Bacteria peptidases

AM-001, and mannanase B properties are similar to those of P-mannanase M-III. Furthermore, the Ouchterlony double diffusion test showed that these five enzymes gave fused precipitation lines. However, N-terminal amino acid sequences of the five mannanases determined by an automatic amino acid sequencer revealed that the N-terminal amino acid sequence from amino acid 1 (Asn) to 9 (Gin) of the Bacillus sp. AM-001 enzymes coincides with those from amino acid 4 (Asn) to 12 (Asn) of the R coll JMlOl (pMAH3) enzymes as shown in Fig. 4. This may reflect differences in the specificities of the signal peptidases of the two bacteria. 

Fluoro amino acids have been incorporated into peptides, in order to ease the transport or reduce the systemic toxicity. Thus, trifluoroalanine, a powerful inhibitor of alanine racemase, is an essential enzyme for the biosynthesis of the cell wall of bacteria. It has a low antibiotic activity because of its very poor transport. In order to facilitate this transport, the amino acid has been incorporated into a peptide. This delivery allows a reduction of the doses, and thus the toxicity of the treatment is lowered.3-FIuorophenylaIanine (3-F-Phe) is a substrate of phenylalanine hydroxylase, which transforms it into 3-F-Tyr. 3-F-Tyr has a high toxicity for animals, due to its ultimate metabolization into fluorocitrate, a powerful inhibitor of the Krebs cycle (cf. Chapter 7). 3-F-Phe has a low toxicicity toward fungus cells, but when delivered as a tripeptide 3-F-Phe becomes an efficient inhibitor of the growth of Candida albicans. This tripeptide goes into the cell by means of the active transport system of peptides, where the peptidases set free the 3-F-Phe. ... 

The proteolysis of casein by starter culture organisms is important for proper flavor and texture development in yogurt. This topic has been reviewed by Tamime and Deeth (1980) and Rasic and Kurman (1978). In a yogurt culture, Lactobacillus bulgaricus is better able to hydrolyze casein, whereas S. thermophilus has significant peptidase activity for hydrolyzing the products of initial casein breakdown. Consequently, the proteolytic activities of the two starter culture bacteria... 

Penicillium caseicolum produces an extracellular aspartyl proteinase and a metalloproteinase with properties very similar to those of the extracellular enzymes produced by P roqueforti (Trieu-Cout and Gripon 1981 Trieu-Cout et al. 1982). Breakdown of casein in mold-ripened cheese results from the synergistic action of rennet and the proteases of lactic streptococci and penicillia (Desmazeaud and Gripon 1977). Peptidases of both lactic acid bacteria and penicillia contribute to formation of free amino acid and nonprotein nitrogen (Gripon et al. 1977). 

The human intestine has evolved as a highly efficient organ to digest (i.e. hydrolyse) practically all the macromolecules in the human diet (albeit with the help of a few trillion bacteria ) with the exception of some plant fibres. To do this it possesses a formidable array of enzymes. This is particularly true for the digestion of proteins and peptides where peptidases are found in the stomach, are secreted by the pancreas in considerable quantities and are found on the surface of and inside intestinal epithelial cells. These enzymes work in a co-ordinated fashion to rapidly hydrolyse proteins. They present the major difficulty for designing oral delivery systems for therapeutic peptides, which may explain why 86 years after the first attempt to orally administer insulin (Bliss 1982), there is still not an oral insulin product available for diabetics. 

The be complexes from mitochondria, chloroplasts, and bacteria all contain three catalytic subunits harboring the four redox centers cytochrome b, the high-potential cytochrome C or /, and the Rieske iron sulfur protein. These subunits are required and sufficient to support electron transport since most bacterial bci complexes only consist of these three subunits. However, some bacterial bc complexes contain a fourth subunit with yet unknown function. Mitochondrial bc complexes contain in addition to the three catalytic subunits 7-8 subunits without redox centers two large core proteins which are peripherally located and which are members of the family of matrix proeessing peptidases (MPP), and 5-6 small subunits. In cytochrome complexes, cytochrome b is split into cytochrome b(, and subunit IV containing the C-terminal part of cytochrome b in addition, 3 small hydrophobic subimits are present [18]. 

Swiss cheeses are distinguished from other varieties by different starter cultures used and the subsequent growth of propionibacteria with gruyere cheeses, yeasts and coryneforms. Fermentation of lactic acid and residual sugars by propionic bacteria to propionic acid is vital in flavor development, and follows initial lactic acid fermentation by the starters. The propionibacteria also apparently contain peptidases which release the sweet-tasting amino acid proline, according to some investigators(13), an important Swiss cheese tastant. 

The genetic evidence presented above makes it clear that E. coli, and possibly other bacteria, possess a complex set of proteins that act in the protein-secretion process. Although it appears that at least one protein, the M13 phage coat protein, can be localized and processed in the absence of proteins other than signal peptidase (Section V,B) (Silver et al., 1981 Ohno-Iwashita and Wickner, 1983 Watts et al., 1981), most proteins of the bacterial cell envelope require the participation of a secretion apparatus for proper localization. Whether the bacterial secretion process is analogous to the eukaryotic process remains to be seen. The recent development of in vitro translocation systems derived from E. coli should facilitate research in this area (Rhoads et al., 1984 Muller and Blobel, 1984b). 

The mechanism for translocating bacterial proteins across the Inner membrane shares several key features with the translocation of proteins into the ER of eukaryotic cells. First, translocated proteins usually contain an N-termlnal hydrophobic signal sequence, which is cleaved by a signal peptidase. Second, bacterial proteins pass through the Inner membrane In a channel, or translocon, composed of proteins that are structurally similar to the eukaryotic Sec61 complex. Third, bacterial cells express two proteins, Ffh and its receptor (FtsY), that are homologs of the SRP and SRP receptor, respectively. In bacteria, however, these latter proteins appear to function mainly In the insertion of hydrophobic membrane proteins Into the Inner membrane. Indeed, all bacterial proteins that are translocated across the inner membrane do so only after their synthesis In the cytosol is completed but before they are folded Into their final conformation. 

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