CLEAVAGE PATHWAY,AND SPECIFICITY OF LEUCOCYTE ELASTASE AS COMPARED TO PLASMIN DURING FIBRINOGEN DEGRADATION

1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Goretzki ◽  
E Miller ◽  
A Henschen

Plasmin and leucocyte elastase are regarded as the two medically most important fibrin(ogen)-degrading proteolytic enzymes. There is, however, a considerable difference in information available about the cleavage specificities and fragmentation pathways of these two enzymes. Degradation by plasmin has been studied already for a long time in great detail so that now the time course of the degradation, the cleavage sites and the functional properties of many fragments are well known. In contrast, relatively little is known about the degradation by leucocyte elastase, except that the overall cleavage pattern resembles that obtained with plasminIn this investigation the leucocyte elastase-mediated degradation of fibrinogen has been examined by means of proteinchemi-cal methods. Human fibrinogen was incubated with human enzyme material for various periods of time and at some different enzyme concentrations. The split products formed at the various stages were isolated in pure form by gel filtration followed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The fragments were identified by N-terminal amino acid sequence and amino acid composition. The course of the degradation was also monitored by sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. All cleavage patterns were compared with the corresponding patterns from plasmic degradation. It could be confirmed that X-, D- and E-like fragments are formed also with elastase. However, several early elastolytic Aα-chain fragments are characteristically different from plasmic fragments. The previously identified N-terminal cleavage site in the Aα-chain, i.e. after position 21, was found to be the most important site in this region of fibrinogen. The very early degradation of the Aα-chain N-terminus by elastase is in strong contrast to the stability against plasmin. Several cleavage sites in N-terminal region of the Bβ-chain were observed, though the low amino acid specificity of elastase partly hampered the identification. The γ-chain N-terminus was found to be as highly stable towards elastase as towards plasmin. The results are expected to contribute to the understanding of the role of leucocyte elastase in pathophysiologic fibrino(geno)lysis

1979 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.S. Cierniewski

Polypeptide chains Aα, Bβ and γ of porcine fibrinogen were isolated by preparative SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Their purity was estimated by electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel, amino acid composition and N-terminal amino acid analyses. Antisera to the pig polypeptide chains were produced in rabbits and they were employed in immunological comparative studies of porcine, bovine, human and duck fibrinogens. Antisera to the pig Aα chain showed in gel immunodiffusion and passive hemagglutination a strong cross-reaction with porcine, bovine and human fibrinogens. Antisera to the pig βB and γ chains cross-reacted only with porcine and bovine fibrinogens but they did not recognize human fibrinogen, The reaction of antiγ antisera was detectable only by passive hemagglutination test. In all cases antigenic similarity of the analyzed fibrinogens was mainly related to antigenic determinants of the Aα, Bβ and γ chains exposed on the intact fibrinogen molecule. None of analyzed antisera reacted with duck fibrinogen.


1986 ◽  
Vol 240 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
T M Redmond ◽  
B Wiggert ◽  
F A Robey ◽  
G J Chader

Structural properties of the retinal extracellular-matrix glycolipoprotein interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP) from human, monkey and bovine retinas have been compared. SDS/polyacrylamide-gel-electrophoretic analysis of limited tryptic and Staphylococcus aureus-V8-proteinase digests show virtually identical patterns for the monkey and human proteins, whereas both sets differ considerably from the bovine protein pattern. Time-course digestion shows monkey IRBP to be more readily cleaved than bovine IRBP and also cleaved to smaller fragments. Also, reversed-phase h.p.l.c. of complete tryptic digests of the IRBPs indicate that, although they have in common a similar preponderance of hydrophobic peptides, all three proteins differ extensively in their fine structure. The N-terminal sequences of monkey and bovine IRBPs have been extended beyond those presented in our previous report [Redmond, Wiggert, Robey, Nguyen, Lewis, Lee & Chader (1985) Biochemistry 24, 787-793] to over 30 residues each. The sequences yet show extensive homology, differing at only two positions, although the major monkey sequence has an additional five amino acid residues at its N-terminus (‘n + 5’ sequence) not observed with bovine IRBP (‘n’ sequence). The newly determined N-terminal sequence of human IRBP demonstrates the presence of equal amounts of the ‘n’ and ‘n+5’ sequences that are qualitatively identical with those of the monkey. The presence of the five-amino-acid-residue extension in primate, but not bovine, IRBP may indicate variation in post-translational processing.


