Purification and Characterization of Trypsins Affecting on the Autolysis of Shrimp, Penaeus japonicus

Two trypsins were purified from shrimp hepatopancreas through ammonium sulfate fractionation, Q-Sepharose ionic exchange, benzamidine Sepharose-6B affinity, and Sephacryl S-300 gel chromatography. Both enzymes had a single polypeptide chain with a molecular weight (M.W.) of 32 kDa by sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SOS-PAGE), although trypsin A and B were estimated to be a molecular weight of 27.2 and 22.8 kDa, respectively, using Sephacryl S-300 gel filtration. Both trypsins had similar amino acid compositions and rich in glycine, valine, alanine, aspartic acid, and glutamic acid, but low in methionine and basic amino acids. Both enzymes were completely inactivated by soybean trypsin inhibitor (SBTI), phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF), tosyl-L-lysine chloromethyl ketone (TLCK), benzamidine, leupeptin, however, not affected by tosyl-L-phenylalanine chloromethyl ketone (TPCK) and pepstatin.