Intracellular distribution of neutral proteinases and inhibitors in pig leucocytes. Isolation of two inhibitors of neutral proteinases.

Granule and post-granular-supernatant fractions were obtained from pig leucocyte cells by differential centrifugation in 0.34 M sucrose. Granule extract possesses proteinase activity at acid and at neutral pH. Three groups of neutral and a group of acid proteinases were isolated from granule extracts by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. In the first group are present elastase-like and plasminogen-activator proteinases, that are inhibited by diisopropylphosphorofluoridate, alpha1-antitrypsin, intracellular leucocyte inhibitor and partly with p-aminomethylbenzoic acid and Trasylol. The second group of neutral proteinases is unstable under the conditions of isolation used the third group of neutral proteinases comprises collagenases that are inhibited by ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid disodium salt, alpha1-antitrypsin and leucocyte inhibitor. The acid proteinases are inhibited only with pepstatin, up to 90%. In the post-granular supernatant was found the acid proteinase activity towards hemoglobin and casein, and non-stable neutral proteolytic activity towards bovine serum albumin and serum gamma globulin. In the post-granular supernatant also the inhibitors of neutral proteinases were found. By gel filtration on Sephadex G-100 and ion-exchange chromatography on CM-cellulose two inhibitors of neutral proteinases were isolated. The majority of the inhibitor capacity (about 80%) of post-granular supernatant was eluted together with ovalbumin (Mr 43000) and the remainder with cytochrome c (12300). These inhibitors inhibit the granule neutral proteinases, acting on all substrates used, but do not inhibit granule acid proteinase. Inhibition effects of post-granular-supernatant inhibitors on trypsin and chymotrypsin were obtained only when bovine serum albumin was used as substrate. Inhibitors of post-granular supernatant are stable at pH 6-8, but unstable in the pH rnage 2-5 and are thermolabile.     

Cathepsins J and K: high molecular weight cysteine proteinases from human tissues

Human tissue extracts contained two high Mr proteinases active in hydrolyzing the fluorogenic substrate Cbz-phe-arg-aminomethylcoumarin. By gel filtration chromatography, cathepsins J and K had apparent molecular weights of 230,000 and 650,000, respectively. Both enzymes were cysteine proteinases with optimum activity at pH 6.2-6.8; neither had aminopeptidase activity. Human kidney, lung and spleen were rich sources of these enzymes, while liver contained moderate amounts. Cathepsins J and K were partially characterized and appeared to differ from the mammalian high Mr cysteine proteinases described in the literature. In rat liver and kidney and in mouse liver, cathepsin J was localized in the particulate fraction, whereas cathepsin K was not detected in these tissues.     

Purification and characterization of multicatalytic proteinase from eggs of the ascidian Halocynthia roretzi

A multicatalytic (high-molecular-weight) proteinase has been purified from eggs of the ascidian Halocynthia roretzi by a procedure including column chromatographies on DEAE-cellulose and hydroxylapatite and gel filtration on Sepharose 6B. The purified enzyme seemed to be homogeneous, as judged by disc-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, isoelectrofocusing, sedimentation velocity, and gel filtration. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 610,000 by gel filtration. The isoelectric point and the sedimentation coefficient (S20,w) were 6.2 and 22.8S, respectively. The enzyme showed several protein bands with molecular weight ranging from 25,000 to 33,000 on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and a cylindrical or ring-like structure composed of several subunits under the electron microscope, indicating that the enzyme exists as a large molecule consisting of several protein components. The enzyme exhibited chymotrypsin-like and trypsin-like activities whose pH optima were both 7.0. Chymostatin and its analog, calpain inhibitor I, and elastatinal inhibited both activities, whereas leupeptin and antipain only inhibited the latter. The former activity was stimulated by a low concentration of SDS or fatty acid, whereas the latter was not. Thus, the properties of the enzyme purified from ascidian eggs are similar to those of multicatalytic proteinases from mammalian tissues.     

