Clostridium histolyticum collagenases: a new look at some old enzymes

Seven collagenases denoted by the letters alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta and eta have been purified to homogeneity from the culture filtrate of Clostridium histolyticum. All seven enzymes are zinc proteinases that require calcium ions for activity and have essential carboxyl, tyrosyl and lysyl residues. These enzymes can be divided into two classes on the basis of the sequence homologies in their polypeptide chains, as revealed from a comparison of their tryptic digests. This division into classes is also supported by a comparison of their specificities toward peptide substrates, their interaction with substrate-analog inhibitors, and their mode of attack of triple helical collagens. The sequence specificities of these enzymes have been studied in detail. The specificities of the two classes are similar, but complementary. Both classes exhibit both endopeptidase and tripeptidylcarboxypeptidase activities, where the latter is thought to facilitate removal of Gly-X-Y triplets from the C-terminus of collagen fragments. The mode of attack of these collagenases on triple helical type I, II and III collagens is very similar for the enzymes within each class, but different for the two classes. The class I enzymes first hydrolyze loci near the ends of the triple helical domains of these collagen molecules, while the class II enzymes make their initial cleavages in the interior. The sites of these initial cleavages are being sequenced and preliminary results indicate that they do not resemble the tissue collagenase cleavage site with respect to either their imino acid content or distribution. The kinetic parameters for the hydrolysis of type I, II and III collagens have been measured and are similar in magnitude to those for the tissue collagenases. Synthetic peptide substrate-analog inhibitors have been prepared for both classes of collagenases and shown to be transition-state-analog inhibitors.