• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.129-135
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• 2011

Cloning and characterization of the gene encoding a solvent-tolerant protease from the haloalkaliphilic bacterium Geomicrobium sp. EMB2 are described. Primers designed based on the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified EMB2 protease helped in the amplification of a 1,505-bp open reading frame that had a coding potential of a 42.7-kDa polypeptide. The deduced EMB2 protein contained a 35.4-kDa mature protein of 311 residues, with a high proportion of acidic amino acid residues. Phylogenetic analysis placed the EMB2 gene close to a known serine protease from Bacillus clausii KSM-K16. Primary sequence analysis indicated a hydrophobic inclination of the protein; and the 3D structure modeling elucidated a relatively higher percentage of small (glycine, alanine, and valine) and borderline (serine and threonine) hydrophobic residues on its surface. The structure analysis also highlighted enrichment of acidic residues at the cost of basic residues. The study indicated that solvent and salt stabilities in Geomicrobium sp. protease may be accorded to different structural features; that is, the presence of a number of small hydrophobic amino acid residues on the surface and a higher content of acidic amino acid residues, respectively.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.183-188
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• 2008

A fibrinolytic serine protease was purified from the fruiting bodies of an edible mushroom, Albatrellus confluens. The enzyme had a molecular mass of 30086.41 Da, as measured by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the enzyme was Glu-Thr-Val-Thr-Glu-Thr-Thr-Ala -Pro-Trp-Gly-Leu-Ser-Arg-Ile. It displayed optimal activity at $50^{\circ}C$ and within a pH range of $8.0{\sim}10.0$, suggesting that the enzyme is an alkaline protease. The enzyme was stable up to $30^{\circ}C$. The enzyme displayed a strong substrate specificity for the synthetic peptide, N-Suc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe pNA. The enzyme activity was completely inhibited by addition of PMSF, indicating that the enzyme is a serine protease. No inhibition was observed following addition of E-64, pepstatin, or EDTA. The activity of the purified enzyme was decreased in the presence $Fe^{2+}$ or $Co^{2+}$, and the enzyme was completely inhibited by addition of $Hg^{2+}$. From these results, we propose that Albatrellus confluens could be used for biofunctional foods development and has potential therapeutic value for the treatment of vascular diseases.

• BMB Reports
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.579-584
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• 1999

Mantis egg fibrolase (MEF-3) was purified from the egg cases of Tenodera sinensis using ammonium sulfate fractionation, gel filtration on Bio-Gel P-60, DEAE Affi-Gel blue gel affinity chromatogragphy, and MONO-Q anion-exchange chromatography. This protease had a molecular weight of 35,600 Da as determined by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under reducing conditions and its isoelectric point was 6.0. The N-terminal amino acids sequence was Ala-Thr-Gln-Asp-Asp-Ala-Pro-Pro-Gly-Leu-Ala-Arg-Arg. This sequence was 80% homologous to the serine protease from Tritirachium album. MEF-3 readily digested the ${\alpha}$-and ${\beta}$-chains of fibrinogen and more slowly the ${\gamma}$-chains. It showed strong proteolytic and fibrinolytic activities. Phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride and chymostatin inhibited its proteolytic activity, while EDTA, EGTA, cysteine, ${\beta}$-mercaptoethanol, elastinal, tosyl-lysine chloromethylketone, and tosyl-amido-2-phenylethyl chloromethyl ketone did not affect its proteolytic activity. Among the chromogenic protease substrates, the most sensitive one to the hydrolysis of MEF-3 was benzoyl-Phe-Val-Arg-p-nitroanilide. Based on these experimental results, we speculated that MEF-3 is a serine protease with a strong fibrin(ogen)olytic activity.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.1635-1641
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• 1999

