modification by a number of reagents and the effects of these procedures on the susceptibility of the proteins to thrombin hydrolysis is described. The reagents used were rose bengal (for photo-oxidation), 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl bromide, N-acetylimidazole, iodoacetic acid and diethyl pyrocarbonate. Evidence is presented which indicates that the tryptophan and tyrosine residues of fibrinogen are not involved to any great extent in the interaction of this protein with thrombin. Modification with iodoacetic acid suggests that methionine residues play a major role in such interactions, but the fibrinogen chains on which the important residues reside remain uncertain. The use of diethyl pyrocarbonate indicates the participation also of histidine in fibrinogen-thrombin interactions and that, whereas the histidine residues of the Bbeta chain are involved to a great extent, it appears that those of the Aalpha chain are not. The similarities which exist between the fibrinogen-thrombin and the kappa-casein-chymosin systems are discussed.

Amino Acid Sequence

Gel diffusion--a simple and sensitive technique for the assay of proteinase inhibitors and its use for the determination of the ratio of proteinases in mixtures.

In casein-containing agarose gels, pepsin and chymosin form radial diffusion zones; the diameters of these zones show rectilinear correlations with the logarithm of the enzyme concentration at constant time. The sensitivity for both enzymes is below 1 microgram. Addition of the inhibitor pepstatin A to these enzymes causes a reduction of the diameters of the diffusion zones, with large differences for both the enzymes. With this procedure, the pepsin/chymosin ratio in rennet preparations was assayed with an accuracy of +/- 5%. Identification of the inhibitors allows the determination of amounts in the namomole range. This method is a simple technique for the evaluation of proteinases and their inhibitors in screening systems.

Animals

[Primary structure of the casein macropeptide of kappa casein of buffalo].

The complete amino acid sequence of Italian water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) caseinomacropeptide, the C-terminal fragment released from kappa-casein by chymosin, has been determined. It contains 64 amino acid residues including one phosphoserine and differs from its bovine (Bos taurus) B counterpart by 10 amino acid substitutions. The sequence of the last 11 amino acid residues of para-kappa-casein is also reported. In relation to the Ala148/Asp substitution which is responsible for the different electrophoretic behaviour of bovine kappa-caseins B and A, water buffalo kappa-casein is homologous to the bovine variant B. It is suggested that a variant Thr136-Ala148 might be the wild type of the Bos genus.

Amino Acid Sequence

The effect of acid proteinase inhibitors on chicken pepsin.

1. The activity of chicken pepsin was partially inhibited by dimethyl-(2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl)sulphonium bromide, but was unaffected by p-bromophenacyl bromide. 2. In the presence of Cu2+, diazoacetylnorleucine methyl ester completely inactivated chicken pepsin with the incorporation of 1 mol/mol. The mechanism of the reaction was similar to that with pig pepsin. 3. Chicken pepsin was completely inactivated by 2-diazo-4-bromoacetophenone in the presence of Cu2+. 4. Chicken pepsin was almost completely inactivated by 1,2-epoxy-3-(p-nitrophenoxy)propane at 25 degrees C, 3-4mol of inhibitor/mol being incorporated. The reaction at 10 degrees C was investigated briefly. 5. Calf chymosin was inactivated by 1,2-epoxy-3-(p-nitrophenoxy)propane at 10 degrees C, the incorporation of 1 mol/mol being required for complete inhibition. 6. The characteristics of the reactions of chicken pepsin with the above compounds were compared with those of other acid proteinases.

Acetophenones

Activation studies of the multiple forms of prochymosin (prorennin).

Activation of the four separate components of prochymosin (prorennin) at pH 5.0 demonstrated that each zymogen was the precursor to an electrophoretically distinct chymosin (rennin). When the increase in milk-clotting activity with time was analysed, the mechanism of activation of unfractionated prochymosin, individual prochymosin components, and a mixture of the prochymosin fractions at pH 5.0 was shown to follow essentially autocatalytic kinetics. The activation of prochymosin C was completed in 70 h, whereas the other three fractions each required more than 110 h for complete activation under the same conditions. Intact prochymosin, the mixture of four components and prochymosin C were activated at similar rates. Interaction of the individual fractions during activation is suggested to explain the increased rate of the activation for the mixture. Comparison of autocatalytic activation of unfractionated prochymosin purified chromatographically at pH 6.7 and 5.7 demonstrated an increased rate of reaction of the zymogen prepared at the lower pH value. The possibility that prochymosin became susceptible to activation during preparation at pH values slightly below 6.0, as a result of changes in the proportion of the components or a conformational change and exposure of the active site, is discussed.

Chymosin