A 69-kDa proteinase (P69), a member of the pathogenesis-related proteins, is induced and accumulates in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) plants as a consequence of pathogen attack. We have used the polymerase chain reaction to identify and clone a cDNA from tomato plants that represent the pathogenesis-related P69 proteinase. The nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that P69 is synthesized in ...

Metallothionein (MT) has a dynamic role in cellular zinc metabolism. In order to determine the apoprotein thionein (T), an assay was developed. With this method tissue homogenates were treated with subtilisin to digest any T that might exist but MT could not be digested by subtilisin. MT was detected by cadmium-hemoglobin saturation method and T was determined as the difference of MT between sa...

Equine neutrophil antimicrobial peptide 2 (eNAP-2), a recently described antimicrobial peptide isolated from equine neutrophils, was found to selectively inactivate microbial serine proteases (subtilisin A and proteinase K) without inhibiting mammalian serine proteases (human neutrophil elastase, human cathepsin G, and bovine pancreatic trypsin). Although the primary structure of eNAP-2 resembl...

Subtilisin and alpha-chymotrypsin vigorously act as catalysts in a variety of dry organic solvents. Enzymatic transesterifications in organic solvents follow Michaelis-Menten kinetics, and the values of V/Km roughly correlate with solvent's hydrophobicity. The amount of water required by chymotrypsin and subtilisin for catalysis in organic solvents is much less than needed to form a monolayer o...

RATIONALE Atherosclerosis can be achieved in animals by germline genetic engineering, leading to hypercholesterolemia, but such models are constrained to few species and strains, and they are difficult to combine with other powerful techniques involving genetic manipulation or variation. OBJECTIVE To develop a method for induction of atherosclerosis without germline genetic engineering. MET...

We have used a fluorescent derivative of kinesin, AF-kinesin (kinesin conjugated with 5-(iodoacetamido)fluorescein), to investigate the binding site of kinesin on microtubules and to compare this site with that to which tau binds. Microtubules saturated with tau will bind AF-kinesin in the presence of the ATP analogue, 5'-[beta,gamma-imino]triphosphate (AdoPP[NH]P). This shows that there are di...

The process of human erythrocyte invasion by Plasmodium falciparum parasites involves a calcium-dependent serine protease with properties consistent with a subtilisin-like activity. This enzyme achieves the last crucial maturation step of merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP1) necessary for parasite entry into the host erythrocyte. In eukaryotic cells, such processing steps are performed by subtili...

Background: Subtilisin –like proteases are the group of proteases including keratinases found in dermatophytes which degraded keratin. Determination of the proteases activity of Trichophyton vanbreuseghemii isolates which were obtained from soil and clinical and soil isolates of Microsporum gypseum in Iran and characterization of their genome were aim of present study. Methods: Ezymatic activit...

Copies of multi-gene family, named PRT1 (protease 1), encoding a subtilisin-like serine protease were cloned from the opportunistic fungal pathogen Pneumocystis carinii. Comparison of the nucleotide sequence of a genomic clone and a cDNA clone of PRT1 from P. carinii f. sp. carinii revealed the presence of seven short introns. Several different domains were predicted from the deduced amino acid...

The major desamido form of human growth hormone (hGH) results from deamidation of asparagine 152. Peptide mapping and amino acid sequencing were used in the identification. This desamido form (hGHAsp152) could be produced by incubation of the undeamidated hormone in an alkaline medium. Another minor deamidated form which contained glutamic acid at 137 (hGHGlu137) also was identified in preparat...