Purification and characterization of an inhibitor of calcium-activated neutral protease from rabbit skeletal muscle: purification of 50,000-dalton inhibitor

An endogenous inhibitor of calcium-activated neutral protease (CANP), which was isolated from rabbit skeletal muscle under mild conditions, comprised high- and low-molecular-weight components. The latter (LMW-inhibitor; Mr=50,000) was purified to homogeneity by means of chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and phenyl-Sepharose CL-4B and chromatofocusing. The purified inhibitor is a protein composed of two polypeptide chains with molecular weights of 26,000 and 24,000 daltons. It contains large amounts of glutamic acid, alanine, and serine, and small amounts of aromatic amino acids. It was specific for CANPs having low (m-type) and high (mu-type) Ca2+-sensitivity, had no effect on any other protease examined (trypsin, alpha-chymotrypsin, bromelain, ficin, papain, thermolysin, etc.), and inhibited rabbit mCANP more effectively than rabbit muCANP or chicken mCANP. It was demonstrated that the inhibition is due to the formation of a stoichiometric complex between two molecules of rabbit mCANP and one inhibitor molecule.