Purification from Escherichia coli of a periplasmic protein that is a potent inhibitor of pancreatic proteases

A protein capable of inhibiting trypsin and other pancreatic proteases has been purified to homogeneity from Escherichia coli by conventional procedures and affinity chromatography. It is stable for at least 30 min at 100 degrees C and pH 1.0, but it is inactivated by digestion with pepsin. The inhibitor has an apparent molecular weight of 38,000 as determined by gel filtration and must be a homodimer since it contains a single 18,000-dalton subunit upon sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The inhibitor has an isoelectric point of 6.1. One dimeric molecule of the inhibitor can bind two trypsin molecules to form a mixed tetrameric complex, in which trypsin molecules are completely inhibited. The inhibitor is not digested by the trypsin. When N-benzoyl-DL-arginine-p-nitroanilide was used as a trypsin substrate, half-maximal inhibition was observed at 22 nM. This protein also inhibits chymotrypsin, pancreatic elastase, rat mast cell chymase, and human serosal urokinase, but it does not inhibit human pulmonary tryptase, kallikrein, papain, pepsin, Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease, subtilisin, and thermolysin. Surprisingly, it did not inhibit any of the eight soluble endoproteases recently isolated from E. coli (i.e. proteases Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ci, and Pi) nor the chymotrypsin-like (protease I) and trypsin-like (protease II) esterases in E. coli. The inhibitor is localized to the periplasmic space and its level did not change with different growth media or stages of cell growth. The physiological function of this E. coli trypsin inhibitor is unknown. We suggest that E. coli trypsin inhibitor be named "Ecotin."     

Protease secretion by Erwinia chrysanthemi: the specific secretion functions are analogous to those of Escherichia coli alpha-haemolysin.

A 5.5 kb DNA fragment carrying the functions necessary for the specific secretion of the extracellular metalloproteases B and C produced by the Gram-negative phytopathogenic bacterium Erwinia chrysanthemi has been sequenced. The fragment contains four transcribed and translated genes: inh, which codes for a protease inhibitor and is not required for protease secretion, and prtD, prtE and prtF, which share significant homology with the hlyB, hlyD and tolC genes required for alpha-haemolysin secretion in Escherichia coli. Mutations in any of the three prt genes abolish protease secretion. The prtD and prtE products (60 and 50 kd) contain at least one hydrophobic segment and the prtF gene product contains a signal sequence.     

Secretion processing and activation of Erwinia chrysanthemi proteases

E chrysanthemi, a phytopathogenic enterobacterium, secretes several enzymes into the medium such as pectinases cellulases and proteases. It also produces 3 distinct and antigenically related extracellular proteases. The proteases secretion pathway seems to be distinct from that of the other extracellular enzymes since pleiotropic mutants impaired in cellulase and pectinase secretion are unimpaired in protease secretion. E chrysanthemi proteases B and C secretion occurs without an N-terminal signal peptide and is dependent upon specific secretion functions which are encoded by genes adjacent to the protease structural genes. This secretion pathway might be analogous to the alpha-hemolysin secretion pathway in E coli. Protection against intracellular proteolytic activity is achieved by 2 distinct mechanisms: the proteases are synthesized as inactive precursors with an N-terminal extension of 15 aminoacids (protease B) and 17 aminoacids (protease C) absent in the mature active extracellular enzymes; an intracellular specific protease inhibitor is produced by some E chrysanthemi strains.     

Protein secretion in gram-negative bacteria. The extracellular metalloprotease B from Erwinia chrysanthemi contains a C-terminal secretion signal analogous to that of Escherichia coli alpha-hemolysin

The secretion signal of extracellular metalloprotease B that is secreted without a signal peptide by the Gram-negative phytopathogenic bacterium Erwinia chrysanthemi is shown by deletion and gene fusion analyses to be located within the last 40 C-terminal amino acids. Secretion of a peptide containing only this region of the protease requires the same three secretion factors (PrtD, PrtE, and PrtF) that were previously shown to be required for the secretion of the full-length protease. This secretion signal can also be recognized, albeit inefficiently, by the analogous secretion machinery of alpha-hemolysin, another protein with a C-terminal secretion signal that is secreted by some strains of the Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli. The secretion signal was fused to an internal 200-amino acid fragment from the sequence of the cytoplasmic protein amylomaltase to promote its specific secretion by the protease secretion pathway. Almost exactly the same sequence as that identified as the protease B secretion signal was also found at the C terminus of metalloprotease C that is also secreted by E. chrysanthemi.     

