Growth of Pseudomonas fluorescens on a polyester–polyurethane and the purification and characterization of a polyurethanase–protease enzyme

A Pseudomonas fluorescens was found to degrade and utilize a polyester polyurethane as a sole carbon and energy source. Polyurethane utilization by P. fluorescens. followed simple Michaelis–Menten kinetics. The K_s and μ_max values were 0.9 mg ml⁻¹ and 1.61 doublings · h⁻¹, respectively. The enzymes from P. fluorescens responsible for polyurethane degradation were found to be extracellular. Analysis of the polyurethane degrading proteins using non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed one active protein band with an R_f value of 0.083. A polyurethane degrading enzyme was purified and displayed protease activity. This enzyme was inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride and had a molecular weight of 29,000 daltons.     

新的纤溶酶产生菌培养条件及其酶性质研究

采用定向筛选方法,分离到一株能产生强烈分解纤维蛋白的枯草芽孢杆菌（Bacillus subtilis)EM29-5。对其生长,产酶条件,酶性质进行系统研究,结果表明：生长和产酶温度25－37℃,37℃时最好,生长最适pH6.4-7.0,产酶为pH7.0-8.0;12种碳源氮源均能利用,但对生长和产酶均有利的是大豆浸出淮EM29－5。纤溶酶为外分泌蛋白酶,发酵上清液经硫酸铵沉淀,透析脱盐,上离子交换柱和凝胶过滤柱后得纯酶。经SDS－PAGE电泳得单一条带,分子量为32500左右;等电聚焦电泳分析PI9．0左右;酶蛋白在pH5.0-10.0范围内稳定,作用最适pH9.0,为碱性蛋白酶;5mmPMSF能完全抑制酶活性,为氨酶蛋白酶;不能分解人工合成的氨基酸的酯,而能分解纤维蛋白（原）,特别对交联纤维蛋白具更高亲和性。     

一株产纤溶酶芽孢杆菌的鉴定及纤溶酶的分离纯化与性质分析

摘要：【目的】从假蕈状芽孢杆菌B-60菌株中纯化具有纤溶活性的单一组分,测定它的N-端氨基酸序列进行比对,并对单一组分的性质进行分析。【方法】利用纤维蛋白平板法检测纤溶酶活性,利用硫酸氨分级沉淀和阴离子交换色谱从假蕈状芽孢杆菌B-60菌株中纯化纤溶酶。【结果】从该菌株的发酵液中获得了一组纤溶酶单一组分（BpFE）,它的表观分子量为34 kDa。它在4℃~50℃活性较稳定,50℃以上活性急剧下降;作用最适pH值为pH5~6,在pH5~10活性较稳定,在pH3.0,活性几乎丧失;金属离子Ca2+,Mg2+,M     

Partial purification and characterization of a bacteriolytic enzyme secreted by Tetrahymena.

Tetrahymena pyriformis strain HSM secretes large quantities of acid hydrolases into the culture medium. An enzyme secreted by the ciliate and capable of degrading walls of streptococci was identified and purified to a considerable degree. The pH optimum of this enzyme was 3--4, and it was eluted after cytochrome c from Sephadex G-75 columns. Unlike lysozyme, the enzyme was thermolabile at pH 2.9, but relatively thermostable at pH 8.1. It degraded 14C-labeled cell walls of streptococci releasing reducing groups. Cell walls prepared from different strains of streptococci differed in susceptibility to this enzyme, the most sensitive strain tested being of group A, type T12. It was shown in immunologic studies that this hydrolase released the group-specific carbohydrate from the walls. Secretions of Tetrahymena from early stationary-phase cultures had more bacteriolytic activity than those from cells from late stationary-phase cultures. Further, cells from cultures grown in glucose-supplemented medium secreted less of the enzyme than ciliates of comparable age grown in unsupplemented proteose-peptone. The newly isolated bacteriolytic enzyme, presumably of lysosomal origin, may be helpful in characterizing streptococcal cell walls.     

Partial purification and characterization of the lipase of a facultatively psychrophilic bacterium (Acinetobacter O16).

