Amino acids enzymic hydrolysis

Several general approaches have been used to measure the activities of extracellular enzymes in aquatic systems. These methods typically measure a potential activity, inasmuch as a substrate added to a sample to measure enzyme activity is in competition with naturally occurring substrates (whose concentration is usually unknown) for enzyme active sites. The most commonly applied method involves a small substrate proxy, typically consisting of a monosaccharide or an amino acid covalently linked to a small fluorophore substrates frequently used include methyumbellifery- (MUF-) monosaccharides and 4-methyl-coumainylamide (MCA)- amino acids. Upon hydrolysis of the bond between the monomer and the fluorophore, the fluorophore becomes fluorescent, and hydrolysis is measured as an increase in fluorescence signal with time (Hoppe, 1983 Somville and Billen, 1983). 

Pyridoxal is the reagent in other reactions of amino acids, all involving the inline as intermediate. The simplest is the racemization of amino acids by loss of a proton and its replacement on the other face of the enamine. The enamine, in the middle of the diagram below, can be reprotonated on either face of the prochiral inline (shown in green). Protonation on the bottom face would take us back to the natural amino acid from which the enamine was made in the first place. Protonation on the top face leads to the unnatural amino acid after hydrolysis of the inline (really transfer of pyridoxal to a lysine residue of the enzyme). 

The human organism is not able to use dietary proteins as such. They must be hydrolysed into single amino acid molecules before they can be absorbed. The hydrolysis of proteins (mostly denatured proteins) is catalysed by proteolytic enzymes called proteases (proteinases or peptidases), which have relatively high substrate specificity. They catalyse the hydrolysis of interior peptide bonds to form peptides of different sizes (endopeptidases such as pepsin, trypsin and chymotrypsin) or attack the terminal amino acids (exopeptidases). Hydrolysis of the N-terminal amino acids is... 

In order to develop an enzymatic method to S5mthesize D-alanine N-alkyl amide, which is found in the structure of an artificial sweetener, alitame (L-a-aspartyl-N-(2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-3-thietanyl)-D-alanine amide), we screened microorganisms for an enzyme that catalyzes o-stereospecific amino acid amide hydrolysis [1]. 

Trypsin (Section 27 10) A digestive enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of proteins Trypsin selectively catalyzes the cleavage of the peptide bond between the carboxyl group of lysine or arginine and some other amino acid... 

Both pure L- and D-amino acids can be made using hydantoinase enzymes. These enzymes catalyze the stereoselective hydrolysis of racemic hydantoins such as (50) which is used for the production of D-alanine (15) (58). 

Enzymatic Method. L-Amino acids can be produced by the enzymatic hydrolysis of chemically synthesized DL-amino acids or derivatives such as esters, hydantoins, carbamates, amides, and acylates (24). The enzyme which hydrolyzes the L-isomer specifically has been found in microbial sources. The resulting L-amino acid is isolated through routine chemical or physical processes. The D-isomer which remains unchanged is racemized chemically or enzymatically and the process is recycled. Conversely, enzymes which act specifically on D-isomers have been found. Thus various D-amino acids have been... 

En me Mechanism. Staphylococcal nuclease (SNase) accelerates the hydrolysis of phosphodiester bonds in nucleic acids (qv) some 10 -fold over the uncatalyzed rate (r93 and references therein). Mutagenesis studies in which Glu43 has been replaced by Asp or Gin have shown Glu to be important for high catalytic activity. The enzyme mechanism is thought to involve base catalysis in which Glu43 acts as a general base and activates a water molecule that attacks the phosphodiester backbone of DNA. To study this mechanistic possibiUty further, Glu was replaced by two unnatural amino acids. 

Resolution of Racemic Amines and Amino Acids. Acylases (EC3.5.1.14) are the most commonly used enzymes for the resolution of amino acids. Porcine kidney acylase (PKA) and the fungaly3.spet i//us acylase (AA) are commercially available, inexpensive, and stable. They have broad substrate specificity and hydrolyze a wide spectmm of natural and unnatural A/-acyl amino acids, with exceptionally high enantioselectivity in almost all cases. Moreover, theU enantioselectivity is exceptionally good with most substrates. A general paper on this subject has been pubUshed (106) in which the resolution of over 50 A/-acyl amino acids and analogues is described. Also reported are the stabiUties of the enzymes and the effect of different acyl groups on the rate and selectivity of enzymatic hydrolysis. Some of the substrates that are easily resolved on 10—100 g scale are presented in Figure 4 (106). Lipases are also used for the resolution of A/-acylated amino acids but the rates and optical purities are usually low (107). 

Carboxypeptidases are zinc-containing enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of polypeptides at the C-terminal peptide bond. The bovine enzyme form A is a monomeric protein comprising 307 amino acid residues. The structure was determined in the laboratory of William Lipscomb, Harvard University, in 1970 and later refined to 1.5 A resolution. Biochemical and x-ray studies have shown that the zinc atom is essential for catalysis by binding to the carbonyl oxygen of the substrate. This binding weakens the C =0 bond by... 

