Lyophyllum cinerascens aminopeptidase: purification and enzymatic properties

An aminopeptidase (EC 3.4.11.1) was purified from the extract of Lyophyllum cinerascens by ammonium sulfate fractionation and sequential chromatographies on DEAE-Sephadex, Sephadex G-150, HPLC-phenyl-5PW, and HPLC-DEAE-5PW columns, with an activity recovery of 4.6% using Leu-beta-naphthylamide as a substrate. The enzyme was a tetrameric protein of molecular weight 150,000 and was found to be rich in histidine. It exhibited a pH optimum of 7.2 and stability between pH 5.7 and 7.7. The isoelectric point of the enzyme was 4.6. The enzyme catalyzed the hydrolysis of amino acid beta-naphthylamides, Phe greater than Leu greater than Met greater than Tyr greater than Ala greater than Glu, and the differences of the measured kcat's ranged over 2-3 orders of magnitude while many of the amino acid beta-naphthylamides were not hydrolyzed at all. Other interesting comparisons include two aliphatics, Ala vs Leu, and the aromatics, Tyr vs Phe, which show a 30-fold difference in the kcat/Km values. The enzyme also hydrolyzed Leu-Gly-Gly and the B chain of oxidized insulin to release N-terminal leucine and phenylalanine, respectively. The release of N-terminal Phe from the oxidized B chain is interesting in view of the fact that the penultimate residue is Val, an unfavorable amino acid in the beta-naphthylamide series. The enzyme seems to be a true aminopeptidase, requiring the free amino groups and hydrolyzing dipeptide and oligopeptide from the N-terminal end. The enzyme was resistant to the action of amastatin. Neither sulfhydryl reagents nor serine protease inhibitors affected the enzyme activity; however, the enzyme was inhibited weakly by EDTA and bestatin and strongly by diethyl pyrocarbonate.