The Absorption of Ultra-violet Radiation by Crystalline Pepsin

Determination of the absorption spectra of pure preparations of Northrop's crystalline pepsin inactivated by irradiation with ultra-violet light shows that the total absorption in the ultra-violet region of the spectrum increases with the degree of inactivation. This increase is especially marked between 2400 and 2750 A.u. The rate of photoinactivation is shown to be sensitive to changes in pH, increasing with lower values, and evidently bears a one-quantum relationship to the energy flux. Tests of the rate of inactivation of pepsin exposed to several different bands of the ultra-violet spectrum, in relation to the absorbed energy, indicate that the destruction spectrum of the enzyme agrees essentially with its absorption spectrum and is similar to that of urease.