Production and Purification of a New Chillproofing Enzyme and Its Properties

Chillproofing enzyme was obtained from broth cultures of Serratia marcescens B–103. This extracellular enzyme, tentatively, named the S-enzyme was highly purified from the culture supernatant by ammonium sulfate precipitation, ethanol fractionation, gel filtration on Sephadex G–200 and column chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex A–50.

The purified preparation appeared homogeneous on a ultracentrifugation with a sedimentation coefficient of 3.14 S and a molecular weight of 38,000~45,000 determined by the method of Whitaker.

The S-enzyme hydrolyzed various proteins at pH 4~6 and at low temperature hydrolyzed nitrogenous substances which may cause chill haze in beer. So the chillproofing activity of the S-enzyme may be due to its proteolytic activity.

The S-enzyme was stable at 4°C at pH 5~10.5. It was completely inactivated by heating at 60°C for 10 min, and was inactivated by Hg²⁺ and Pb²⁺ and activated by Mn²⁺, Ca²⁺. Mg²⁺ and Zn²⁺     

Some properties of a papain–agarose reactor provided with a pH monitor

A small reactor of immobilized papain was used to gain some knowledge about the effect of immobilization upon the reactivity of the enzyme towards one substrate and various types of inhibitors. A buffer solution containing benzoyl–arginine ethyl ester as substrate was run through a small column of papain immobilized by attachment to agarose beads. The pH of the effluent was measured continuously and provided the data used to calculate the substrate conversion during passage through the reactor. The operation of the system was checked by determining the substrate conversion as a function of flow rate. It proved to operate as theory demanded. The rate and extent of inhibition were measured after addition of various inhibitors to the buffer–substrate solution. The following quantities of immobilized papain were found to be equal within ±20% to those of the free enzyme in solution: the overall activity, the K_m of benzoyl–arginine ethyl ester, the K_i of the competitive inhibitor benzoylamino-acetonitrile, the rate of inactivation by chloroacetic acid and by chloroacetamide, the rate of activation by cysteine of the mixed disulfide of papain and cysteine, and the rate of spontaneous reactivation of the KCNO–papain adduct. The inactivation by KCNO proved to be strongly pH dependent. This may explain why the rate of the latter reaction is only 66% of the rate with free enzyme. It is concluded that the rates and equilibrium constants measured in the present reactor system are within ±20% of the values of the dissolved enzyme, provided that the reactions are not strongly pH dependent. Calculation showed there was no diffusion limitation.     

Isolation of Phytolacain G and Its Inhibition Measured by Affinity Labeling

A cysteine protease, phytolacain G, was purified to homogeneity from unripe fruits of pokeweed (Phytolacca americana). The apparent molecular mass of the purified phytolacain G was 25.5 kDa. The caseinolytic activity of the enzyme was completely inhibited by a synthetic peptide containing an S-(3-nitro-2-pyridinesulfenyl) group (Npys). The inhibitory activity of this compound against phytolacain G resembled that for papain.     

Enzymatic difference between laticifers and cultured cells of papaya

Cell suspension cultures of Carica papaya were found to produce a papain-like enzyme showing an amidase activity similar to papain. Experiments suggested that the enzyme was an SH-enzyme, but an immunological test indicated the absence of papain in cultured cells. The isoelectric point (4.3) of the enzyme of cultured cells was the same as that of the leaf extract, but was different from that of papain or other amidases in the latex of the fruit.     

Study of histamine binding to h2-receptors of gastric mucosa membranes of the frogRana ridibunda

The stability was studied of histamine H₂-receptors and of histamine-sensitive adenylyl cyclase of the crude membrane fraction of the gastric mucosa of the frogRana ridibunda to the action of exogenous hydrolases, lipase (phospholipase C), protease (papain), glycosidase (sialidase), and blockers of free SH-groups (iodoacetate and N-ethylmaleimide). The action of these agents on the free and histamine-occupied H₂-receptors of the frog gastric mucosa was analyzed by the amount of the bound ligand. The histamine binding to receptor increased the receptor vulnerability to the effect of phospholipase C, papain, and SH-reagents. Study of the action of hydrolases on the basal and stimulated, histamine-sensitive adenylyl cyclase activity revealed that phospholipase C caused a decrease of the basal and all kinds of the stimulated activity of adenylyl cyclase, while papain and sialidase only prevented the histamine stimulation of the enzyme. The obtained data indicate changes of the surface exposure of functional groups during the specific ligand-receptor interaction.     

