Peptide bond acid-catalysed hydrolysis

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]. 

In addition to phosphotriesterase from P. diminuta (PTE) discussed above, two other types of enzymes were found to exhibit phosphotriesterase activity. Interestingly, both are peptidases - the enzymes which in nature hydrolyse a peptide bond. The first one - organophosphorus acid anhydrolase (OPAA) from Alteromonas sp. JD6.5 - is a proline dipeptidase its original activity is to cleave a dipepfide bond with a prolyl residue at the carboxy terminus. The second one - aminopeptidase P (AMPP) from Escherichia coli - is a proline-specific peptidase that catalyses hydrolysis of N-terminal peptide bonds containing a proline residue. ° ... 

Protein digestion occurs in two stages endopeptidases catalyse the hydrolysis of peptide bonds within the protein molecule to form peptides, and the peptides are hydrolysed to form the amino acids by exopeptidases and dipeptidases. Enteropeptidase initiates pro-enzyme activation in the small intestine by catalysing the conversion of trypsinogen into trypsin. Trypsin is able to achieve further activation of trypsinogen, i.e. an autocatalytic process, and also activates chymotrypsinogen and pro-elastase, by the selective hydro-... 

These proteolytic enzymes are all endopeptidases, which hydrolyse links in the middle of polypeptide chains. The products of the action of these proteolytic enzymes are a series of peptides of various sizes. These are degraded further by the action of several peptidases (exopeptidases) that remove terminal amino acids. Carboxypeptidases hydrolyse amino acids sequentially from the carboxyl end of peptides. They are secreted by the pancreas in proenzyme form and are each activated by the hydrolysis of one peptide bond, catalysed by trypsin. Aminopeptidases, which are secreted by the absorptive cells of the small intestine, hydrolyse amino acids sequentially from the amino end of peptides. In addition, dipeptidases, which are structurally associated with the glycocalyx of the entero-cytes, hydrolyse dipeptides into their component amino acids. 

For example, chymotrypsin cleaves peptides on the C-terminal side of aromatic amino acid residues phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan, and to a lesser extent some other residues with bulky side-chains, e.g. Leu, Met, Asn, Gin. On the other hand, trypsin cleaves peptides on the C-terminal side of the basic residues arginine and lysine. Elastase usually catalyses hydrolysis of peptide bonds on the C-terminal side of neutral aliphatic amino acids, especially glycine or alanine. These three pancreatic enzymes are about 40% identical in their amino acid sequences, and their catalytic mechanisms are nearly identical. 

There are four basic mechanistic classes of enzyme which catalyse the hydrolysis of peptide bonds serine proteinases such as trypsin and chymo-trypsin, cysteine proteinases such as papain, acid (aspartic) proteinases such as pepsin, and zinc-containing metalloproteinases such as carboxypeptidase. X-ray crystal structures of representative examples of each class of enzyme are available, and the detailed reaction pathways probably taken by all four classes of enzyme have been subject to analysis in terms of ALPH, These analyses have been for the most part permissive rather than compelling, and are considered in turn below. 

When the enzyme is used to catalyse the synthesis of a peptide bond, the solvent is either non-aqueous or contains only a low concentration of water. In addition, of course, an amino component such as an amino acid or peptide ester replaces the water in the second step. Obviously, the amino component must be unprotonated for reaction to succeed. Synthesis is favoured over hydrolysis of the resultant peptide because an amide is kinetically a much worse substrate for a proteinase than is an ester. The rapid acylation of a proteinase by an TV-protected amino acid or peptide aryl ester can be demonstrated experimentally using a stopped-flow apparatus with spectrophotometric facilities. A rapid burst of phenol is followed by steady-state release, showing that acylation of the enzyme is faster than hydrolysis of the acy-lated enzyme. No such burst is detectable if, for example, an TV-acylated amino acid anilide is used as substrate. In fact, acylation is the rate-determining step with amide substrates. 

Pspsin (EC 3.4.23.1) a protease in the stomach of all vertebrates with the exception of stomachless fish (e.g. carp). Purified P. shows maximal activity at pH 1-2, but in the stomach the optimal pH is 2-4. Above pH 6, P. is inactivated by denaturation. It preferentially catalyses hydrolysis of peptide bonds between two hydrophobic amino acids (Phe-Leu, Phe-Phe, Phe-TyrT With the exception of protamines, keratin, mucin, ovomucoid and other carbohydrate-rich proteins, most proteins are attacked by P. The products of P. action are peptone, i. e. mixtures of peptides in the M range 300-3,000. P. is a highly acidic (pi 1), single chain phosphoprotein (327 amino acid residues of known primary sequence, M, 34,500), which is released from its zymogen (pepsinogen, 42,500) by autocatalysis in the presence of hydrochloric acid. 

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... 

Chymotrypsin [ban, inn] (EC 3.4.21.1 Catarase Zonulysin ) is an enzyme (MW c. 25,0(X) a-form). It is a (serine) endopeptidase stored as zymogen in granules of pancreatic P-cells of mammals. It catalyses the hydrolysis of amide and ester bonds of peptides and proteins, particularly those adjacent to the carbonyl group of hydrophobic L-amino acids. Therapeutically, it is used in ocular surgery, especially for removal of cataracts. It was used formerly as a... 

Enantioselective cleavage of non-peptide amide bonds is also important in the production of optically active amino acids (Scheme 3.12). Carboxy-peptidases often are the enzymes of choice in this area of work these enzymes catalyse the hydrolysis of an amide function which is close to a carboxylic acid group. The rate of hydrolysis is usually increased if R (Scheme 3.12) is an aromatic unit or a large aliphatic moiety. For example, thrco-jS-phenylserine R = PhCH(OH) has been resolved by incubation of the racemic JV-trifluoroacetate with carboxypeptidase-A, with the optically pure (L)-enantiomer being obtained in a good yield. 

EndopepUdases (proteinoses) catalyse the hydrolysis of bonds within the peptide chain, forming variously sized cleavage peptides. They can be further subdivided into acidic, neutral and basic endopeptidases. Neutral and basic types can each be divided into Serine proteases (see) and thiol proteinases (see Thiol enzymes). Examples of animal endopeptidases are Pepsin (see). Rennet enzyme (see), Ttypsin (see), Elastase (see). Thrombin (see), Plasmin (see) and Renin (see). For examples of plant and bacterial endopeptidases, see Papain, Subtilisin, Bromelain. Endopeptidases have also been isolated from yeast and fungi. 

Staphylococcal nuclease (SNase) is a single peptide chain enzyme consisting of 149 amino acid residues. It catalyses 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 [13]... 

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