Suc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-SBzl

Apolipophorin III (apoLp-III) has been known as a lipid transport protein of insects. Recent studies indicated the involvement of apoLp-III in immune reactions and in the control of cell destruction, but no enzymatic activity has so far been detected. In the present study, a protease from the hemolymph of Schistocerca gregaria was purified to homogeneity and its enzymatic activity was examined. Identity as chymotrypsin-like proteinase was established by its high affinity toward bulky aromatic substrates and its catalytic specificity for amide or ester bonds on the synthetic substrates, Suc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Xaa-AMC (where Xaa was Phe, Tyr, Trp, and Lys, and AMC is 7-amino-4-methyl-coumarin) and thiolbenzyl ester substrate Suc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-SBzl. The sensitivity for serine protease and chymotrypsin-specific covalent inhibitors, PMSF, TPCK, and noncovalent inhibitors SGCI, showed that it is a chymotrypsin-like proteinase. It showed its maximum activity at pH 8.0 and 55°C for the hydrolysis of Suc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Tyr-AMC. According to similarities in the amino terminal sequence, molar mass (19 kDa) and retention on reversed-phase analytical high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) column, this protein is S. gregaria homologue of Locusta migratoria apoLp-III. Our data suggest that apoLp-III also has an inherent proteolytic activity. Results indicated that S. gregaria apoLp-III is a good catalyst and could be used as a biotechnological tool in food processing and in agricultural biotechnology.

The conversion of trypsin into a protease with chymotrypsin-like activity and specificity required substitution of fifteen residues in the S1 site and two surface loops with their chymotrypsin counterparts [Hedstrom,L., Szilagyi,L. and Rutter,W.J. (1992) Science, 255, 1249-1253]. These residues may define a set of general structural determinants of specificity in the trypsin family. In order to test this hypothesis, we have attempted to convert trypsin into a protease with specificity for substrates containing small aliphatic residues by replacing the S1 site and these surface loops with the analogous residues of elastase. Five elastase-like mutant enzymes were constructed with various combinations of these substitutions. Four mutant enzymes catalyze the hydrolysis of MeOSuc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Ala-SBzl more efficiently than the hydrolysis of Suc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-SBzl. This observation indicates that the mutant enzymes have elastase-like esterase specificity. The best mutant, Tr-->E1-2, is a more specific esterase than elastase: the ratio of the values of kcat/Km for MeOSuc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Ala-SBzl and Suc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-SBzl is greater than 160 for Tr-->E1-2 and 50 for elastase. However, the esterase activity of Tr-->E1-2 is 300-fold less than elastase; in addition, Tr-->E1-2 has no measurable amidase activity. Thus these substitutions do not construct a protease with elastase-like activity. These experiments indicate that a unique structural solution is required for each different specificity. Previous work suggested that instability of the S1 site is a major barrier to redesigning the specificity of trypsin. This view is corroborated by preliminary structural studies of Tr-->E1-2. One dimensional 1H NMR spectrum of Tr-->E1-2 suggests that the S1 site and the two surface loops of this mutant trypsin may be disordered.

The low-barrier hydrogen bond (LBHB) between the Asp and His residues of the catalytic triad in a serine protease was perturbed via the D32C mutation in subtilisin BPN' (Bacillus protease N'). This mutant enzyme catalyzes the hydrolysis of N-Suc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-SBzl with a k(cat)/K(m) value that is only 8-fold reduced from that of the wild-type (WT) enzyme. The value of k(cat)/K(m) for the corresponding p-nitroanilide (pNA) substrate is only 50-fold lower than that of the WT enzyme (DeltaDeltaG++ = 2.2 kcal/mol). The pK(a) controlling the ascending limb of the pH versus k(cat)/K(m) profile is lowered from 7.01 (WT) to 6.53 (D32C), implying that any hydrogen bond replacing that between Asp32 and His64 of the WT enzyme most likely involves the neutral thiol rather than the thiolate form of Cys32. It is shown by viscosity variation that the reaction of WT subtilisin with N-Suc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-SBzl is 50% (sucrose) to 100% (glycerol) diffusion-controlled, while that of the D32C construct is 29% (sucrose) to 76% (glycerol) diffusion-controlled. The low-field NMR resonance of 18 ppm that has been assigned to a proton shared by Asp32 and His64, and is considered diagnostic of a LBHB in the WT enzyme, is not present in D32C subtilisin. Thus, the LBHB is not an inherent requirement for substantial rate enhancement for subtilisin.