The extracellular lipase(s) of the psychrophile Acinetobacter O16 was studied. When the enzyme was precipitated by (NH4)2SO4 and passed through a Sephadex G200 column, two peaks of lipase activity appeared. The larger peak, which behaved like a substance of high molecular weight, being eluted in the void volume, was purified 250-fold over the crude enzyme (culture supernatant) by passage through a DEAE-Sephadex column. When the enzyme was applied to a DEAE-cellulose column it could not be eluted unless it had first been treated with the detergent Titon X 100. It is suggested that lipids or phospholipids make up an important part of the molecule. The activity of the crude and partly purified enzymes was studied in relation to pH and temperature optima. Lipases from the psychrophilic Acinetobacter O16 and from the mesophilic Acinetobacter O4 reacted in the same way to temperature. The crude enzyme from Acinetobacter O16 was more temperature-stable than the purified enzyme.     

Production, purification, and characterization of the debittering enzyme naringinase

This review discusses the debittering enzyme naringinase and its essential role in the commercial processing of citrus fruit juice. Applications of this enzyme in other areas are identified. Characterization of the enzyme is detailed and its immobilized preparations are discussed. Production of microbial naringinase by fermentation is described.     

Porcine liver succinyltrialanine p-nitroanilide hydrolytic enzyme. Its purification and characterization as a post-proline cleaving enzyme

Succinyltrialanine p-nitroanilide(STANA)-hydrolytic enzyme was purified 5,200-fold from porcine liver soluble fraction with a yield of 75% by ammonium sulfate fractionation and chromatographies on DEAE-Sephacel, Sephadex G-150, and hydroxylapatite columns. The purified enzyme was homogeneous as judged by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence and absence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The pI of the enzyme was 4.9 by dis gel electrofocusing and the molecular weight was calculated to be 72,000 by gel filtration on a Sephadex G-150 column and 74,000 by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Acidic amino acids amounted to 17.2% of the total amino acid residues, and the basic ones, 12.9%. No hexosamine was detected. The STANA-hydrolytic enzyme showed maximal activity at pH 7.4 against succinyltrialanine p-nitroanilide and at pH 6.5 against succinyl-Gly-Pro-4-methylcoumaryl 7-amide (MCA), and was stable between pH 6 and 7 in the presence of dithiothreitol. This enzyme hydrolyzed succinyl-Gly-Pro-Leu-Gly-Pro-MCA, succinyl-Gly-Pro-MCA, succinyl-Ala-Pro-Ala-MCA, and several proline-containing natural peptides in addition to succinyltrialanine p-nitroanilide, but was unable to hydrolyze the substrates of aminopeptidases, dipeptidylaminopeptidase IV, trypsin, and chymotrypsin. Elastatinal and chymostatin were effective inhibitors and their IC50 values were 8.7 micrograms/ml and 18.2 micrograms/ml, respectively. The enzyme was completely inhibited by 10(-7) M p-chloromercuribenzoic acid (pCMB), 10(-7) M p-chloromercuriphenylsulfonic acid (pCMPS), and 10(-4) M diisopropyl phosphofluoridate (DFP), but not by 1 mM E-64, which is known as an inhibitor specific to thiol proteinase. The enzyme was easily inactivated by agitation in a Vortex mixer, and its activity was recovered by the addition of thiol compounds such as dithiothreitol, 2-mercaptoethanol and cysteine. The effects of inhibitors and thiol compounds were substantially identical when the enzyme activity was measured with either succinyltrialanine p-nitroanilide or succinyl-Gly-Pro-MCA as a substrate. These results indicate that the STANA-hydrolytic enzyme in the liver soluble fraction is a post-proline cleaving enzyme [EC 3.4.21.26].     

The purification and characterization of a DNA nicking-closing enzyme from Bacillus megaterium.

Although several eucaryote DNA nicking--closing (N--C) enzymes have been characterized, only the Escherichia coli enzyme has been extensively studied amongst procaryotes. The latter enzyme is distinctly different from the eucaryotic enzymes and we have therefore purified the N--C enzyme from Bacillus megaterium to determine if procaryotes form a distinctive class of N--C enzymes. The purified B. megaterium N--C enzyme has a molecular weight of 120,000, only partly relaxes negative supercoils, does not affect positive supercoils, requires Mg2+, and is inhibited by 0.2 M KCl. The enzyme is also inhibited by 1 mM nalidixic or oxolinic acids but unaffected by novobiocin. A crude N--C enzyme preparation from Micrococcus luteus shows very similar properties.     

Partial purification and characterization of a pyruvate dehydrogenase-complex-inactivating enzyme from rat liver.