Molecular characterization of a gene encoding extracellular serine protease isolated from a subtilisin inhibitor-deficient mutant of Streptomyces albogriseolus S-3253.

An extracellular serine protease produced by a mutant, M1, derived from Streptomyces albogriseolus S-3253 that no longer produces a protease inhibitor (Streptomyces subtilisin inhibitor [SSI]) was isolated. A 20-kDa protein was purified by its affinity for SSI and designated SAM-P20. The amino acid sequence of the amino-terminal region of SAM-P20 revealed high homology with the sequences of Streptomyces griseus proteases A and B, and the gene sequence confirmed the relationships. The sequence also revealed a putative amino acid signal sequence for SAM-P20 that apparently functioned to allow secretion of SAM-P20 from Escherichia coli carrying the recombinant gene. SAM-P20 produced by E. coli cells was shown to be sensitive to SSI inhibition.     

Cloning of genes encoding extracellular metalloproteases from Erwinia chrysanthemi EC16.

A 14-kilobase BamHI-EcoRI DNA fragment cloned from Erwinia chrysanthemi EC16 contained a gene encoding a metalloprotease inhibitor as well as three tandem prt genes encoding metalloproteases. The prt genes were separated from the inhibitor gene by a ca. 4-kilobase region that was necessary for extracellular secretion of the proteases. When individually subcloned downstream from vector promoters, the three prt genes each led to substantial extracellular secretion of the proteases by Escherichia coli cells, provided that the 4-kilobase required region was supplied in cis or trans. One of the protease structural genes, prtC, was sequenced and had high homology to a metalloprotease gene previously described from Serratia species as well as to the prtB gene of E. chrysanthemi B374. Marker exchange mutants of E. chrysanthemi EC16 defective in production of one or all of the extracellular proteases were not impaired in virulence on plant tissue.     

Molecular cloning and sequencing of a pectate lyase gene from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis.

A pectate lyase gene (pelY) from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis was cloned in Escherichia coli DH-5 alpha. The gene was expressed in either orientation in pUC plasmids, indicating that the insert DNA carried a Y. pseudotuberculosis promoter which functioned in E. coli. However, when cloned in the orientation which placed the coding region downstream of the vector lac promoter, expression of pelY was nine times higher than it was in the opposite orientation and the growth of E. coli cells was inhibited. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the pelY gene disclosed an open reading frame of 1,623 base pairs (PLY). The peptide sequence at the amino-terminal end of the protein contains a typical signal peptide sequence, consistent with the observation that the mature PLY protein accumulated largely in the periplasmic space of E. coli. The pI of PLY produced in E. coli cells was 4.5, and its activity was inhibited 90% or more by EDTA. The enzyme macerated cucumber tissue about 1,000 times less efficiently than did PLe from Erwinia chrysanthemi EC16. The pelY gene has no sequence similarity to the pel genes thus far sequenced from Erwinia spp.     

The three genes lipB, lipC, and lipD involved in the extracellular secretion of the Serratia marcescens lipase which lacks an N-terminal signal peptide.

The extracellular lipase of Serratia marcescens Sr41, lacking a typical N-terminal signal sequence, is secreted via a signal peptide-independent pathway. The 20-kb SacI DNA fragment which allowed the extracellular lipase secretion was cloned from S. marcescens by selection of a phenotype conferring the extracellular lipase activity on the Escherichia coli cells. The subcloned 6.5-kb EcoRV fragment was revealed to contain three open reading frames which are composed of 588, 443, and 437 amino acid residues constituting an operon (lipBCD). Comparisons of the deduced amino acid sequences of the lipB, lipC, and lipD genes with those of the Erwinia chrysanthemi prtDEC, prtEEC, and prtFEC genes encoding the secretion apparatus of the E. chrysanthemi protease showed 55, 46, and 42% identity, respectively. The products of the lipB and lipC genes were 54 and 45% identical to the S. marcescens hasD and hasE gene products, respectively, which were secretory components for the S. marcescens heme-binding protein and metalloprotease. In the E. coli DH5 cells, all three lipBCD genes were essential for the extracellular secretion of both S. marcescens lipase and metalloprotease proteins, both of which lack an N-terminal signal sequence and are secreted via a signal-independent pathway. Although the function of the lipD gene seemed to be analogous to those of the prtFEC and tolC genes encoding third secretory components of ABC transporters, the E. coli TolC protein, which was functional for the S. marcescens Has system, could not replace LipD in the LipB-LipC-LipD transporter reconstituted in E. coli. These results indicated that these three proteins are components of the device which allows extracellular secretion of the extracellular proteins of S. marcescens and that their style is similar to that of the PrtDEF(EC) system.     