Structure and proteolysis of the growth hormone receptor on rat hepatocytes

125I-Labeled human growth hormone is isolated in high molecular weight (Mr) (300,000, 220,000, and 130,000) and low molecular weight complexes on rat hepatocytes after affinity labeling. The time-dependent formation of low molecular weight complexes occurred at the expense of the higher molecular weight species and was inhibited by low temperature or inhibitors of serine proteinases. Exposure to reducing conditions induced loss of Mr 300,000 and 220,000 species and augmented the amount of Mr 130,000 complexes. The molecular weight of growth hormone (22,000) suggests that binding had occurred with species of Mr 280,000, 200,000, and 100,000. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis demonstrated that the 100,000-dalton receptor subunit is contained in both the 280,000- and 200,000-dalton species. Reduction of interchain disulfide bonds in the growth hormone receptor did not alter its elution from gel filtration columns, but intact, high molecular weight receptor constituents were separated from lower molecular weight degradation products. Digestion of affinity-labeled growth hormone-receptor complexes with neuraminidase increased the mobility of receptor constituents on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. These observations show that the growth hormone receptor is degraded by hepatic serine proteinases to low molecular weight degradation products which can be separated from intact receptor by gel filtration. Intact hormone-receptor complexes are aggregates of 100,000-dalton sialoglycoprotein subunits held together by interchain disulfide bonds and by noncovalent forces.     

Cysteine proteinases from Schistosoma haematobium adult worms.

To identify and characterize cysteine proteinases from Schistosoma haematobium, lyophilized adult worms were homogenized, and enzymes were isolated and purified. From extracts prepared in acidic buffer, 3 putative cysteine proteinases were identified either directly or indirectly. The first proteinase (ShCP1) was identified by labeling with a radioiodinated inhibitor, Z-Tyr-Ala-CHN2, as a 35-kDa protein. However, it could not be detected by silver staining, amino acid sequencing, or by a monoclonal antibody specific for a similar molecule from Schistosoma mansoni. A second cysteine proteinase, ShCP2, was purified by gel filtration and dialysis. This 32-kDa molecule was thiol-dependent and was labeled with Z-Tyr-Ala-CHN2. The amino terminal amino acid sequence of ShCP2 showed remarkable similarity (up to 77%) to that of S. mansoni cathepsin B (SmCP2) as well as to mammalian cysteine proteinases. Both ShCP1 and ShCP2 reacted with polyclonal antibodies against S. mansoni, suggesting the existence of shared antigenic epitopes. A third activity, ShCP3, was identified as possibly a distinct proteinase based on its similarities to a 28-kDa cysteine proteinase from S. mansoni. This preliminary investigation demonstrates that the overall profile of cysteine proteinases in S. haematobium is very similar to that of S. mansoni.     

Two-step purification and partial characterization of a variant of the Vibrio cholerae non-O1 hemolysin

A two-step purification method using ammonium sulfate precipitation and gel filtration was developed for the purification of a variant of the El Tor hemolysin/cytolysin from supernatant fluids of a Vibrio cholerae non-O1 human isolate (strain 2194c). The toxin displayed delayed elution from a Sephacryl gel filtration column, eluting at between two and three column volumes. The molecular mass and isoelectric point of the purified 2194c toxin were 60 kDa and 5. 3, respectively. The N-terminal amino acid sequence was ASPAPANSETNTLPHVAFYI. Purified toxin was cytolytic for Chinese hamster ovary cells and erythrocytes from several animal species.     

Proteinase activities of Saccharomyces cerevisiae during sporulation.

Sporulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae occurs in the absence of a exogenous nitrogen source. Thus, the internal amino acid pool and the supply of nitrogen compounds from protein and nucleic acid turnover must be sufficient for new protein synthesis. Since sporulation involves an increased rate of protein turnover, an investigation was conducted of the changes in the specific activity of various proteinases. A minimum of 30% of the vegetative proteins was turned over during the course of sporulation. There was a 10- to 25-fold increase in specific activity of various proteinases, with a maximum activity around 20 h after transfer into the sporulation medium. The increase in activities was due to de novo synthesis since inhibition of protein synthesis by cycloheximide blocks both an increase in proteinase activities and sporulation. There was no increase observed in proteinase activities of nonsporogenic cultures (a and alpha/alpha strains) inoculated into the sporulation medium, suggesting that the increase in proteinase activities is "sporulation specific" and not a consequence of step-down conditions. The elution patterns through diethylaminoethyl-Sephadex chromatography of various proteinases extracted from T0 and T18 cells were similar, and no new species was observed.     

Endogenous inhibitor of cysteine proteases from the human kidney

A thermo- and acid stable inhibitor of cysteine proteinases was isolated from the human kidney by successive procedures--acid fractionation, gel-filtration on Sephadex G-75, affinity chromatography on papain-sepharose. The final purification factor was 650 fold. The inhibitor molecular weight was equal to 12 kDa. The values of Ki measured by different methods are (7.9-9.4) X 10(-4) M for papain and (7.1-8.0) X 10(-10) M for purified human kidney cathepsin B. In experiments with papain, inhibitor kass and kd were 1.1 X 10(6) M-1 s-1 and 9.0 X 10(-4) s-1, respectively. The inhibitor did not influence the trypsin activity, its properties being similar to those of related thermo- and acid-stable inhibitors from other human and animal tissues.     

