Proteases proteinase activity

Proteases (proteinases, peptidases, or proteolytic enzymes) are enzymes that break peptide bonds between amino acids of proteins. The process is called peptide cleavage, a common mechanism of activation or inactivation of enzymes. They use a molecule of water for this, and are thus classified as hydrolases. 

Enzymatic synthesis of aliphatic polyesters was also achieved by the ringopening polymerization of cyclic diesters. Lactide was not enzymatically polymerized under mild reaction conditions however, poly(lacfic acid) with the molecular weight higher than 1 x 10" was formed using lipase BC as catalyst at higher temperatures (80-130°C). Protease (proteinase K) also induced the polymerization however, the catalytic activity was relatively low. 

Lactide was polymerized by lipase PC in bulk at high temperature (80-130°C) to produce poly(lactic acid) with Mw up to 2.7 x 105 [64, 65]. The molecular weight of the polymer from the D,L-isomer was higher than that from the d,d- and L,L-ones. Protease (proteinase K) also induced the polymerization of lactide, however, the catalytic activity was relatively low. 

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). 

Proteases of L. bulgaricus and L. helveticus contribute to the ripening of Swiss cheese (Langsrud and Reinbold 1973). Strains of thermo-duric lactobacilli are generally more proteolytic than S. thermophilus (Dyachenko et al. 1970). The proteinase activity of L. bulgaricus is optimal at pH 5.2-5.8 and is associated with the cell envelope (Argyle et al. 1976). Some strains of L. brevis (Dacre 1953) andL. lactis (Bottazzi 1962) are also proteolytic. Surface-bound aminopeptidase from L. lactis, characterized by Eggiman and Bachman (1980), is activated by cobalt and zinc ions and has optimum activity at pH 6.2-7.2. A surface-bound proteinase and carboxypeptidase are also present in L. lactis. 

Another possible mechanism for kallikrein action in physiology and pathobiology is the activation of proteinase-activated receptors (PARs). PAR is a recently described family of G-protein-coupled receptors with seven transmembrane domains that are stimulated by cleavage of their N-termini by a serine protease rather than by ligand-receptor interaction [184-186]. Four PARs have been identified so far, of which PARI, PAR3,... 

As with all complex biological systems we should not forget the close interplay between oxidative and proteolytic systems (see Fig. 2). For example, it has been shown that at a localised inflammatory site, oxidative inactivation of protease inhibitors may lead to a proteolytic cascade resulting in down-stream MMP activation through the localised action of serine proteinases activating previously latent MMPs (see Fig. 2). Equally, the generation of active MMPs (post-oxidant exposure) may be involved in the site-specific catalytic inactivation of serine-protease inhibitors [59] at an inflammatory site with the consequent generation of an elevated serine protease load and connective tissue proteolysis (see Fig. 2). 

An investigation into the beneficial properties of Chryseobacterium sp. that might confer freeze-thaw protection to itself, as well as to other bacteria, showed that these cultures had IR inhibition activity no large ice crystals could be seen in capillary tubes after the frozen solutions containing Chryseobacterium sp. cultures had been left overnight at -6°C (Figure 4). Furthermore, this IR inhibition activity appeared to be conferred by a protein since treatment with a protease, proteinase K, abolished this effect ( not shown). 

Dery, O., Corvera, C.U., Steinhoff, M. and Bunnett, N.W. (1998) Proteinase-activated receptors novel mechanisms of signaling by serine proteases. Am. J. Physiol. 274 C1429-C1452. 

Study of heparin binding to thrombin, 56 low-density lipoproteins, lipoprotein lipase, circulatory serine proteases, proteinase inhibitors, heparin-binding growth factors, blood vessel-associated proteins (fibronectin and laminin) and binding to cells and tissues. Study of anticoagulant activity and the modulation of the structure, function and metabolism of many proteins and en-2ymes. 

Biological/Medical Applications Detecting risk of Alzheimer s disease and stroke evaluating/testing sperm quality identifying bacteria as a substrate for measuring aromatase activity, azoreductase activity, phospholipase activity, proteases activity (caspase activity, cathepsin C activity, elastase activity proteinase activity) " implantable drug-delivery devices ... 

Figure 6.23 Schematic diagram illustrating the active site loop regions (red) in three forms of the serpins. (a) In the active form the loop protrudes from the main part of the molecuie poised to interact with the active site of a serine proteinase. The first few residues of the ioop form a short p strand inserted between ps and pis of sheet A. (h) As a result of inhibiting proteases, the serpin molecules are cleaved at the tip of the active site ioop region, in the cleaved form the N-terminal part of the loop inserts itself between p strands 5 and 15 and forms a long p strand (red) in the middie of the p sheet, (c) In the most stable form, the latent form, which is inactive, the N-terminai part of the ioop forms an inserted p strand as in the cleaved form and the remaining residues form a ioop at the other end of the p sheet. (Adapted from R.W. Carreii et ai., Structure 2 257-270, 1994.)...

C5a is inactivated by the myeloperoxidase-H202 system, which oxidises a methionine residue (Met 70) on the molecule group A streptococcal endo-proteinases also abolish chemotactic activity of C5a and related compounds. Neutrophil lysosomal enzymes (e.g. elastase and cathepsin G) also destroy C5a chemotactic activity, but as these proteases are inhibited by the serum antiproteinases, a -antiproteinase and a2-macroglobulin, the physiological role of neutrophilic proteases in the inactivation of C5a is questionable. Two chemotactic factor inactivators have been found in human serum an a-globulin that specifically and irreversibly inactivates C5-derived chemotactic factors, and a / -globulin that inactivates bacterial chemotactic factors. These activities are heat labile (destroyed by treatment at 56 °C for 30 min) and are distinct from those attributable to anaphylatoxin inactivator. An apparently specific inhibitor of C5-derived chemotactic activity has also been described in human synovial fluid and peritoneal fluid. This factor (molecular mass of 40 kDa) is heat stable and acts directly on C5a. 

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