Characterization of pectin methylesterase B, an outer membrane lipoprotein of Erwinia chrysanthemi 3937

The secretion of extracellular pectinases, among which there are least six isoenzymes of pectate lyase and one pectin methylesterase, allows the phytopathogenic bacterium Erwinia chrysanthemi to degrade pectin. A gene coding for a novel pectin methylesterase has been cloned from an E. chrysanthemi strain 3937 gene library. This gene, pemB , codes for a 433-amino-acid protein. The PemB N-terminal region has the characteristics of lipoprotein signal sequences. We have shown that the PemB precursor is processed and that palmitate is incorporated into the mature protein. The PemB lipoprotein is not released into the extracellular medium and is localized in the outer membrane. The PemB sequence presents homology with other pectin methylesterases from bacterial and plant origin. pemB -like proteins were detected in four other E. chrysanthemi strains but not in Erwinia carotovora strains. PemB was overproduced in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity. PemB activity is strongly increased by non-ionic detergents. The enzyme is more active on methylated oligogalacturonides than on pectin, and it is necessary for the growth of the bacteria on oligomeric substrates. PemB is more probably involved in the degradation of methylated oligogalacturonides present in the periplasm of the bacteria, rather than in a direct action on extracellular pectin. pemB expression is inducible in the presence of pectin and is controlled by the negative regulator KdgR.     

Characterization of DsbC, a periplasmic protein of Erwinia chrysanthemi and Escherichia coli with disulfide isomerase activity.

We identified and characterized an Erwinia chrysanthemi gene able to complement an Escherichia coli dsbA mutation that prevents disulfide bond formation in periplasmic proteins. This gene, dsbC, codes for a 24 kDa periplasmic protein that contains a characteristic active site sequence of disulfide isomerases, Phe-X-X-X-X-Cys-X-X-Cys. Besides the active site, DsbC has no homology with DsbA, thioredoxin or eukaryotic protein disulfide isomerase and it could define a new subfamily of disulfide isomerases. Purified DsbC protein is able to catalyse insulin oxidation in a dithiothreitol dependent manner. The E.coli gene xprA codes for a protein functionally equivalent to DsbC. The in vivo function of DsbC seems to be the formation of disulfide bonds in proteins. The presence of XprA could explain the residual disulfide isomerase activity existing in dsbA mutants. Re-oxidation of XprA does not seem to occur through DsbB, the protein that probably re-oxidizes DsbA.     

Identification of the tliDEF ABC transporter specific for lipase in Pseudomonas fluorescens SIK W1

Pseudomonas fluorescens, a gram-negative psychrotrophic bacterium, secretes a thermostable lipase into the extracellular medium. In our previous study, the lipase of P. fluorescens SIK W1 was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli, but it accumulated as inactive inclusion bodies. Amino acid sequence analysis of the lipase revealed a potential C-terminal targeting sequence recognized by the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter. The genetic loci around the lipase gene were searched, and a secretory gene was identified. Nucleotide sequencing of an 8.5-kb DNA fragment revealed three components of the ABC transporter, tliD, tliE, and tliF, upstream of the lipase gene, tliA. In addition, genes encoding a protease and a protease inhibitor were located upstream of tliDEF. tliDEF showed high similarity to ABC transporters of Pseudomonas aeruginosa alkaline protease, Erwinia chrysanthemi protease, Serratia marcescens lipase, and Pseudomonas fluorescens CY091 protease. tliDEF and the lipase structural gene in a single operon were sufficient for E. coli cells to secrete the lipase. In addition, E. coli harboring the lipase gene secreted the lipase by complementation of tliDEF in a different plasmid. The ABC transporter of P. fluorescens was optimally functional at 20 and 25 degrees C, while the ABC transporter, aprD, aprE, and aprF, of P. aeruginosa secreted the lipase irrespective of temperature between 20 and 37 degrees C. These results demonstrated that the lipase is secreted by the P. fluorescens SIK W1 ABC transporter, which is organized as an operon with tliA, and that its secretory function is temperature dependent.     