Cathepsin B from the white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei: cDNA sequence analysis, tissues-specific expression and biological activity

Cathepsin B is a cystein proteinase scarcely studied in crustaceans. Its function has not been clearly described in shrimp species belonging to the sub-order Dendrobranchiata, which includes the white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei and other species from the Penaeidae family. Studies on vertebrates suggest that these lysosomal enzymes intracellularly hydrolize protein, as other cystein proteinases. However, the expression of the gene encoding the shrimp cathepsin B in the midgut gland was affected by starvation in a similar way as other digestive proteinases which extracellularly hydrolyze food protein. In this study the white shrimp L. vannamei cathepsin B (LvCathB) cDNA was sequenced, and characterized. Its gene expression was evaluated in various shrimp tissues, and changes in the mRNA amounts were compared with those observed on other digestive proteinases from the midgut gland during starvation. By using qRT-PCR it was found that LvCathB is expressed in most shrimp tissues except in pleopods and eye stalk. Changes on LvCathB mRNA during starvation suggest that the enzyme participates during intracellular protein hydrolysis but also, after food ingestion, it participates in hydrolyzing food proteins extracellularly as confirmed by the high activity levels we found in the gastric juice and midgut gland of the white shrimp.     

The application of QAE-Sephadex for the purification of two staphylococcal enterotoxins. I. Purification of enterotoxin C2.

A new method developed for purification of enterotoxin C2 from Staphylococcus aureus strain 361 consisted of four steps: batchwise adsorption from culture supernatant on QAE-Sephadex; gel filtration on Sephadex G-100; chromatography on QAE-Sephadex using a buffer of constant pH and molarity; and gel filtration using a volatile buffer of constant pH and molarity; and gel filtration using a volatile buffer as the eluting solvent. The purified enterotoxin appeared homogeneous by gel immunodiffusion, gel chromatography and in the analytical ultracentrifuge, although an apparent heterogeneity was noted on QAE-Sephadex chromatography and polyacrylamide disc electrophoresis at pH 4.5. The emetic dose, ED50, by intravenous route in cynomolgus monkeys was 0.04 mug/kg of animal weight. Upon treatment with sodium dodecylsulfate, beta-mercaptoethanol and urea, enterotoxin C2 separated into 3 bands in sodium dodecylsulfate-electrophoresis. One band mol. wt 29000, and two bands of lower molecular weight were so close that they moved as a single zone. After elution from gels, the zone of lower molecular weight were so close that they moved as a single zone. After elution from gels, the zone of lower molecular weight oligopeptides emerged as a single peak at the same position as untreated enterotoxin C2 during gel filtration with buffer lacking thiol and denaturant, and gave a reaction of complete identify to enterotoxin C2 in Ouchterlony immunodiffusion. The results suggest that enterotoxin C2 is a mixture composed of intact polypeptide chains, mol. wt 29000, and two fragments cleaved in the disulfide region of molecular weight of approx. 15400 and 12800 linked by the single disulfide bond in the toxin molecule. Amino acid analysis indicates that enterotoxin C2 consists of 255 amino acid residues.     

Aspartic proteinases in the digestive tract of marine decapod crustaceans

Decapod crustaceans synthesize highly active proteolytic enzymes in the midgut gland and release at least a part of them into the stomach where they facilitate the first step in peptide hydrolysis. The most common proteinases in the gastric fluid characterized so far are serine proteinases, that is, trypsin and chymotrypsin. These enzymes show highest activities at neutral or slightly alkaline conditions. The presence of acid proteinases, as they prevail in vertebrates, has been discussed contradictorily yet in invertebrates. In this study, we show that acid aspartic proteinases appear in the gastric fluid of several decapods. Lobsters Homarus gammarus showed the highest activity with a maximum at pH 3. These activities were almost entirely inhibited by pepstatin A, which indicates a high share of aspartic proteinases. In other species (Panulirus interruptus, Cancer pagurus, Callinectes arcuatus and Callinectes bellicosus), proteolytic activities were present at acid conditions but were distinctly lower than in H. gammarus. Zymograms at pH 3 showed in each of the studied species at least one, but mostly two-four bands of activity. The apparent molecular weight of the enzymes ranged from 17.8 to 38.6 kDa. Two distinct bands were identified which were inhibited by pepstatin A. Acid aspartic proteinases may play an important role in the process of extracellular digestion in decapod crustaceans. Activities were significantly higher in clawed lobster than in spiny lobster and three species of brachyurans. Therefore, it may be suggested that the expression of acid proteinases is favored in certain groups and reduced in others.     