Currently, a-amino acids are prepared by several routes such as by the fermentation of glucose, by enzyme action on several substances and by the hydrolysis of proteins. Many methods for synthesising the polymers are known, of which the polymerisation of A -carboxyanhydrides is of particular interest, as it yield-products of high molecular weight (Figure 18.24). 

An example of a biologically important aldehyde is pyridoxal phosphate, which is the active form of vitamin Bg and a coenzyme for many of the reactions of a-amino acids. In these reactions the amino acid binds to the coenzyme by reacting with it to form an imine of the kind shown in the equation. Reactions then take place at the amino acid portion of the imine, modifying the amino acid. In the last step, enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis cleaves the imine to pyridoxal and the modified amino acid. 

Somatostatin is a tetradecapeptide of the hypothalamus that inhibits the release of pituitary growth hormone. Its amino acid sequence has been determined by a combination of Edman degradations and enzymic hydrolysis experiments. On the basis of the following data, deduce the primary structure of somatostatin ... 

Definitive identification of lysine as the modified active-site residue has come from radioisotope-labeling studies. NaBH4 reduction of the aldolase Schiff base intermediate formed from C-labeled dihydroxyacetone-P yields an enzyme covalently labeled with C. Acid hydrolysis of the inactivated enzyme liberates a novel C-labeled amino acid, N -dihydroxypropyl-L-lysine. This is the product anticipated from reduction of the Schiff base formed between a lysine residue and the C-labeled dihydroxy-acetone-P. (The phosphate group is lost during acid hydrolysis of the inactivated enzyme.) The use of C labeling in a case such as this facilitates the separation and identification of the telltale amino acid. 

Carbonic anhydrase, H2O, 23-83% yield. This enzyme was used for the selective hydrolysis of the D-form of methyl iV-acetyl a-amino acids. ... 

Partial hydrolysis of a peptide can be carried out either chemically with aqueous acid or enzymatically. Acidic hydrolysis is unselective and leads to a more or less random mixture of small fragments, but enzymatic hydrolysis is quite specific. The enzyme trypsin, for instance, catalyzes hydrolysis of peptides only at the carboxyl side of the basic amino acids arginine and lysine chymotrypsin cleaves only at the carboxyl side of the aryl-substituted amino acids phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan. 

Different enzymes have different specificities. Some, such as amylase, are specific for a single substrate, but others operate on a range of substrates. Papain, for instance, a globular protein of 212 amino acids isolated from papaya fruit, catalyzes the hydrolysis of many kinds of peptide bonds. In fact, it s this ability to hydrolyze peptide bonds that makes papain useful as a meat tenderizer and a cleaner for contact lenses. 

Proteins have been hydrolyzed by treatment with sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, barium hydroxide, proteolytic enzymes, and other hydrolytic reagents, but no condition has been found which avoids some destruction or incomplete liberation of tryptophan, cystine, and some other amino acids. The early work on this problem has been reviewed by Mitchell and Hamilton (194). The literature and their own excellent experiments on the hydrolysis problem in relation to the liberation and destruction of tryptophan have been presented recently by Spies and Chambers (269). 

An even more elegant approach for the production of D-phydroxyphenylglydne on an industrial scale uses foe bacterium. Agrobacterium radiobacter (Figure A8.8). The organism is able to produce both D-hydantoinase and a second enzyme, N-carbamoyl-D-amino acid aminohydrolase, which catalyse the hydrolysis of N-carbamoyl-D-amino add. 

Peptidases are enzymes that catalyse the hydrolysis of peptide bonds - the bonds between amino acids that are found in peptides and proteins. The terms protease , proteinase and proteolytic enzyme are synonymous, but strictly speaking can only be applied to peptidases that hydrolase bonds in proteins. Because there are many peptidases that act only on peptides, the term peptidase is recommended. Peptidases are included in subclass 3.4 of enzyme nomenclature [1,5]. 

Protein phosphatases are several classes of enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of phospho-amino acids within a peptide or protein, thus resulting in dephosphorylation. 

Staphylococcal nuclease (SNase) is a single-peptide chain enzyme consisting of 149 amino acid residues. It catalyzes the hydrolysis of both DNA and RNA at the 5 position of the phosphodiester bond, yielding a free 5 -hydroxyl group and a 3 -phosphate monoester... 

Another approach for the synthesis of enantiopure amino acids or amino alcohols is the enantioselective enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis of hydantoins. As discussed above, hydantoins are very easily racemized in weak alkaline solutions via keto enol tautomerism. Sugai et al. have reported the DKR of the hydantoin prepared from DL-phenylalanine. DKR took place smoothly by the use of D-hydantoinase at a pH of 9 employing a borate buffer (Figure 4.17) [42]. 

---