1987 ◽  
Vol 247 (3) ◽  
pp. 785-788 ◽  
Author(s):  
R M L Jones ◽  
K Rose ◽  
R E Offord

Biosynthetic human proinsulin (obtained by recombinant DNA techniques) was used as the starting material for the preparation, by semisynthetic methods, of [3H]proinsulin with the label at the N-terminal phenylalanine residue. The labelled proinsulin was characterized by its retention time on reversed-phase h.p.l.c., by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, by the time course of its enzymic conversion into insulin and by chromatographic analysis after extensive proteolytic degradation. The specific radioactivity of the product was 5 Ci/mmol. Experimental details of the preparation of human [[3H]Phe1]proinsulin, the isolation of this product by isocratic h.p.l.c. and gel filtration, and further characterization of protein intermediates have been deposited as supplement SUP 50138 (12 pages) at the British Library Lending Division, Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7BQ, U.K., from whom copies can be obtained on prepayment [see Biochem. J. (1987) 241, 5].


1980 ◽  
Vol 185 (2) ◽  
pp. 387-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Chung ◽  
F Friedberg

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens alpha-amylase (1,4-alpha-D-glucan glucanohydrolase. EC 3.2.1.1), which is commercially supplied as ‘Bacillus subtilis alpha-amylase’ does not cross-react immunologically with B. subtilis alpha-amylase. This enzyme (from B. amyloliquefaciens) was cleaved by treatment with CNBr into seven fragments. Peptide A was selected for sequence determination. It is the longest one, containing 185 amino acids (i.e. approx. 50% of the total molecule) and connects to the hexapeptide of the N-terminus. Its primary structure was aligned by use of various proteolytic enzymes. The sequence of amino acids 181-184 is identical with that of amino acids 14-17 of the alpha-amylase isolated from B. subtilis (except that amino acid 183 is asparagine rather than aspartic acid).


1981 ◽  
Vol 197 (2) ◽  
pp. 391-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
H P J Bennett ◽  
S Solomon ◽  
D Goltzman

Reversed-phase liquid chromatography techniques have been used to extract and purify human parathyrin from parathyroid adenomas and to analyse the circulating forms of human parathyrin in plasma. Both the supernatant from tissue homogenates, and plasma were extracted with octadecylsilyl-silica (ODS-silica) in a batch procedure. Extracts were subjected to reversed-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography (h.p.l.c.) employing solvent systems composed of aqueous acetonitrile containing trifluoroacetic acid or heptafluorobutyric acid as hydrophobic ion-pairing reagents. The volatile solvents facilitated the radioimmunoassay, bioassay in vitro and amino acid analysis of column fractions and permitted monitoring for u.v. absorbance at 210nm. Isolated glandular parathyrin was found to be homogeneous by sodium dodecyl sulphate/urea/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, to have an amino acid composition conforming to that of human parathyrin-(1-84)-tetraoctacontapeptide and to be bioactive in both renal adenylate cyclase and cytochemical bioassays. ODS-silica extraction permitted examination of large plasms samples by reversed-phase h.p.l.c., facilitating the resolution of the various circulating molecular forms of parathyrin according to their hydrophobic character. Because of its rapidity, excellent recovery and high resolving power, the methodology utilized is uniquely suited to the purification and analysis of parathyrin in tissues and body fluids.


2002 ◽  
Vol 68 (7) ◽  
pp. 3532-3536 ◽  
Author(s):  
María J. Benito ◽  
Mar Rodríguez ◽  
Félix Núñez ◽  
Miguel A. Asensio ◽  
María E. Bermúdez ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT An extracellular protease from Penicillium chrysogenum (Pg222) isolated from dry-cured ham has been purified. The purification procedure involved several steps: ammonium sulfate precipitation, ion-exchange chromatography, filtration, and separation by high-performance liquid chromatography. Based on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis and gel filtration, the purified fraction showed a molecular mass of about 35 kDa. The hydrolytic properties of the purified enzyme (EPg222) on extracted pork myofibrillar proteins under several conditions were evaluated by SDS-PAGE. EPg222 showed activity in the range of 10 to 60°C in temperature, 0 to 3 M NaCl, and pH 5 to 7, with maximum activity at pH 6, 45°C, and 0.25 M NaCl. Under these conditions the enzyme was most active against tropomyosin, actin, and myosin. EPg222 showed collagenolytic activity but did not hydrolyze myoglobin. EPg222 showed higher activity than other proteolytic enzymes like papain, trypsin, and Aspergillus oryzae protease. The N-terminal amino acid sequence was determined and was found to be Glu-Asn-Pro-Leu-Gln-Pro-Asn-Ala-Pro-Ser-Trp. This partial amino acid sequence revealed a 55% homology with serine proteases from Penicillium citrinum. The activity of this novel protease may be of interest in ripening and generating the flavor of dry-cured meat products.


