Affinity purification of kallikrein and elastase from hog pancrease powder

A functional comparison of ovine and porcine trypsins

Trypsin was isolated from ovine and porcine pancreas using affinity chromatography on immobilized p-aminobenzamidine. Molecular masses of the two proteins were 23900 and 23435 Da, determined by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. The purified trypsins were compared using the kinetic properties K(m) and k(cat) which were determined at pH 8.0 and between 25 and 55 degrees C. Comparison of the Michaelis constants for ovine and porcine trypsins toward N-alpha-benzoyl-arginine-p-nitroanilide (BapNA) indicated that ovine trypsin had higher affinity for this substrate than the porcine enzyme. The rates of the reactions catalysed by the two enzymes correlated strongly over the range of temperatures and substrate concentrations tested, as did the k(cat) values. The specific activity of ovine trypsin for BapNA was, on average, approximately 10% higher than that of the porcine enzyme over the range of conditions tested. Porcine trypsin was less susceptible to denaturation at low pH or high temperature than was ovine trypsin. Porcine and ovine trypsin produced seven identically sized fragments from auto-catalytic hydrolysis. Proposed regions of identity between ovine and porcine trypsins were I(54)-K(77), L(98)-R(107), S(134)-K(178) and N(209)-K(116). Hydrolysis of beta-lactoglobulin, egg white lysozyme or casein by ovine or porcine trypsin yielded virtually identical patterns of fragments although the rate at which fragments were produced, in the case of beta-lactoglobulin, differed between the two enzymes. On balance the two enzymes appear to be functionally identical in their action.

Purification and characterization of ovine pancreatic elastase

Elastase was isolated from ovine pancreas and purified to homogeneity by two different procedures. One involved precipitation with ammonium sulphate, p-aminobenzamidine-Sepharose chromatography, CM-Sepharose ion exchange chromatography and S-300 Sephacryl chromatography. The other involved the direct adsorption of elastase by tri-L-alanyl-Sepharose chromatography and a CM-Sepharose step. The enzyme, which was produced in an inactive form in the pancreas, was activated with a trace of trypsin prior to chromatography. Ovine pancreatic elastase has an isoelectric point above pI 9.3 and its molecular mass is estimated at approximately 25 kDa. The optimal pH range for activity is between 8.0 and 8.4 and the enzyme is unstable at pH below 4.0 and above 10.0 and at temperatures above 65 degrees C. The kinetic properties of the enzyme were determined with succinyl-Ala-Ala-Ala-p-nitroanilide as the substrate. Km and kcat Km-1 proved to be similar to the kinetic parameters of porcine elastase determined simultaneously.

Kallikrein and kallikrein-like proteinases: purification and determination by chromatographic and electrophoretic methods

Kallikreins and kallikrein-like enzymes make up a family of serine proteinases present in tissues and body fluids of mammals and in some snake venoms. This review deals with the procedures of purification, detection and determination of these enzymes by chromatographic and electrophoretic methods. The procedures are reported in tables, described and discussed with the aim of illustrating the state-of-the-art of research in the field.

Design of novel cationic ligands for the purification of trypsin-like proteases by affinity chromatography

A number of new cationic ligands have been designed and synthesized for the selective resolution and purification of the trypszin-like proteases. A series of ligands based on 4-[2'-methyl-4'-(2'',4''-dichloro-1'',3'',5''-triazin-6-ylamino ) phenylazo]benzamidine were able to bind to trypsin and the trypsin-like proteases, thrombin and urokinase, but bound pancreatic kallikrein only weakly. Ligands possessing a second cationic group (either 4-aminophenyltrimethylammonium or 4-aminobenzamidine) substituted onto the triazine ring displayed higher affinities than the parent compound for trypsin in solution but bound the enzyme weakly or not at all after immobilization. In contrast, these bis-cationic ligands bound pancreatic kallikrein in solution and following immobilization. The presence of the second cationic group was crucial, since its replacement by neutral or anionic groups led to loss of affinity for pancreatic kallikrein. One of the bis-cationic ligands was used to purify pancreatic kallikrein 9.5-fold from a crude pancreatic extract in 79% yield, to generate a product 99.9% free of contaminating trypsin activity.

Design of novel affinity adsorbents for the purification of trypsin-like proteases

A number of ligands for the selective purification by affinity chromatography of the trypsin-like protease, porcine pancreatic kallikrein, were designed de novo by computer-aided molecular design. The ligands were designed to mimic the side-chains of a number of arginyl dipeptides and included a benzamidine moiety substituted on a triazine ring. The ligands displayed inhibitory activities against pancreatic kallikrein which mirrored the specificity constants of the dipeptides they were designed to mimic. The ligand with the highest affinity for the enzyme, an analogue of a Phe-Arg dipeptide, when immobilized to Sepharose CL-4B via a hexamethylene spacer arm, purified pancreatic kallikrein 110-fold in one step from a crude pancreatic acetone extract.

High-performance liquid affinity chromatography with phenylboronic acid, benzamidine, tri-L-alanine, and concanavalin A immobilized on 3-isothiocyanatopropyltriethoxysilane-activated nonporous monodisperse silicas

Nonporous, microparticulate, monodisperse silicas with particle diameters between 0.7 and 2.1 microns are introduced as stationary phases in high-performance affinity chromatography. The immobilization of m-aminophenylboronic acid, p-aminobenzamidine, tri-L-alanine, and concanavalin A onto these silicas was successfully achieved using 3-isothiocyanatopropyl-triethoxysilane as an activation reagent. Immobilized phenylboronic acid was applied to the isolation of nucleosides, nucleotides, and glycoprotein hormones such as bovine follicotropin and human chorionic gonadotropin, while immobilized benzamidine was employed for the isolation of the serine proteases thrombin and trypsin, immobilized tri-L-alanine for the separation of pig pancreatic elastase and human leukocyte elastase, and immobilized concanavalin A for the isolation of horseradish peroxidase. In all affinity chromatographic systems studied, the nonporous monodisperse silicas showed improved chromatographic performance compared to results obtained with porous silica supports using identical activation and immobilization procedures. Furthermore, frontal analysis was used as a method to evaluate the influence of experimental parameters on biological activity and accessible ligand densities. Only minor changes in bioactivity were found with the nonporous affinity supports, where accessibilities were typically higher than ca. 60%. The immobilization of affinity ligands onto porous supports as used in this and associated papers thus represents a successful general procedure for the preparation of stable matrices with fast kinetics for use in high-performance affinity chromatography.