Evidence has accumulated both for and against the idea that the control of the autolytic mechanism is in some way directly associated with oxidation-reduction levels in the tissue, and is mediated through sulfhydryl compounds such as glutathione and cysteine. Grassmann and Dyckerhoff first showed the activating effect of -SH and HCN on yeast proteases (1). Shortly after, Waldschmidt-Leitz et al...

Food proteins supply organisms not only with the energy needed for survival, but also with bioactive compounds, including food-borne peptides, which are beneficial to health. The beneficial effects of food-borne peptides have led to their proposal as potential nutraceuticals for food and pharmaceutical applications. Peptides with antimicrobial and immunostimulatory activities are among the poss...

Transglutaminase (TGase) from Streptomyces mobaraensis is a Ca(2+) independent enzyme that cross-links proteins to high molecular weight aggregates. A dispase autolysis inducing protein (DAIP) was identified as an intrinsic TGase substrate exhibiting accessible glutamine and lysine residues. DAIP modification during culture by TGase resulted in deamidation of reactive glutamines, formation of g...

Background Trypsin is an enzyme widely used for digestion of peptides in proteomic research. However, this enzyme is one of the least stable of the neutral proteases and presents rapid autolysis, which causes a decrease in catalytic efficiency and a consequential increase in costs of biotechnological process. Immobilization of the enzyme offers the advantages of enhanced stability, protection a...