Study of histamine binding to h2-receptors of gastric mucosa membranes of the frogRana ridibunda

The stability was studied of histamine H₂-receptors and of histamine-sensitive adenylyl cyclase of the crude membrane fraction of the gastric mucosa of the frogRana ridibunda to the action of exogenous hydrolases, lipase (phospholipase C), protease (papain), glycosidase (sialidase), and blockers of free SH-groups (iodoacetate and N-ethylmaleimide). The action of these agents on the free and histamine-occupied H₂ -receptors of the frog gastric mucosa was analyzed by the amount of the bound ligand. The histamine binding to receptor increased the receptor vulnerability to the effect of phospholipase C, papain, and SH-reagents. Study of the action of hydrolases on the basal and stimulated, histamine-sensitive adenylyl cyclase activity revealed that phospholipase C caused a decrease of the basal and all kinds of the stimulated activity of adenylyl cyclase, while papain and sialidase only prevented the histamine stimulation of the enzyme. The obtained data indicate changes of the surface exposure of functional groups during the specific ligand-receptor interaction.     

Improved stability and catalytic activity of chemically modified papain in aqueous organic solvents

Papain was modified with the anhydrides of various monocarboxylic (acetic or propionic) and dicarboxylic (citraconic, maleic or succinic) acids. 7–10 of the 11 primary amino groups of the enzyme were modified. The organic solvent tolerances of the modified enzyme forms were increased (especially in the concentration range of 10–60%) in comparison with the unmodified enzyme. Acylation enhanced the catalytic activity and stability of papain both in buffer and in aqueous organic solvents (ethanol and acetonitrile). Decrease of the positive charges on the surface of papain resulted in a higher enzyme stability than when they were replaced by negative charges. The kinetic parameters revealed that in aqueous ethanol the maximum rates (V_max) and Michaelis constants (K_M) of the modified papain forms were increased, and higher catalytic efficiencies (k_cat/K_M) were detected as compared with the native enzyme. The results of near-UV circular dichroism and tryptophan fluorescence spectroscopic studies suggested that the modifications caused only local changes around the aromatic residues. The modified enzyme forms led to higher N-acetyl-l-tyrosine ethyl ester synthesis conversions in aqueous ethanol; acetyl and propionyl papain furnishing the highest productivity.     

Inhibitory Activities of E–64 Derivatives on Papain

In order to investigate the active site of inhibition of E–64 against papain, the constituents of E-64 and their derivatives were synthesized and their activities on papain were assayed. It was consequently found trans-epoxysuccinic acid was essential for the activity. The difference of its optical activity gave no influence on the activity, but cis-form had no activity. Moreover, the structure-activity relationship of a series of the esters of trans-epoxysuccinic acid was also discussed. From these results, it was suggested that both epoxide and carbonyl group are important in the manifestation of the inhibitory action.     

Cysteine enhances activity and stability of immobilized papain

Immobilization of papain on Sepharose 6B in the presence of different concentrations of cysteine affected the enzyme activity depending on cysteine concentration. The maximum specific activity was observed when papain was immobilized with 200 mM cysteine. The immobilization process brought significant enhancement of stability to temperature and extreme pH values with respect to free papain. After immobilization, the optimum temperature of papain activity increased by 20°C (from 60 to 80°C) and its optimum pH activity shifted from 6.5 to 8.0. Catalytic efficiency (k_cat/K_m) and specific activity of the immobilized enzyme do not significantly change after immobilization. The temperature profile of this form of immobilized papain showed a broad range of activity compared with both free and immobilized form of papain in the absence of cysteine. This significant behavior in terms of activation energy is also discussed.     

Immobilization and stabilization of papain on poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate-ethylenglycol dimethacrylate) beads grafted with epoxy functional polymer chains via surface-initiated-atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP)

Poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate–ethylen glycol dimethacrylate), p(HEMA–EGDMA), beads were prepared by suspension polymerization, and were decorated with fibrous poly(glycidyl methacrylate), p(GMA), via surface initiated-atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). The functional epoxy groups of the beads were used for covalent immobilization of papain. The average amount of immobilized enzyme was 18.7 mg/g beads. The immobilized enzyme was characterized by temperature, pH, operational and storage stability experiments. The maximum velocity of the free and immobilized enzymes (V_max) and Michaelis–Menten constant (K_m) values were determined as 10.7 and 8.3 U/mg proteins and 274 and 465 μM, respectively. The immobilized papain was operated in a batch reactor, and it was very effective for hydrolysis of different proteins (i.e., casein and cytochrom c).     

