Casein protease

The enzymatic hydrolysates of milk casein and soy protein sometimes have a strong bitter taste. The bitter taste is frequently developed by pepsin [9001 -75-6] chymotrypsin [9004-07-3] and some neutral proteases and accounted for by the existence of peptides that have a hydrophobic amino acid in the carboxyhc terminal (226). The relation between bitter taste and amino acid constitution has been discussed (227). 

A succinylated casein derivative that has nearly all its amines blocked can be used as a substrate in protease assays (Hatakeyama et al., 1992). As the casein is degraded by a protease, free amines are created from a-chain cleavage and release of a-amino groups. The creation of... 

Figure 2.11. The dependence of the position of the fluorescence spectrum maximum on excitation wavelength for tryptophan in a model medium (glycerol) at different temperatures (a) and singletryptophan proteins (b). 1, Whiting parvalbumin, pH 6.S in the presence of Ca2+ ions 2, ribonuclease Th pH 6.5 3, ribonuclease C2, pH 6.5 4, human serum albumin, pH 7.0, +10"4 M sodium dodecyl sulfate 5, human serum albumin, pH 3.2 6, melittin, pH 7.5, +0.15 M NaCl 7, protease inhibitor IT-AJ from Actinomyces janthinus, pH 2.9 8, human serum albumin, pH 7.0 9, -casein, pH 7.5 10, protease inhibitor IT-AJ, pH 7.0 11, basic myelin protein, pH 7.0 12, melittin in water. The dashed line is the absorption spectrum of tryptophan.

Jones LJ, Upson RH, Haugland RP, Panchuk-Voloshina N, Zhou M, Haugland RP. Quenched BODIPY dye-labeled casein substrates for the assay of protease activity by direct fluorescence measurement. Anal Biochem 1997 251(2) 144-152. 

This enzyme [EC 3.4.21.53], also known as endopepti-dase La, ATP-dependent serine proteinase, and ATP-dependent protease La, catalyzes the hydrolysis of peptide bonds in large proteins (for example, globin, casein, and denaturated serum albumin) in the presence of ATP (which is hydrolyzed to ADP and orthophosphate). Vanadate ion inhibits both reactions. A similar enzyme occurs in animal mitochondria. Protease La belongs to the peptidase family S16. 

M. pusillus var. Lindt protease has given satisfactory results as a chymosin substitute in the manufacture of a number of cheese varieties, but not all varieties of M. pusillus var. Lindt are capable of producing acceptable cheese (Babel and Somkuti 1968). The clotting activity of M. pusillus var. Lindt protease is more sensitive to pH changes between 6.4 and 6.8 than chymosin, but is much less sensitive than that of porcine pepsin (Richardson et al 1967). The same authors reported that CaCL added to milk affected the clotting activity of M. pusillus var. Lindt rennet more than it did that of chymosin rennet. They also reported that this rennet was more stable than chymosin between pH 4.75 and 6.25. M. pusillus var. Lindt rennet is not destroyed during the manufacture of Cheddar cheese, although less than 2% of the enzyme added to the milk remains in the curd. Nearly all of it is found in the whey (Holmes et al. 1977). Mickelsen and Fish (1970) found M. pusillus var. Lindt rennet to be much less proteolytic than E. parasitica rennet but more proteolytic than chymosin rennet on whole casein, a8-casein and /3-casein at pH 6.65. 

The other major casein in cheese is /3-casein, but it is generally not hydrolyzed by rennet in low-pH cheeses. Alkaline milk protease (plas-min) plays the major role in the hydrolysis of /3-casein (Richardson and Pearce 1981). The plasmin level in cheese is related to the pH of the curd at whey drainage, since plasmin dissociates from casein micelles as the pH is decreased. Richardson and Pearce (1981) found two or three times more plasmin activity in Swiss cheese than in Cheddar cheese. Swiss cheese curds are drained at pH 6.4 or higher, while Cheddar cheese curds are drained at pH 6.3 or lower. Proteolysis of /3-casein is significantly inhibited by 5% sodium chloride. The inhibitory influence of sodium chloride is most likely due to alteration of /3-casein or a reduction in the attractive forces between enzyme and substrate (Fox and Walley 1971). 