Increase in ribonuclease activity following mechanical damage to leaf and tuber tissues of Solanum tuberosum L.

Summary Major increases occurred in the capacity of damaged potato leaf and tuber tissues to hydrolyse ribonucleic acid whilst relatively minor increases were found in the activity of acid phosphomonoesterase and acid phosphodiesterase. Partial purification of homogenates by gel filtration on Sephadex G-100 revealed that much of the increased capacity to degrade ribonucleic acid following damage was due to increased ribonuclease activity. Although appreciable differences in the elution patterns of tuber homogenates subjected to gel filtration were observed before and after the breaking of dormancy the increased ribonuclease activity following damage was a constant feature. Actinomycin D had a relatively small effect on preventing these increases in phosphate-ester hydrolase activities whilst the effect of cycloheximide was very pronounced. Isopycnic equilibrium centrifugation experiments, using deuterium oxide as a density label, provided no evidence that the increased enzyme activity following damage was due to synthesis of new enzyme.     

Alkaline serine proteinases D and E of Streptomyces griseus K-1.

Two DFP-sensitive alkaline proteinases with strong esterase activity toward Ac-(Ala)3-OMe, designated as alkaline serine proteinases D and E, were purified pronase, a protease mixture from St. griseus K-1. Each was shown to be homogeneous by acrylamide disc gel electrophoresis. The molecular weights of these enzymes were estimated to be about 27,000 be gel filtration. Studies on their actions on acyl-tl-amino acid methyl or ethyl esters indicated that proteinases D and E both exhibited a broad substrate specificity and hydrolyzed the ester bonds of esters containing Trp, Tyr, Phe, Leu, and Ala. The esterase activities of both enzymes toward Ac-(Ala)3-OMe were the highest among proteinases so far isolated from various sources. Proteinases D and E also lacked cystine residues in their molecules, being entirely different from alkaline serine proteinases A, B, and C in pronase. Some differences were , however, observed between them as regards pH stability, behavior on CM-cellulose, mobility on polyacrylamide electrophoresis, and amidase activity toward Suc-(Ala)3-pNA.     

Simultaneous isolation and determination of prothymosin alpha, parathymosin alpha, thymosin beta 4, and thymosin beta 10

A method was described for the isolation of peptides from rat thymus. Frozen, powdered tissue was suspended in boiling buffer to inactivate endogenous proteinases, the suspension was homogenized, and the peptides were isolated by a two-step procedure including gel filtration and purification by HPLC. The recoveries from rat thymus were, in micrograms per gram of whole tissue, 60-80 for prothymosin alpha, 50-80 for thymosin beta 4, and 20-30 for thymosin beta 10. The procedure also yielded smaller quantities of a fourth peptide, designated parathymosin alpha. The quantities of these peptides in vertebrate tissues can be evaluated by applying radioimmunoassays for prothymosin alpha and thymosin beta 4 to the boiled tissue extract.     

A kinetic and equilibrium study of the denaturation of aspartic proteinases from the fungi, Endothia parasitica and Mucor miehei

Kinetic and equilibrium analyses of the denaturation of Endothia parasitica and Mucor miehei aspartic proteinases were performed using enzyme activity and ultraviolet absorption as indices of denaturation. Denaturation of these proteinases was shown to be irreversible, suggesting that the conformations of these aspartic proteinases may be predetermined in their zymogens. Thermal and guanidine hydrochloride denaturation of these proteinases produced first-order, two-state, kinetic behaviour. Equilibrium unfolding transitions of these proteinases were highly cooperative but not entirely coincident in the two indices employed, suggesting some deviation from two-state character. Oxidation to remove 37.8% of the carbohydrate of M. miehei glycoproteinase with sodium metaperiodate resulted in a substantial decrease in both kinetic and equilibrium stabilities without modification of the amino acid composition or specific activity. In addition, gel filtration subsequent to equilibrium studies indicated that partial removal of the carbohydrate from M. miehei proteinase promoted autolysis under denaturing conditions.     

