Purification and characterization of two novel arginine aminopeptidases from Streptococcus mitis ATCC 9811

Two novel aminopeptidases (I and II) which have specificity for amino-terminal arginine residues and strong sensitivity to divalent cations were purified from Streptococcus mitis ATCC 9811 by a procedure that involved treatment with a lytic enzyme for bacterial cell walls, followed by a series of chromatographies. Enzyme I was obtained as a homogeneous protein as judged by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and had a specific activity of 484.8 units per mg protein using L-arginine-2-naphthylamide as substrate; its Km value was 2.6 X 10(-5) M. The molecular weight was estimated to be 62,000, and its isoelectric point was pH 4.4. Enzyme II was purified to a specific activity of 128.0 units per mg protein and had a Km value of 3.8 X 10(-5) M. The molecular weight was estimated to be 360,000, and its isoelectric point was pH 5.7. The pH optima of enzymes I and II were 8.6 and 7.6, respectively. Both enzymes were inactivated by sulfhydryl reagents and metal ions but were markedly activated by EDTA. The chloride ion had an inhibitory rather than a stimulatory effect on the activity of both enzymes. Substrate specificity studies indicated that both the enzymes specifically hydrolyze N-terminal arginine residues from a-aminoacyl 2-naphthylamides and peptides, but they could not attack the L-arginyl-L-prolyl-peptide.