The gross proteolysis of casein is probably due solely to rennet and plasmin activity (O Keeffe et al. 1978). Bacterial proteases and peptides are responsible for subsequent breakdown of the large peptides produced by rennet and plasmin into successively smaller peptides and finally amino acids (O Keeffe et al. 1978). If the relative rate of proteinase activity by rennet, plasmin, and bacterial proteases exceeds that of the bacterial peptidase system, bitterness in the cheese could result. Bitter peptides can be produced from a,-,- or /3-casein by the action of rennet or the activity of bacterial proteinase on /3-casein (Visser et al. 1983). The proteolytic breakdown of /3-casein and the subsequent development of bitterness are strongly retarded by the presence of salt (Fox and Walley 1971 Stadhouders et al. 1983). The principal source of bitter peptides in Gouda cheese is 3-casein, and more particularly the C-terminal region, i.e., 3(193-209) and 3(193-207) (Visser et al. 1983). In model systems, bitter peptides are completely debittered by a peptidases system of S. cremoris (Visser et al. 1983). 

Micrococci comprise approximately 78% of the nonlactic bacteria in raw milk Cheddar cheese (Alford and Frazier 1950). The proteolytic system of Micrococcus freudenreichii functions optimally at 30 °C and at a pH near neutrality (Baribo and Foster 1952). An analysis of pro-teinases present in 1-year-old Cheddar cheese indicates that micrococci may contribute to proteolytic activity (Marth 1963). Proteolytic micrococci also contribute to the ripening of surface-ripened cheeses such as brick and Camembert (Lenoir 1963 Langhus et al. 1945). Micrococcal proteases probably contribute to development of ripened cheese flavor when ripening temperatures are above 10°C (Moreno and Kosikowski 1973). This effect results from degradation of /3-casein. 

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). 

Zevaco, C. and Desmazeaud, J. 1980. Hydrolysis of (3-casein and peptides by intracellular neutral protease of Streptococcus diacetylactis. J. Dairy Sci. 63, 15-24. 

Solution B Make up fresh and store on ice. Dissolve 65 casein units of bacterial protease in 10 ml water. Store on ice. 

Blocking of amine groups on proteins also has been used to create a sensitive reagent for measuring protease activity (Hatakeyama etal., 1992). With nearly all the primary amines of casein blocked, an amine detection reagent such as trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) will only minimally react with the protein and form its typical orange derivative. As proteases cleave the protein, however, primary a-amines are created from cleavage of the a-chain peptide bonds, and TNBS can react with them. The more protease activity present, the more color is formed. 

Tphe kinetics of the protease-triggered clotting of blood and milk has been formulated in a number of recent publications from this laboratory (1,2,3). In milk clotting, the coagulation is initiated through the limited proteolysis of -casein, the milk protein component which normally protects the casein micelles from flocculation by calcium ions (4). Kappa-casein is a single polypeptide chain of 169 residues, the sequence... 

The iotai proteolytic activity of pancreas powder is determined by comparing the quantity of peptides nonprecipitabie by a 556 m/V solution of trichloroacetic acid R released per minute from a substrate of casein solution with the quantity of such peptides released by pancreas powder (protease) UK from the same substrate in the same conditions. For the test suspension and the reference suspen-sion, prepare the suspension and carry out tiie dilution at (W-°C. 

Proteolytic modification has special importance for the improvement of solubility of proteins. This effect becomes significant even after very limited proteolysis. Hydrolysis of casein to DH of 2 and 6.7% with Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease increased the isoelectric solubility to 25 and 50%, respectively (Chobert et al., 1988a). However, it should be noted that the solubility profiles were not identical, due to a shift of the isoelectric point of the modified proteins. Solubility of a protein hydrolysate depends on the enzyme used (Adler-Nissen, 1986a). Protamex (a Bacillus proteinase complex) hydrolysates of sodium caseinate (DH 9 and 15%) displayed 85-90% solubility between pH 4 and 5 (Slattery and FitzGerald, 1998). 

Enzymatic gelation of partially heat-denatured whey proteins by trypsin, papain, pronase, pepsin, and a preparation of Streptomyces griseus has been studied (Sato et al., 1995). Only peptic hydrolysate did not form a gel. The strength of the gel depended on the enzyme used and increased with increasing DH. Hydrolysis of whey protein concentrate with a glutamic acid specific protease from Bacillus licheniformis at pH 8 and 8% protein concentration has been shown to produce plastein aggregates (Budtz and Nielsen, 1992). The viscosity of the solution increased dramatically during hydrolysis and reached a maximum at 6% DH. Incubation of sodium caseinate with pepsin or papain resulted in a 55-77% reduction in the apparent viscosity (Hooker et al., 1982). 

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