An enzyme inactivating the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (inactivase) was purified about 8000-fold from rat liver by differential centrifugation, acid extraction of a lysosomerich 25000 g pellet, acetone fractionation, and adsorption on calcium phosphate gel. By exclusion chromatography on Sephadex G-100 a molecular weight of 21 000 was estimated. The purified enzyme was most stable at pH 5.8 in potassium phosphate buffer, and at pH 4.5 in McIlvaine buffer. At high dilutions the enzyme was very labile and was remarkably stabilized by high salt concentrations. Enzyme activity is inhibited by native rat blood serum, iodoacetamide and leupeptin, but not by phenylmethanesulphonyl fluoride, suggesting that it belongs to the class of thiol proteinases. Among various enzymes tested, only 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase was attacked by the inactivase to a similar extent to the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. Studies on the inactivation mechanism indicate that although the overall reaction is completely lost after treatment with inactivase, each individual step of the multienzyme complex retains full catalytic activity. As judged from sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, the transacetylase subunit appears to be degraded into several smaller fractions.     

Partial purification and characterization of taurodeoxycholate 7α-monooxygenase

Taurodeoxycholate 7α-monooxygenase was partially purified from rat liver microsomes. The enzyme was solubilized with cholate, fractionated with polyethylene glycol and chromatographed on a Sepharose 4B column with cholate as ligand. The enzyme activity was eluted from the column into the fraction eluted with 50 mM phosphate buffer containing cholate and KCl, whereas the benzphetamine demethylase activity was eluted in the non-bound fraction. Thus it was established that both enzymes are different entities. The taurodeoxycholate 7α-monooxygenase activity was reconstituted from the partially purified cytochrome P-450, highly purified NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase, dilauroylglyceryl-3-phosphorylcholine and NADPH.     

Phosphodiesterase I in human urine: purification and characterization of the enzyme

Phosphodiesterase I [EC 3.1.4.1] was purified from normal human urine in a highly purified state free from phosphodiesterase II, RNase, DNase I, DNase II, and phosphatase by column chromatographies of DEAE-Toyopearl, butyl-Toyopearl, Affi-Gel blue, and Sephadex G-150. The molecular weight of the enzyme was 1.9 x 10(5) and the pH optimum around 9.0 with p-nitrophenyl deoxythymidine 5'-phosphate as the substrate. The enzyme hydrolyzed the 3'-5' linkage of various dinucleoside monophosphates at approximately the same rate and the phosphodiester bonds of cyclic 3',5'-mononucleotides to produce mononucleoside 5'-phosphate. The enzyme also hydrolyzed ADP to 5'-AMP and Pi, ATP to 5'-AMP and PPi, and NAD+ to 5'-AMP and NMN. The enzyme activity was abolished by removal of metal ions with EDTA, and the metal-free enzyme was reactivated on the addition of Zn2+. The enzyme activity was also abolished by some reducing agents and the inhibition was reversed by Zn2+. The metal-free enzyme was less stable than the native enzyme, and Zn2+ and Co2+ restored the stability of the metal-free enzyme to the level of the native enzyme. The enzyme degraded oligonucleotides and high molecular nucleotides stepwise from the 3'-termini to give 5'-mononucleotides. The enzyme hydrolyzed single-stranded DNA more preferentially than double-stranded DNA. The enzyme also nicked superhelical covalently closed circular phi X174 DNA to yield first open circular DNA and then linear DNA.     

Partial purification and characterization of arginine decarboxylase from avocado fruit, a thermostable enzyme

A partially purified preparation of arginine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.19), a key enzyme in polyamine metabolism in plants, was isolated from avocado (Persea americana Mill. cv Fuerte) fruit. The preparation obtained from the crude extract after ammonium sulfate precipitation, dialysis, and heat treatment, had maximal activity between pH 8.0 and 9.0 at 60°C, in the presence of 1.2 millimolar MnCl₂, 2 millimolar dithiothreitol, and 0.06 millimolar pyridoxal phosphate. The K_m, of arginine for the decarboxylation reaction was determined for enzymes prepared from the seed coat of both 4-week-old avocado fruitlet and fully developed fruit, and was found to have a value of 1.85 and 2.84 millimolar, respectively. The value of V^app_max of these enzymes was 1613 and 68 nanomoles of CO₂ produced per milligram of protein per hour for the fruitlet and the fully developed fruit, respectively. Spermine, an end product of polyamine metabolism, caused less than 5% inhibition of the enzyme from fully developed fruit and 65% inhibition of the enzyme from the seed coat of 4-week-old fruitlets at 1 millimolar under similar conditions. The effect of different inhibitors on the enzyme and the change in the nature of the enzyme during fruit development are discussed.     