Selected fossil vertebrates and the enclosing sediments dating from 1300 years B.C. to approximately 400 million years ago were subjected to amino acid assay. The amino acid analyses revealed little evidence of intact collagen in fossils of Tertiary, Mesozoic or Palaeozoic age. There was, however, evidence of contemporary proteinaceous material which may have been derived from bacteria. In Palaeozoic material the analyses detected a general background of amino acids common to both fossils and sediments. The degree of racemization was routinely determined as a means of measuring modern contamination of geologically older samples. An electron microscope study of Quaternary (Pleistocene) collagen revealed a significant reduction of the 64 nm banding to about 50 nm. The same Pleistocene material gave amino acid compositional profiles typical of collagen. However, when this material was subjected to digestion by the proteolytic enzymes collagenase, pronase and subtilisin, the resulting peptide fingerprints showed small but significant differences from those obtained from modern collagen digests, indicating the possibility of changes having occurred during fossilization affecting susceptible cleavage sites in the molecule.


1977 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Henschen ◽  
F. Lottspeich ◽  
E. Töpfer-Petersen ◽  
R. Warbinek

The aim of the present investigation is to elucidate the primary structure of human fibrinogen. Through the work of several laboratories including our own large parts of the structure are now known. Here will be reported the complete amino acid sequence of the γ-chain (409 residues). Furthermore, the carbohydrate linkage site in the β-chain and plasmin cleavage sites in the β- and γ-chains have been identified.The peptide chains were isolated by CM-cellulose chromatography following mercaptolysis and alkylation. The γ-chain was cleaved in a way to produce large fragments suitable for automatic sequencing, e. g. with cyanogen bromide or trypsin after citraconylation. The sequences of the isolated fragments allowed reconstruction of the complete sequence of the γ-chain.The carbohydrate linkage site in the β-chain could be isolated by affinity chromatography on concanavalin A-agarose following cleavage of the chain by trypsin or cyanogen bromide. The sequence of 21 amino acid residues around the carbohydrate attachment site was determined.The plasmin cleavage site giving rise to N-terminal glycine in the γ-chain D-fragment was identified. The amino acid sequence linking plasmic fragments E and D in the β-chain was determined.


1975 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Williams ◽  
G. Murano

Based on evidence that a portion of circulating fibrinogen consists of a family of catabolic intermediates formed by proteolytic degradation of the COOH terminal region of Aα chains, we attempted to obtain early degradation products using the purified alkylated Aα chain derivative of human fibrinogen as the substrate and plasmin as the enzyme. Having established optimal conditions, a preparative quantity of material was digested in 0.1 M tris buffer pH = 9.5; time = 4 min; E/S ratio = 1/75 (mole/mole); temp = 37° C. Low molecular weight fragments were separated from the larger species, and further purified by gel filtration on Sephadex G-100. Selected early fragments were analyzed by polycrylamide gel electrophoresis, amino acid composition, peptide mapping and partial N-terminal amino acid sequence. Two of the earliest low molecular weight fragments released by plasmin were derived from the N-terminal region of the Aα chain. Their molecular size was estimated at about 10,000 daltons. One fragment contains fibrinopeptide A; both fragments extend beyond Met-51. Our data indicate that: a) the specificity of plasmin on the purified Aα chain differs from that on intact fibrinogen; or b) proteolytic enzymes other than or in addition to plasmin are responsible for the formation of early catabolic fibrinogen intermediates having a degraded Aα chain.(Supported by USPHS N. I. H. Grant HL 14142.)


1975 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. E. Ly ◽  
P. Kierulf

Fibrinogen preparations with increasing contents of iodine, ranging from 0.2 to 20 atoms of iodine per molecule fibrinogen, were obtained with the ICl method. Aggregation and shortening of the thrombin clotting time occurred when the content of iodine exceeded 3 atoms per molecule.Upon the action of thrombin, the increase in N-terminal glycine, reflecting fibrin formation, was almost identical in native and iodinated fibrinogen. At visible gelation, however, decreased amounts of N-terminal glycine were found in heavily iodinated fibrinogen, thus indicating enhanced fibrin polymerization. N-terminal analysis of heavily iodinated fibrinogen demonstrated a deficiency in N-terminal tyrosine concomitantly with the apparance of a new N-terminal amino acid, identified as mono-iodo-tyrosine.Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis at pH 8.9 revealed an increase in mobility following extensive iodination, but no shift in the isoelectric point was observed upon isofocusing.Neither clottability nor the behaviour of fibrinogen and its subunit polypeptide chains on SDS-gel electrophoresis was affected by iodination.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document