Immobilized papain on gold nanorods as heterogeneous biocatalysts

Papain, a thiol protease present in the latex of Carica papaya, is an enzyme which exhibits broad proteolytic activity, and, for this reason, it is utilized in a variety of industrial applications. Immobilization of papain on gold nanoparticles highly preserves its activity and enhances the stability, allowing the reuse of the linked enzyme many times without any significant loss of its catalytic performance. In particular, k _cat and K _M values remain substantially unchanged, while immobilized form shows a higher activity on a wider pH range retains 80 % residual activity also at 90 °C and shows higher functionality than the free form when incubated for long time (1 h) at 90 °C and at extreme pH values (3 and 12). A higher activity of immobilized papain with respect to the free form in the presence of various bivalent metal ions, known as strong inhibitors of papain, was also found. The reasons of this enhanced stability of gold nanorods immobilized papain are discussed.     

Immobilization of β-galactosidase and other enzymes onto p-amino-carbanilated cellulose derivatives

β-Galactosidase and other enzymes were immobilized on p-amino-carbanilated derivatives of cellulose and methylol cellulose using the diazo method and through glutaraldehyde. The optimum conditions for coupling cellulose tri-(p-amino-carbanilate) (CTAC) to β-galactosidase were established. The diazo coupling method with CTAC gave greater activity than with glutaraldehyde when coupled to β-galactosidase (Escherichia coli). The stability of the CTAC–β-galactosidase system was examined. The disubstituted p-amino-carbanilate derivative (CDAC) gave a lower activity, whereas the methylol analog (MCTAC) gave slightly greater activity. The CTAC was also used to immobilize glucose oxidase, trypsin, pepsin, and papain.     

Purification and Characterization of a Rice Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitor

A proteinaceous substance that inhibited the activity of papain (EC 3.4.22.2) was found in seeds of rice, Oryza sativa L. japonica. This cysteine proteinase inhibitor (CPI) was purified by a series of purification procedures including CM-Sephadex C-50, Sephadex G-75, and DEAE- Sephadex A-50 chromatography. The CPI was a single polypeptide with a molecular weight of about 12,000, with an isoelectric point at pH 5.3. The CPI was stable below 100°C and between pH 2.2 ~ 9.0. The inhibition of papain by the CPI was non-competitive, with a Ki value of 2.44 × 10^-8 m. The complete inhibition of papain was reached by an equimolar concentration of the CPI.     

Molecular cloning, expression analysis and enzymatic characterization of cathepsin K from olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus)

We assessed the putative physiological roles of cathepsin K from a flatfish, olive flounder. We cloned a cDNA encoding for cathepsin K (PoCtK), a cysteine protease of the papain family from olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus. The tissue-specific expression pattern of PoCtK, determined via real-time PCR analysis, revealed ubiquitous expression in normal tissues with high levels of expression in the spleen and bone marrow. However, PoCtK expression was significantly increased in the muscle and gill at 3–24 h post-injection with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The cDNA encoding for the mature enzyme of PoCtK was expressed in Escherichia coli using the pGEX-4T-1 expression vector system. Its activity was quantified via the cleavage of the synthetic peptide Z-Gly-Pro-Arg-MCA, zymography, and the collagen degradation assay. The optimum pH for the protease activity was 8, and the recombinant PoCtK enzyme degraded collagen types I, II, III, IV, and VI and acid-soluble collagen from olive flounder muscle in the presence of chondroitin 4-sulphate (C-4S). Therefore, our data indicate that cathepsin K may play a role in the immune system of fish skin and muscle, in addition to its principal bone-specific function as a collagenolytic enzyme.     

Purification and Characterization of a Cysteine Protease from Corms of Freesia,Freesia reflacta

A protease (freesia protease B) has been purified to electrophoretic homogeneity from corms of freesia, Freesia reflacta by five steps of chromatography. Its M_r was estimated to be about 26,000 by SDS–PAGE. The optimum pH of the enzyme was 6.0–7.0 at 30°C using casein as a substrate. The enzyme was strongly inhibited by p-chloromercuribenzoic acid but not by phenylmethanesulphonylfluoride and EDTA. These results indicate that freesia protease B is a cysteine protease. Nine sites of oxidized insulin B-chain were cleaved by freesia protease B in 24 h of hydrolysis. The four cleavage sites among them resembled those of papain. From the digestion of five peptidyl substrates the specificity of freesia protease B was found to be approximately broad, but the preferential cleavage sites were negatively charged residues at positions. Freesia protease B preferred also the large hydrophobic amino acid residues at the P₂ position, in a similar manner to papain. The amino terminal sequence of freesia protease B was identical with those of papain in regard to the conservative residues of cysteine protease.     