Phenol hydroxylase from Acinetobacter radioresistens is a multicomponent enzyme. Purification and characterization of the reductase moiety.

This paper reports the isolation and characterization of phenol hydroxylase (PH) from a strain belonging to the Acinetobacter genus. An Acinetobacter radioresistens culture, grown on phenol as the only carbon and energy source, produced a multicomponent enzyme system, located in the cytoplasm and inducible by the substrate, that is responsible for phenol conversion into catechol. Because of the wide diffusion of phenol as a contaminant, the present work represents an initial step towards the biotechnological treatment of waste waters containing phenol. The reductase component of this PH system has been purified and isolated in large amounts as a single electrophoretic band. The protein contains a flavin cofactor (FAD) and an iron-sulfur cluster of the type [2Fe-2S]. The function of this reductase is to transfer reducing equivalents from NAD(P)H to the oxygenase component. In vitro, the electron acceptors can be cytochrome c as well as other molecules such as 2, 6-dichlorophenolindophenol, potassium ferricyanide, and Nitro Blue tetrazolium. The molecular mass of the reductase was determined to be 41 kDa by SDS/PAGE and 38.8 kDa by gel permeation; its isoelectric point is 5.8. The N-terminal sequence is similar to those of the reductases from A. calcoaceticus NCIB 8250 (10/12 identity) and Pseudomonas CF600 (8/12 identity) PHs, but much less similar (2/12 identity) to that of benzoate dioxygenase reductase from A. calcoaceticus BD413. Similarly, the internal peptide sequence of the A. radioresistens PH reductase displays a good level of identity (9/10) with both A. calcoaceticus NCIB 8250 and Pseudomonas CF600 PH reductase internal peptide sequences but a poorer similarity (3/10) to the internal peptide sequence of benzoate dioxygenase reductase from A. calcoaceticus BD413.     

Phospholipase C from human melanoma: purification and characterization of a phosphatidylinositol-selective enzyme.

Phospholipase C was purified from human melanoma grown as solid tumors in nude mice. The specific activity of the pure enzyme was approx. 100 mumol/min per mg; its apparent molecular mass was determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to be 150 kDa. The enzyme required calcium for activity and was activated by deoxycholate in the presence of the substrate phosphatidylinositol. The melanoma phospholipase C has a distinctly different substrate preference than those identified from normal tissues; it prefers phosphatidylinositol to phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate. The tumor enzyme was approx. 4-5-fold more active using phosphatidylinositol than phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate as the substrate.     

Selenoprotein P expression, purification, and immunochemical characterization

Most selenoproteins contain a single selenocysteine residue per polypeptide chain, encoded by an in-frame UGA codon. Selenoprotein P is unique in that its mRNA encodes 10-12 selenocysteine residues, depending on species. In addition to the high number of selenocysteines, the protein is cysteine- and histidine-rich. The function of selenoprotein P has remained elusive, in part due to the inability to express the recombinant protein. This has been attributed to presumed inefficient translation through the selenocysteine/stop codons. Herein, we report for the first time the expression of recombinant rat selenoprotein P in a transiently transfected human epithelial kidney cell line, as well as the endogenously expressed protein from HepG2 and Chinese hamster ovary cells. The majority of the expressed protein migrates with the predicted 57-kDa size of full-length glycosylated selenoprotein P. Based on the histidine-rich nature of selenoprotein P, we have purified the recombinant and endogenously expressed proteins using nickel-agarose affinity chromatography. We show that the recombinant rat and endogenous human proteins react in Western blotting and immunoprecipitation assays with commercial anti-histidine antibodies. The ability to express, purify, and immunochemically detect the recombinant protein provides a foundation for investigating the functions and efficiency of expression of this intriguing protein.     

Polyphosphate kinase of Acinetobacter sp. strain ADP1: purification and characterization of the enzyme and its role during changes in extracellular phosphate levels.

