Purification and characterization of a collagenolytic serine proteinase from the catfish pancreas

A collagenolytic enzyme was purified to homogeneity from the activated pancreatic extract of the catfish Parasilurus asotus by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose, hydroxylapatite, and Cellulofine columns. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 29,500 by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The enzyme is capable of degrading native, reconstituted calf skin collagen fibrils at pH 7.5 and 37 degrees C, and also of reducing the viscosity of native calf skin collagen at pH 7.5 and 20 degrees C. The SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of thermally denatured enzyme-collagen reaction mixtures showed that the enzyme can cleave peptide bonds in the non-helical and triple-helical regions of the collagen. The enzyme was inhibited by DFP, PMSF, soybean trypsin inhibitor, and chicken ovoinhibitor, but not by metal-chelating reagents EDTA, EGTA, o-phenanthroline, or L-cysteine. These results indicate that the enzyme is a unique collagenolytic proteinase belonging to the group of serine proteinases and is a new member of the class of pancreatic enzymes.