Inhibition of Papaya latex papain by photosensitive inhibitors. 1-(4,5-dimethoxy-2-nitrophenyl)-2-nitroethene and 1,1-dicyano-2-(4,5-dimethoxy-2-nitrophenyl)-ethene

1-(4,5-Dimethoxy-2-nitrophenyl)-2-nitroethene (1) was shown to be an irreversible inhibitor of papain (EC 3.4.22.2), causing a complete inhibition (120 min preincubation, pH 8.0), assuming that it attached to Cys-25 at the active site of the enzyme (while a short preincubation time caused activation). Only partial inhibition of papain was achieved, however, with 1,1-dicyano-2-(4,5-dimethoxy-2-nitrophenyl)-ethene (2), a compound synthesized in this work, which is also an irreversible inhibitor of papain. Since both compounds 1 and 2, and in each case of the inhibited enzyme, were 2-nitrobenzyl derivatives, they and the modified enzyme were expected to be photosensitive. Indeed, irradiation of the inhibited enzyme in the presence of mercaptoethanol resulted in a full recovery of the enzyme activity following inactivation with compound 1 (similar to our previous finding with -galactosidase) and up to 67% recovery following inhibition with compound 2.     

Formation and Some Properties of the Acid Phosphatase in Aspergillus terreus

Substrate specificity of purified preparations of phytase from Asp, terreus was examined. The enzyme showed broad specificity. It was found that Asp, terreus produced only one kind of acid phosphatase and it had phytase activity.

Effective materials for the enzyme formation were examined. The formation of the enzyme occurred only during times that mycelia was in contact with inositol.

By differential centrifugation and electron-microscopic autoradiography, it was determined that inositol was incorporated into the mycelia and that it was located at almost the same point as where the active enzyme was located.     

Plasmodium falciparum SERA5 plays a non‐enzymatic role in the malarial asexual blood‐stage lifecycle

The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum replicates in an intraerythrocytic parasitophorous vacuole (PV). The most abundant P. falciparum PV protein, called SERA5, is essential in blood stages and possesses a papain‐like domain, prompting speculation that it functions as a proteolytic enzyme. Unusually however, SERA5 possesses a Ser residue (Ser596) at the position of the canonical catalytic Cys of papain‐like proteases, and the function of SERA5 or whether it performs an enzymatic role is unknown. In this study, we failed to detect proteolytic activity associated with the Ser596‐containing parasite‐derived or recombinant protein. However, substitution of Ser596 with a Cys residue produced an active recombinant enzyme with characteristics of a cysteine protease, demonstrating that SERA5 can bind peptides. Using targeted homologous recombination in P. falciparum, we substituted Ser596 with Ala with no phenotypic consequences, proving that SERA5 does not perform an essential enzymatic role in the parasite. We could also replace an internal segment of SERA5 with an affinity‐purification tag. In contrast, using almost identical targeting constructs, we could not truncate or C‐terminally tag the SERA5 gene, or replace Ser596 with a bulky Arg residue. Our findings show that SERA5 plays an indispensable but non‐enzymatic role in the P. falciparum blood‐stage life cycle.     

Expression of a Chinese cabbage cysteine proteinase inhibitor, BrCYS1, retards seed germination and plant growth in transgenic Tobacco plant

Phytocystatins are plant cysteine proteinase inhibitors that regulate endogenous and heterologous cysteine proteinases of the papain family. A cDNA encoding the phytocystatin BrCYS1 (Brassica rapa cysteine proteinase inhibitor 1 ) has been isolated from Chinese cabbage (B. rapa subsp.pekinensis) flower buds. In order to explore the role of this inhibitory enzyme, tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Samson) containing altered amounts of phytocystatin were generated by over-expressingBrCYS1 cDNA in either the sense or the antisense configuration. The resulting plants hadin vitro enzyme inhibitory activities that were over 10% of those detected in wild type plants. The transgenic plants exhibited retarded seed germination and seedling growth and a reduced seed yield, whereas these properties were enhanced in antisense plants. These data suggest that BrCYS1 participates in the control of seed germination, post-germination and plant growth by regulating cysteine peptidase activity.