Trypsin/alpha-amylase inhibitors inactivate the endogenous barley/malt serine endoproteinase SEP-1

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) malt contains endoproteinases belonging to all four of the commonly occurring classes, including serine proteinases. It also contains low molecular weight proteins that inhibit the activities of many of these endoproteinases, but it had never been shown that any barley or malt serine proteinases could be inhibited by any of these endogenous proteins. It is now reported that some proteins that were concentrated using an "affinity" method inhibited the activity of a malt serine endoproteinase. Two-dimensional electrophoretic and in vitro analyses showed that the inhibited enzyme was serine endoproteinase 1 (SEP-1) and that the inhibition could be quantified using a semipurified preparation of this enzyme. Amino acid sequencing and MALDI-TOF MS were used to identify the components of the partially purified inhibiting fractions. Only the "trypsin/alpha-amylase inhibitors" or chloroform/methanol (CM) proteins, most of which had truncated N and C termini, and one fragment of beta-amylase were present in the inhibitory fractions. When a CM protein fraction was prepared from barley according to traditional methods, some of its component proteins inhibited the activity of SEP-1 and some did not. This is the first report of the purification and identification of barley malt proteins that can inhibit an endogenous serine proteinase. It shows that some of the CM proteins probably play a role in controlling the activity of barley proteinases during germination, as well as possibly protecting the seed and young plant from microbes or pests.