Subtilisin determination

The second group of studies tries to explain the solvent effects on enantioselectivity by means of the contribution of substrate solvation to the energetics of the reaction [38], For instance, a theoretical model based on the thermodynamics of substrate solvation was developed [39]. However, this model, based on the determination of the desolvated portion of the substrate transition state by molecular modeling and on the calculation of the activity coefficient by UNIFAC, gave contradictory results. In fact, it was successful in predicting solvent effects on the enantio- and prochiral selectivity of y-chymotrypsin with racemic 3-hydroxy-2-phenylpropionate and 2-substituted 1,3-propanediols [39], whereas it failed in the case of subtilisin and racemic sec-phenetyl alcohol and traws-sobrerol [40]. That substrate solvation by the solvent can contribute to enzyme enantioselectivity was also claimed in the case of subtilisin-catalyzed resolution of secondary alcohols [41]. 

Khmelnitsky et al. were the first to observe the activating effects salt showed on enzymes in the nonaqueous environment [88]. As shown in Figure 3.7, the transesterification activity of the serine protease subtilisin Carlsberg in anhydrous solvents is strongly dependent on the KC1 content in a lyophilized enzyme preparation and increases sharply as the salt content is increased. This increase in activity was determined to be a result primarily of an increase in kcat and not a decrease in Km, as shown in (Table 3.4). 

Solvent polarity is known to affect catalytic activity, yet consistent correlations between activity and solvent dielectric (e) have not been observed [12,102]. However, a striking correlation was found between the catalytic efficiency of salt-activated subtilisin Carlsberg and the mobility of water molecules (as determined using NMR relaxation techniques) associated with the enzyme in solvents of varying polarities (Figure 3.11) [103]. As the solvent polarity increased, the water mobility of the enzyme increased, yet the catalytic activity of the enzyme decreased. This is consistent with previous EPR and molecular dynamics (MD) studies, which indicated that enzyme flexibility increases with increasing solvent dielectric [104]. 

Unlike clenbuterol, salbutamol is a difficult compound to analyze due to its particular chemical attributes. It is a basic compound subjected to protein binding poor recoveries are obtained especially when protein precipitation techniques are used to prepare the extracts (145). In addition, salbutamol is charged at all pH values and does not readily lend itself to simple, specific back-extracting procedures. This severely restricts the options of sample cleanup. However, a Subtilisin protease digestion step followed by acid clarification and solid-phase extraction has been suggested (146) as an adequate extraction and cleanup procedure prior to the end-point determination of salbutamol by an enzyme immunoassay (139) based on the cross-reactivity of anticlenbuterol antibodies. 

The major determinant for specificity is the Si subsite (see Schechter-Berger notation of Chapter 1, Figure 1.27), which is hydrophobic and binds the side chain of residue Pi of the substrate. The highest activity of wild-type subtilisin is to-... 

Subtilisin BPN was prepared through a series of protein purification steps applied to the fermentation broth. These steps included ultrafiltration ethanol precipitation DEAE (diethyl-aminoethyl) Tris Acryl batch anionic exchange SP (sulfopropyl) Tris Acryl column cationic exchange and, concentration with an Amicon stirred cell. The enzyme purity was determined to be -951 via spectroscopic assays that measure the ratio of active enzyme to total protein. In addition, purity was verified via HPLC and SDS-page (sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis). 

Figure 5. Adsorption of 100 ppm subtilisin BPN onto hydrophobic and hydrophilic Ge IREs as determined by the amide II band absorbance after subtraction of the solvent spectrum.

Three-dimensional structures of four subtilisin-type enzymes, subtilisin BPN, 36373 subtilisin Carlsberg,37,383 thermitase,39,403 and proteinase K,40,413 are known, but that of aqualysin I has not yet been determined. The Ca atoms of the known structures were superimposed to obtain maximal overlap of the backbone structures, and large parts of all four structures overlap very well (Fig. 12.3) 423 On the basis of such analyses, structurally equivalent core residues (194 residues) are identified, and higher sequence identity was found to correspond to a closer overlap of mainchain atoms in the core (Table 12.1).423... 

Fig. 13. The predicted entropy distribution for subtilisin E as determined by a mean-field treatment of the structural model. When all amino acids are equally allowed at a position, ij = In 20 3.0. The red lines are the positions at which mutations discovered by directed evolution improved the thermostability. The blue lines are for mutations that improved the activity (hydrolysis of a peptide substrate) in aqueous dimethylformamide. The bars indicate the average and standard deviation of the structural entropies.

Ever since its inception in forensic toxicology [68], enzymatic digestion has been extensively used to isolate drugs from forensic samples. Carpenter [69] was the first to develop an analytical procedure in which subtilisin, a proteolytic enzyme, was used to determine Cd, Cu, Pb and Tl from human liver and kidney tissues. 

To establish the amino acid sequence unequivocally it is necessary to have peptides with overlapping sequences. This may be accomplished by determining the sequence of fragments obtained from treating a second aliquot of the protein with chymotrypsin. If these fragments are then treated with trypsin as a check, peptides identical to those obtained previously by successive treatment with trypsin and chymotrypsin are obtained. Other proteolytic enzymes, such as pepsin, subtilisin, and papain, with wider specificity than trypsin and chymotrypsin have proved useful in sequencing of some proteins. 

The protein contains only eight amino acids (C. L. Hew, personal communication). Alanine accounted for 60% of its total residues. The first N-terminal sequence of positions 1-28 was determined on a Beckman sequencer and confirmed by the isolation and analysis of overlapping thermolysin- and subtilisin-digested peptides. This sequence is ... 

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