Limited Proteolysis of Disulfide-reduced Ovalbumin by Subtilisin

Our previous study [Takahashiet al., J. Biochem., 109, 846–851 (1991)] has shown that the disulfide-reduced form of ovalbumin was proteolyzed by subtilisin into three major fragments. It was investigated whether or not these three fragments would be folded into one molecule. Gel permeation and ion-exchange chromatography indicated that the three fragments were eluted in a single peak. The proteolyzed protein had a CD spectrum that was almost indistinguishable from the disulfide-reduced, non-proteolyzed, form of ovalbumin. Differential scanning calorimetry, however, revealed, that the proteolyzed ovalbumin was denatured at a lower temperature than that of the disulfide-reduced, non-proteolyzed. protein. Thus, it is concluded that the three fragments were folded into a native-like conformation with decreased stability. Chemical analyses of the fragments purified by reverse-phase HPLC revealed that there was a cleavage site in the disulfide-reduced form of ovalbumin, at least at the amino-terminal side of Cys⁷³, in addition to the well-known cleavage sites in plakalbumin.