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Title: Studies on the membrane-associated proteolytic activities of Escherichia coli

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:5281313

The membrane fraction contains three proteolytic activities which can be resolved from whole membrane detergent extracts by DEAE-cellulose chromatography. The first two eluting activities have been previously reported as protease V and protease IV. These two enzymes were further purified by gel permeation HPLC. Protease V has a M. W. of 31,000 in SDS-PAGE gels. Protease IV has a M. W. of 62,000 and exists in two distinct isoforms of pl approx. = 6.7 and 6.9. The third enzyme eluting from the DEAE-cellulose column was further purified by affinity chromatography on Benzamidine-Sepharose 6B. This enzyme, referred to herein as protease VI, is a 43 kdal protein which has not been previously characterized. Protease VI was sensitive to inhibition by the serine protease inhibitors phenylmethylsulfony fluoride (PMSF), diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP) and p-amino-benzamidine (PAB). Additionally, this enzyme exhibited maximal activity at pH approx. = 8.0. Incubation of whole membrane preparations with (/sup 3/H) DFP resulted in 11 specific proteins acquiring the radioactive label, included in this group of proteins were proteases IV, V, and VI. Several of the DFP-reactive proteins were also shown to bind (/sup 125/I) ampicillin.

Research Organization:
Rutgers-the State Univ., New Brunswick, NJ (USA)
OSTI ID:
5281313
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English