Polyphosphate (polyP) is a ubiquitous biopolymer whose function and metabolism are incompletely understood. The polyphosphate kinase (PPK) of Acinetobacter sp. strain ADP1, an organism that accumulates large amounts of polyP, was purified to homogeneity and characterized. This enzyme, which adds the terminal phosphate from ATP to a growing chain of polyP, is a 79-kDa monomer. PPK is sensitive to magnesium concentrations, and optimum activity occurs in the presence of 3 mM MgCl(2). The optimum pH was between pH 7 and 8, and significant reductions in activity occurred at lower pH values. The greatest activity occurred at 40 degrees C. The half-saturation ATP concentration for PPK was 1 mM, and the maximum PPK activity was 28 nmol of polyP monomers per microg of protein per min. PPK was the primary, although not the sole, enzyme responsible for the production of polyP in Acinetobacter sp. strain ADP1. Under low-phosphate (P(i)) conditions, despite strong induction of the ppk gene, there was a decline in net polyP synthesis activity and there were near-zero levels of polyP in Acinetobacter sp. strain ADP1. Once excess phosphate was added to the P(i)-starved culture, both the polyP synthesis activity and the levels of polyP rose sharply. Increases in polyP-degrading activity, which appeared to be mainly due to a polyphosphatase and not to PPK working in reverse, were detected in cultures grown under low-P(i) conditions. This activity declined when phosphate was added.     

Endo-beta-mannosidase, a plant enzyme acting on N-glycan: purification, molecular cloning, and characterization

Endo-beta-mannosidase is a novel endoglycosidase that hydrolyzes the Manbeta1-4GlcNAc linkage in the trimannosyl core structure of N-glycans. This enzyme was partially purified and characterized in a previous report (Sasaki, A., Yamagishi, M., Mega, T., Norioka, S., Natsuka, S., and Hase, S. (1999) J. Biochem. 125, 363-367). Here we report the purification and molecular cloning of endo-beta-mannosidase. The enzyme purified from lily flowers gave a single band on native-PAGE and three bands on SDS-PAGE with molecular masses of 42, 31, and 28 kDa. Amino acid sequence information from these three polypeptides allowed the cloning of a homologous gene, AtEBM, from Arabidopsis thaliana. AtEBM was engineered for expression in Escherichia coli, and the recombinant protein comprised a single polypeptide chain with a molecular mass of 112 kDa corresponding to the sum of molecular masses of three polypeptides of the lily enzyme. The recombinant protein hydrolyzed pyridylamino derivatives (PA) of Manalpha1-6Manbeta1-4Glc-NAcbeta1-4GlcNAc into Manalpha1-6Man and GlcNAcbeta1-4Glc-NAc-PA, showing that AtEBM is an endo-beta-mannosidase. AtEBM hydrolyzed Man(n)Manalpha1-6Manbeta1-4GlcNAcbeta1-4GlcNAc-PA (n = 0-2) but not PA-sugar chains containing Manalpha1-3Manbeta or Xylosebeta1-2Manbeta as for the lily endo-beta-mannosidase. AtEBM belonged to the clan GH-A of glycosyl hydrolases. Site-directed mutagenesis experiments revealed that two glutamic acid residues (Glu-464 and Glu-549) conserved in this clan were critical for enzyme activity. The amino acid sequence of AtEBM has distinct differences from those of the bacterial, fungal, and animal exo-type beta-mannosidases. Indeed, AtEBM-like genes are only found in plants, indicating that endo-beta-mannosidase is a plant-specific enzyme. The role of this enzyme in the processing and/or degradation of N-glycan will be discussed.     

Staphylococcal acid phosphatase: extensive purification and characterization of the loosely bound enzyme

Acid phosphatase of Staphylococcus aureus PS55 was eluted from the surface of these cells with 1.0 m KCl at pH 8.5 by gentle agitation at 25 C and was purified 44-fold (51% recovery) by two cycles of dialysis and gel filtration. The eluted enzyme which had a 280/260 (nm) absorbancy ratio of 0.71 required at least 0.5 m salt solution for solubilization; however, most of the purified product which had a 280/260 (nm) absorbancy ratio of 1.72 was soluble in dilute buffer solution [0.01 m tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane chloride, pH 8.5]. Purified acid phosphatase appeared homogeneous according to the criteria of gel filtration, starch-block electrophoresis, and analytical ultracentrifugation. In a starch block, migration was toward the cathode at pH 8.0. Maximal activity occurred at pH 5.2 to 5.3 and salt concentration had little effect on phosphatase activity up to 1.0 m KCl or NaCl. Progressive loss of enzymatic acitivity occurred at higher salt concentrations. Molecular weight of purified acid phosphatase was estimated to be 58,000.