Bacillus subtilis PCA20-3 was isolated from meju and was found to produce a protease. The strain produced the maximum amount of enzyme in the medium containing soytone (0.2%), soluble starch (2%), $(NH_4)_2SO_4\;(0.1%),\;CaCl_2(0.1%),\;yeast\;extract\;(0.01%),\;K_2HPO_4\;(0.1%),\;and\;KH_2PO_4\;(0.1%)$. Protease was first concentrated by ammonium sulfate (80% saturation, w/v) precipitation of culture supernatant. Then the enzyme was purified by column chromatography using CM Sephadex C-50. The collected proteins were rechromatographed using Sephadex G-100 gel filtration column. The fraction with protease active from Sephadex G-100 gel chromatography was found to be pure when examined by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and YMC-pak reverse phase chromatography. Specific activity, yield and purity were 76 U/mg. 2.7%, and 7.6 fold, respectively. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 31.5 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The number of amino acids calculated from molecular weight was evaluated about 321 residues. N-terminal sequence of the enzyme was $Val^1-Pro^2-Tyr^3-Gly^4-Val^5-Ser^6-Gln^7-Gly^8-Lys^9-Ala^{10}$.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.105-116
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• 2010

SH3YL1, a novel protein containing one Src homology 3 domain at the carboxyl terminus was first detected in mouse anagen skin cDNA. This protein had a significant homology with YHRO 16c/Ysc 84, the yeast Src homology 3 domain-containing protein. The sequence identity was remarkable at the carboxyl and amino-terminal Src homology 3 domain, suggesting that the novel protein is a mouse homolog of the yeast protein and thus was termed as SH3YL1. SH3YL1 is composed of two domains, a DUF500 at N-termini and a SH3 domain at C-termini. In our study we cloned the SH3 domain in bacterial expression system in Escherichia coli using pET32a vector with TEV protease cleavage site and purified as a monomer using affinity chromatography. The N-terminal poly-Histidine tag was cleaved with TEV protease and target protein was used for backbone studies. Our study showed that SH3 domain primarily consists of $\beta$-sheet which is in consistence with previous result performed on the truncated SH3 domain of SH3YL1.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.1756-1762
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• 2007

Envelope proteins of virus contain a segment of hydrophobic amino acids, called as fusion peptide, which triggers membrane fusion by insertion into membrane and perturbation of lipid bilayer structure. Potential fusion peptide sequences have been identified in the middle of L or M proteins or at the N-terminus of S protein in the envelope of human hepatitis B virus (HBV). Two 16-mer peptides representing the N-terminal fusion peptide of the S protein and the internal fusion peptide in L protein were synthesized, and their membrane disrupting activities were characterized. The internal fusion peptide in L protein showed higher activity of liposome leakage and hemolysis of human red blood cells than the N-terminal fusion peptide of S protein. Also, the membrane disrupting activity of the extracellular domain of L protein significantly increased when the internal fusion peptide region was exposed to N-terminus by the treatment of V8 protease. These results indicate that the internal fusion peptide region of L protein could activate membrane fusion when it is exposed by proteolysis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.2079-2094
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• 2018

Sunflower trypsin inhibitor (SFTI) is a 14-amino-acid bicyclic peptide that contains a single internal disulfide bond. We initially constructed chimeras of SFTI with N-terminal secretion signals from the Escherichia coli OmpA and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ToxA, but only detected small amounts of protease inhibition resulting from these constructs. A substantially higher degree of protease inhibition was detected from a C-terminal SFTI fusion with E. coli YebF, which radiated more than a centimeter from an individual colony of E. coli using a culture-based inhibitor assay. Inhibitory activity was further improved in YebF-SFTI fusions by the addition of a trypsin cleavage signal immediately upstream of SFTI, and resulted in production of a 14-amino-acid, disulfide-bonded SFTI free in the culture supernatant. To assess the potential of the secreted SFTI to protect the ability of a cytotoxic protein to kill tumor cells, we utilized a tumor-selective form of the Pseudomonas ToxA (OTG-PE38K) alone and expressed as a polycistronic construct with YebF-SFTI in the tumor-targeted Salmonella VNP20009. When we assessed the ability of toxin-containing culture supernatants to kill MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cells, the untreated OTG-PE38K was able to eliminate all detectable tumor cells, while pretreatment with trypsin resulted in the complete loss of anticancer cytotoxicity. However, when OTG-PE38K was co-expressed with YebF-SFTI, cytotoxicity was completely retained in the presence of trypsin. These data demonstrate SFTI chimeras are secreted in a functional form and that co-expression of protease inhibitors with therapeutic proteins by tumor-targeted bacteria has the potential to enhance the activity of therapeutic proteins by suppressing their degradation within a proteolytic environment.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.201-212
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• 2011