Proteinase Activity during Tracheary Element Differentiation in Zinnia Mesophyll Cultures

The zinnia (Zinnia elegans) mesophyll cell culture tracheary element (TE) system was used to study proteinases active during developmentally programmed cell death. Substrate-impregnated gels and single-cell assays revealed high levels of proteinase activity in differentiating TEs compared with undifferentiated cultured cells and expanding leaves. Three proteinases (145, 28, and 24 kD) were exclusive to differentiating TEs. A fourth proteinase (59 kD), although detected in extracts from all tissues examined, was most active in differentiating TEs. The 28- and 24-kD proteinases were inhibited by thiol proteinase inhibitors, leupeptin, and N-[N-(L-3-trans-carboxirane-2-carbonyl)-L-leucyl]-agmatine (E-64). The 145- and 59-kD proteinases were inhibited by the serine proteinase inhibitor phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF). Extracts from the TE cultures contained sodium dodecyl sulfate-stimulated proteolytic activity not detected in control cultures. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-stimulated proteolysis was inhibited by leupeptin or E-64, but not by PMSF. Other tissues, sucrose-starved cells and cotyledons, that contain high levels of proteolytic activity did not contain TE-specific proteinases, but did contain higher levels of E-64-sensitive activities migrating as 36- to 31-kD enzymes and as a PMSF-sensitive 66-kD proteinase.     

Serine proteinases of lower vertebrates

Recent data on the effect of serine proteinases of lower vertebrates are generalized. Hydrolysis specificity and kinetics of different synthetic substrates, dependence of the activity of enzymes on pH, their irreversible inhibition by chloromethyl ketones of amino acids and peptides as well as high-molecular proteinase inhibitors are considered in detail. The data testify to the fact that chymotrypsins and trypsins of higher vertebrates and serine proteinases of lower vertebrates act as an acid-base catalysis. Enzymes in the pyloric cacca of fishes are in the state of proenzymes and are transformed into an active form with the aid of their own proteolytic factors. The esterase and proteolytic activity of fish proteinases is concentrated in the same active site and reaches the highest values at pH 7,8. New data are presented on particularities of the lower vertebrate proteinases, on the similarity and differences in their specificity. A distinct difference is shown in the nature of the binding site of the active centre in a number of serine proteinases of fishes as compared to chymotrypsin and trypsin of higher vertebrates.     

Scavenging of superoxide radical by ascorbic acid

Using acetaldehyde and xanthine oxidase as the source of suPeroxide radical, the second order rate constant for the reaction between ascorbic acid and superoxide radical was estimated to be 8.2 X 10⁷ M^-1 s^-1. In rats, the average tissue concentration of ascorbic acid was of the order of 10^-3 M and that of superoxide dismutase was of the order of 10^-6 M. So, taking together both the rate constants and the tissue concentrations, the efficacy of ascorbic acid for scavenging superoxide radical in animal tissues appears to be better than that of suPeroxide dismutase. The significance of ascorbic acid as a scavenger of superoxide radical has been discussed from the point of view of the evolution of ascorbic acid synthesizing capacity of terrestrial vertebrates.     

Proteinases of the calpain family in water invertebrates and fishes

Activity of Ca²⁺-dependent proteinases, or calpains (EC 3.4.22.17), was estimated in a wide range of aquatic invertebrates (Oligochaeta, Hirudinea, Crustacea, Insecta, Gastropoda, Bivalvia) and vertebrates (Osteichthyes). Detected molecular properties of calpains from the tissues of different species allow the consideration of the complications of calpain structural organization and regulatory mechanisms in invertebrates and vertebrates from a comparative-evolutionary perspective. Certain conclusions can be drawn about changes in the functional role of this proteolytic system in cell metabolism.     

凝胶过滤法纯化裂褶多糖检测方法的改进

凝胶过滤洗脱液中多糖含量一般采用硫酸-苯酚等化学显色法测定,然后根据洗脱曲线得到纯化的组分,但化学方法费时且消耗试剂.本研究采用350 nm非特征性吸收波长对2种不同纯度裂褶多糖样品PSG1和PSG2的洗脱液直接测定吸光度,与硫酸-苯酚法490 nm测定得到的洗脱曲线基本一致,即分别可得到4个和2个组分,同时采用HPLC对分离效果进行了检测.研究表明,采用350 nm波长直接检测可实现不同纯度裂褶多糖的分离.利用本法检测其他多糖的效果有待进一步研究.