alpha 1-Antitrypsin Christchurch, 363 Glu----Lys: mutation at the P'5 position does not affect inhibitory activity

alpha 1-Antitrypsin Christchurch was isolated from the plasma of a Cambodian woman who was heterozygous for this variant and for the normal M protein. Tryptic peptide maps revealed that the inhibitory-site peptide, 359-365 Ser-Ile-Pro-Pro-Glu,Val,Lys, was missing and replaced by two new peptides Ser-Ile-Pro-Pro,Lys and Val-Lys, indicating a mutation of 363 Glu----Lys. There was no obvious clinical condition associated with this new antitrypsin. Competition experiments showed that antitrypsin Christchurch reacted at the same rate as normal antitrypsin in the presence of limiting amounts of trypsin, chymotrypsin, thrombin and neutrophil elastase. Both inhibitors were inactivated by catalytic amounts of papain. This inactivation was due to cleavage at the phenylalanine residue at the P7 position, seven residues towards the N-terminal of the inhibitory site. A one-step ethanol extraction procedure is described for isolating the papain cleavage products.