The alkaline protease gene was cloned from a halo-tolerant alkalophilic Bacillus clausii I-52 isolated from the heavily polluted tidal mud flat of West Sea in Inchon Korea, which produced a strong extracellular alkaline protease (BCAP). Based on the full genome sequence of Bacillus subtilis, PCR primers were designed to allow for the amplification and cloning of the intact pro-BCAP gene including promoter region. The full-length gene consists of 1,143 bp and encodes 381 amino acids, which includes 29 residues of a putative signal peptide and an additional 77-amino-acid propeptide at its N-terminus. The mature BCAP deduced from the nucleotide sequence consists of 275 amino acids with a N-terminal amino acid of Ala, and a relative molecular weight and pI value was 27698.7 Da and 6.3, respectively. The amino acid sequence shares the highest similarity (99%) to the nattokinase precursor from B. subtilis and subtilisin E precursor from B. subtilis BSn5. The substrate specificity indicated that the recombinant BCAP could hydrolyze efficiently the synthetic substrate, N-Suc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-pNA,and did not hydrolyze the substrates with basic amino acids at the P1 site. The recombinant BCAP was strongly inhibited by typical serine protease inhibitor, PMSF, indicating that BCAP is a member of the serine proteases.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.53-59
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• 2002

Green tea has been recognized as a favorite beverage for centuries in Easter and Westers cultures. Recently, anti-tumor effects of green tea constituents have received increasing attention. However, the mechanism of catechin-mediated cytotoxicity against tumor cells remains to be elusive. To elucidate the mechanical insights of anti-tumor effects, (-)epigallocatechin-gallate(EGCG) of catechin was applied to human lung cancer A549 cells. (-)EGCG induced the death of A549 cells, which was revealed as apoptosis in DNA fragmentation assay. (-)EGCG induced the activation of caspase family cysteine proteases including capase-3, -8 and -9 proteases in A549 cells. Furthermore, (-)EGCG increased the phosphotransferase activity of c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1JNK 1), which further induced tole transcriptional activation of activating protein-1(AP-1) in A549 cells. We suggest that (-)EGCG-induced apotosis of A549 cells is mediated by signaling pathway involving caspase family cysteine protease, JNK1 and transcription factor, AP-1.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.256-262
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• 2011

A 20.9-kDa metalloprotease was isolated from dried fruiting bodies of the wild basidiomycete mushroom Lepista nuda. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the protease was seen to be ATFVLTAATNTLFTA, thus displaying no similarity with the sequences of previously reported metalloproteases. The protease was purified using a procedure that entailed ion-exchange chromatography on CM-Cellulose, Q-Sepharose, and Mono S, and FPLC-gel filtration on Superdex 75. The protease functioned at an optimum pH of 7.0 and an optimum temperature of $50^{\circ}C$. It was also noted that the protease demonstrated a proteolytic activity of 1,756 U/mg toward casein. The $K_m$ of the purified protease toward casein was 6.36 mg/ml at a pH of 7.0 and with a temperature of $37^{\circ}C$, whereas the $V_{max}$ was 9.11 ${\mu}g\;ml^{-1}\;min^{-1}$. The activity of the protease was adversely affected by EDTA-2Na, suggesting that it is a metalloprotease. PMSF, EGTA, aprotinin, and leupeptin exerted no striking inhibitory effect. The activity of the protease was enhanced by $Fe^{2+}$, but was curtailed by $Cd^{2+}$, $Cu^{2+}$, $Hg^{2+}$, $Pb^{2+}$, $Zn^{2+}$, and $Fe^{2+}$ ions. The protease also exhibited inhibitory activity against HIV-1 reverse transcriptase with an $IC_{50}$ value of 4.00 ${\mu}M$. The $IC_{50}$ values toward hepatoma Hep G2 and leukemia L1210 cells in vitro were 4.99 ${\mu}M$ and 3.67 ${\mu}M$, respectively.