Angiotensin-producing serum enzyme II. Formation by inhibitor removal and proenzyme activation.

A highly active angiotensin-producing enzyme (enzyme II) was obtained from dog serum by acid treatment and fractionation to remove angiotensinase and converting enzyme, separate an inhibitor, and convert an inactive precursor (proenzyme II) to enzyme II. Proenzyme II was found to be converted to enzyme II by an endogenous activating enzyme identified as plasmin. Conversion was also caused by the interaction of bacterial streptokinase with human proactivator, by trypsin, and by an activator formed from liver tissue extract and dog serum. Neither plasma kallikrein nor the labile, human extrinsic tissue-type plasminogen activator induced activation. The inhibitor, which normally blocks the activation of proenzyme II, was unusually stable against high temperatures and extremes of pH, and it was not identical to any of the six known protease inhibitors of serum. Enzyme II was not identical to other angiotensin-producing enzymes such as enzyme I, renin, cathepsin D, pepsin, plasmin, tonin, or cathepsin G. Enzyme II reacted maximally at pH 4.7 and produced up to 2250 ng of angiotensin I/ml serum/hr from the substrate of dog serum (i.e., amounts 3200-fold higher than that produced by endogenous renin of normal dog serum). Since at pH 7.2, angiotensin I formation is still about 30 times higher than that of renin, enzyme II may be physiologically active under some conditions.