Bacillus licheniformis6816碱性蛋白酶基因在E.coli中的克隆和表达

用PCR方法从地衣芽孢杆菌6816中扩增了碱性蛋白酶基因（apr),扩增的1.14kb的DNA片段插入到大肠杆菌载体pET-20b中,构建成重组分泌型表达载体pAPR1。pAPR1中碱性蛋白酶基因在大肠杆菌宿主JM109（DE3）中得到表达,SDS-PAGE分析显示融合表达产物的分子量为30kD,同核酸序列测定所推导的值相符,表达产物占细胞总蛋白的7.5%,重组菌的酶活比出发菌株提高了3.3倍,研究发现,重组的碱性蛋白酶在进入大肠杆菌周质空间时存在前肽自动脱落的现象。     

Extracellular proteins of Vibrio cholerae: molecular cloning, nucleotide sequence and characterization of the deoxyribonuclease (DNase) together with its periplasmic localization in Escherichia coli K-12

The gene encoding the extracellular DNase of Vibrio cholerae was cloned into Escherichia coli K-12. A maximal coding region of 1.2 kb and a minimal region of 0.6 kb were determined by transposon mutagenesis and deletion analysis. The nucleotide sequence of this region contained a single open reading frame of 690 bp corresponding to a protein of Mr 26,389 with a typical N-terminal signal sequence of 18 aa which, when removed, would give a mature protein of Mr 24,163. This is in good agreement with the size of 24 kDa, calculated directly by Coomassie blue staining following sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and indirectly via a DNA-hydrolysis assay. The protein is located in the periplasmic space of E. coli K-12 unlike in V. cholerae where it is excreted into the extracellular medium. The introduction of the DNase gene into a periplasmic (tolA) leaky mutant of E. coli K-12 facilitates the release of the protein, further confirming the periplasmic location.     

Identification of the Escherichia coli sohB gene, a multicopy suppressor of the HtrA (DegP) null phenotype.

We cloned and sequenced the sohB gene of Escherichia coli. The temperature-sensitive phenotype of bacteria that carry a Tn10 insertion in the htrA (degP) gene is relieved when the sohB gene is present in the cell on a multicopy plasmid (30 to 50 copies per cell). The htrA gene encodes a periplasmic protease required for bacterial viability only at high temperature, i.e., above 39 degrees C. The sohB gene maps to 28 min on the E. coli chromosome, precisely between the topA and btuR genes. The gene encodes a 39,000-Mr precursor protein which is processed to a 37,000-Mr mature form. Sequencing of a DNA fragment containing the gene revealed an open reading frame which could encode a protein of Mr 39,474 with a predicted signal sequence cleavage site between amino acids 22 and 23. Cleavage at this site would reduce the size of the processed protein to 37,474 Mr. The predicted protein encoded by the open reading frame has homology with the inner membrane enzyme protease IV of E. coli, which digests cleaved signal peptides. Therefore, it is possible that the sohB gene encodes a previously undiscovered periplasmic protease in E. coli that, when overexpressed, can partially compensate for the missing HtrA protein function.     

Cloning and expression of the Erwinia chrysanthemi asparaginase gene in Escherichia coli and Erwinia carotovora

A genomic library of Erwinia chrysanthemi DNA was constructed in bacteriophage lambda 1059 and recombinants expressing Er. chrysanthemi asparaginase detected using purified anti-asparaginase IgG. The gene was subcloned on a 4.7 kb EcoRI DNA restriction fragment into pUC9 to generate the recombinant plasmid pASN30. The position and orientation of the asparaginase structural gene was determined by subcloning. The enzyme was produced at high levels in Escherichia coli (5% of soluble protein) and was shown to be exported to the periplasmic space. Purified asparaginase from E. coli cells carrying pASN30 was indistinguishable from the Erwinia enzyme on the basis of specific activity [660-700 units (mg protein)-1], pI value (8.5), and subunit molecular weight (32 X 10(3]. Expression of the cloned gene was subject to glucose repression in E. coli but was not significantly repressed by glycerol. Recombinant plasmids, containing the asparaginase gene, when introduced into Erwinia carotovora, caused increased synthesis of the enzyme (2-4 fold higher than the current production strain).     

