Procollagenase activator produced by rabbit uterine cervical fibroblasts

Culture medium from rabbit uterine cervical fibroblasts contained a procollagenase and a neutral proproteinase which acts as a procollagenase activator. These two proenzymes have been purified by a combination of ion-exchange, affinity and gel chromatographies. The purified neutral proproteinase showed Mr 60,000 with sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. This neutral proproteinase was activated by trypsin, 4-aminophenylmercuric acetate (APMA) and plasmin, and the active species of the proteinase had Mr 53,000 when activated by APMA; kallikrein and urokinase did not activate this proproteinase. The purified neutral proteinase was inhibited by EDTA, 1,10-phenanthroline and rabbit plasma, but not by serine proteinase inhibitors, suggesting that this proteinase is a metal-dependent proteinase. The purified enzyme could also degrade gelatin, casein, proteoglycan and type IV procollagen. The purified procollagenase had Mr 55,000 and was activated by trypsin, APMA and the active neutral proteinase. These activations were accompanied by decrease in Mr, and the activated species had an Mr which was approx. 10,000 less than that of the procollagenase. In particular, procollagenase activation with neutral proteinase depended on incubation time and proteolytic activity of proteinase. These results indicate that activation of procollagenase by the rabbit uterine neutral proteinase is related to limited proteolysis in the procollagenase molecule.