Isolation, Purification, and Characterization of Heparinase from Streptomyces variabilis MTCC 12266

Arterial/venous thrombosis is the major cardiovascular disorder accountable for substantial mortality; and the current demand for antithrombotic agents is extensive. Heparinases depolymerize unfractionated heparin (UFH) for the production of low molecular-weight heparins (LMWHs; used as anticoagulants against thrombosis). A microbial strain of Streptomyces sp. showing antithrombotic activity was isolated from the soil sample collected from north India. The strain was characterized by using 16S rRNA homology technique and identified as Streptomyces variabilis MTCC 12266 capable of producing heparinase enzyme. This is the very first communication reporting Streptomyces genus as the producer of heparinase. It was observed that the production of intracellular heparinase was [63.8 U/mg protein (specific activity)] 1.58 folds higher compared to extracellular heparinase [40.28 U/mg protein]. DEAE-Sephadex A-50 column followed by Sepharose-6B column purification of the crude protein resulted 19.18 folds purified heparinase. SDS-PAGE analysis of heparinase resulted an estimated molecular-weight of 42 kDa. It was also found that intracellular heparinase has the ability to depolymerize heparin to generate LMWHs. Further studies related to the mechanistic action, structural details, and genomics involved in heparinase production from Streptomyces variabilis are warranted for large scale production/purification optimization of heparinase for antithrombotic applications.