Export of Erwinia chrysanthemi (EC16) protease by Escherichia coli

Abstract During exponential growth, Erwinia chrysanthemi (EC16) exports 99% of the protease (PRT) into the growth medium. By screening an EC16 genomic library in Escherichia coli HB101, several Prt⁺ clones were identified. A 16-kb Eco RI fragment, carrying the prt gene, was subcloned into pBR322 (pAKC326). E. coli HB101[pAKC326] cells exported PRT into the growth medium during exponential growth. PRT export was not accompanied by periplasmic leakage. E. coli HB101 carrying EC16 prt and pel genes (encoding pectate lyase) exported PRT but retained PEL in the periplasm. These findings indicate the occurrence of a PRT-specific export system in EC16, which is also functional in an E. coli strain carrying the prt ⁺ DNA segment.     

Cloning and characterization of extracellular metal protease gene of the algicidal marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. strain A28

The gene (empI) encoding an extracellular metal protease was isolated from a Pseudoalteromonas sp. strain A28 DNA library. The recombinant EmpI protein was expressed in E. coli and purified. Paper-disk assays showed that the purified protease had potent algicidal activity. A skim milk-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis protease assay showed that the 38-kDa band of protease activity, which co-migrated with purified EmpI and was sensitive to 1,10-phenathroline, was detected in the extracellular supernatant of A28.     

Escherichia coli produces a cytoplasmic alpha-amylase, AmyA.

In the gap between two closely linked flagellar gene clusters on the Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium chromosomes (at about 42 to 43 min on the E. coli map), we found an open reading frame whose sequence suggested that it encoded an alpha-amylase; the deduced amino acid sequences in the two species were 87% identical. The strongest similarities to other alpha-amylases were to the excreted liquefying alpha-amylases of bacilli, with > 40% amino acid identity; the N-terminal sequence of the mature bacillar protein (after signal peptide cleavage) aligned with the N-terminal sequence of the E. coli or S. typhimurium protein (without assuming signal peptide cleavage). Minicell experiments identified the product of the E. coli gene as a 56-kDa protein, in agreement with the size predicted from the sequence. The protein was retained by spheroplasts rather than being released with the periplasmic fraction; cells transformed with plasmids containing the gene did not digest extracellular starch unless they were lysed; and the protein, when overproduced, was found in the soluble fraction. We conclude that the protein is cytoplasmic, as predicted by its sequence. The purified protein rapidly digested amylose, starch, amylopectin, and maltodextrins of size G6 or larger; it also digested glycogen, but much more slowly. It was specific for the alpha-anomeric linkage, being unable to digest cellulose. The principal products of starch digestion included maltotriose and maltotetraose as well as maltose, verifying that the protein was an alpha-amylase rather than a beta-amylase. The newly discovered gene has been named amyA. The natural physiological role of the AmyA protein is not yet evident.     

The secretion genes of Pseudomonas aeruginosa alkaline protease are functionally related to those of Erwinia chrysanthemi proteases and Escherichia coliα-haemolysin

The extracellular alkaline protease produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa is secreted by a specific pathway, independent of the pathway used by most of the other extracellular proteins of this organism. Secretion of this protease is dependent on the presence of several genes located adjacent to the apr gene. Complementation studies have shown that PrtD, E, and F, the three secretion functions for Erwinia chrysanthemi proteases B and C (Létoffé et al., 1990), can mediate the secretion of the alkaline protease by Escherichia coli. The secretion functions involved in alpha-haemolysin secretion in E. coli (hlyB, hlyD, tolC) can also be used to complement alkaline protease secretion by E. coli, although less efficiently. These data indicate that protease secretion mechanisms in Pseudomonas and Erwinia are very similar and are homologous to that of E. coli alpha-haemolysin.