Purification and primary structure determination of two Bowman-Birk type trypsin isoinhibitors from Cratylia mollis seeds.

Two Bowman-Birk type trypsin inhibitors (CmTI(1) and CmTI(2)) were purified from Cratylia mollis seeds by acetone precipitation, ion exchange, gel filtration and reverse-phase chromatography. CmTI(1) and CmTI(2), with 77 and 78 amino acid residues, respectively, were sequenced in their entirety and show a high structural similarity to Bowman-Birk inhibitors from other Leguminosae. The putative reactive sites of CmTI(1) are a lysine residue at position 22 and a tyrosine residue at position 49. Different reactive sites, as identified by their alignment with related inhibitors, were found for CmTI(2): lysine at position 22 and leucine at position 49. The dissociation constant K(i) of the complex with trypsin is 1.4 nM. The apparent molecular mass is 17 kDa without DDT and 11 kDa with reducing agent and heating.

Discovery, structure and biological activities of the cyclotides.

The cyclotides are a family of small disulfide rich proteins that have a cyclic peptide backbone and a cystine knot formed by three conserved disulfide bonds. The combination of these two structural motifs contributes to the exceptional chemical, thermal and enzymatic stability of the cyclotides, which retain bioactivity after boiling. They were initially discovered based on native medicine or screening studies associated with some of their various activities, which include uterotonic action, anti-HIV activity, neurotensin antagonism, and cytotoxicity. They are present in plants from the Rubiaceae, Violaceae and Cucurbitaceae families and their natural function in plants appears to be in host defense: they have potent activity against certain insect pests and they also have antimicrobial activity. There are currently around 50 published sequences of cyclotides and their rate of discovery has been increasing over recent years. Ultimately the family may comprise thousands of members. This article describes the background to the discovery of the cyclotides, their structural characterization, chemical synthesis, genetic origin, biological activities and potential applications in the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. Their unique topological features make them interesting from a protein folding perspective. Because of their highly stable peptide framework they might make useful templates in drug design programs, and their insecticidal activity opens the possibility of applications in crop protection.

Sequential resonance assignment and secondary structure determination of the Ascaris trypsin inhibitor, a member of a novel class of proteinase inhibitors.

The solution conformation of the Ascaris trypsin inhibitor, a member of a novel class of proteinase inhibitors, has been investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Complete sequence-specific assignments of the 1H NMR spectrum have been obtained by using a number of two-dimensional techniques for identifying through-bond and through-space (less than 5-A) connectivities. Elements of regular secondary structure have been identified on the basis of a qualitative interpretation of the nuclear Overhauser enhancement, coupling constant, and amide exchange data. These are two beta-sheet regions. One double-stranded antiparallel beta-sheet comprises residues 11-14 (strand 1) and 37-39 (strand 2). The other triple-stranded sheet is formed by two antiparallel strands comprising residues 45-49 (strand 4) and 53-57 (strand 5) connected by a turn (residues 50-52), and a small strand consisting of residues 20-22 (strand 3) that is parallel to strand 4.

The ITI system in South Koreans and Iranians analysed by an improved classification procedure. Distribution of alleles and description of "new" phenotypes.

Phenotype and gene frequency distributions of the inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor (ITI) system were analysed in populations from southern Korea and from Iran. The gene frequencies of the common alleles ITI*I and ITI*2 were 0.532 and 0.422, respectively, in southern Korea, and 0.612 and 0.354, respectively, in Iran. The postulated third allele, ITI*3, was found in the homozygous form. Gene frequencies of this rare allele were calculated to be 0.042 and 0.029 in Korea and Iran, respectively. Two additional rare alleles, ITI*4 and ITI*5, determine further phenotypes found in the population from Taejon (Korea) and Iran, respectively, in combination with the common ITI*2 allele. Gene frequencies of ITI*4 and ITI*5 were calculated to be 0.006 and 0.005, respectively. For phenotype classification, untreated sera were separated by isoelectric focusing (IEF) on polyacrylamide gels followed by immunoblotting.

Serine proteinase inhibitors produced by human melanoma cell lines.

The human melanoma cell lines M21 and MSM-M2 are shown to produce two similar competitive inhibitors of trypsin, a serine proteinase. These proteinase inhibitors inhibited the serine proteinases trypsin and kallikrein with similar efficiency but did not inhibit plasmin (a serine proteinase) or papain (a thiol proteinase). Active synthesis of the inhibitors during cell culture was indicated by the requirement for cell viability, the increase in inhibitory activity of the supernatant with time, and the incorporation of 35S-methionine into the inhibitors. The two inhibitors were stable to heat (70 degrees C) and extremes of pH. Their molecular weights were estimated at 670 and 250 kD, respectively. A screening of the supernatants of five other human melanoma cell lines by HPLC showed that they all released a similar trypsin inhibitory factor not detected in human or bovine serum. The isolation of these proteinase inhibitors facilitates a study of their putative role in tumor growth.

Detection of immunologically related Kunitz and Bowman-Birk proteinase inhibitors expressed during potato tuber development.

Antiserum against a potato Kunitz-type proteinase inhibitor (PKPI) expressed in Escherichia coli was produced. In immunoblotting assays of proteins from potato tubers cultured in vitro, three proteins reacted to the antiserum, two of 20 kDa and one of 10 kDa. Their N-termini were sequenced. While the 20 kDa proteins showed 59 and 90% identity to PKPI, the 10 kDa one had 65% identity to soybean C-II proteinase inhibitor. Characterization of the temporal expression of these proteins showed that both could be detected from 10 days after induction of tuberization (DAI) in vitro, but the times when maximum amounts of PKPI and 10 kDa protein could be detected were different, corresponding to 22 and 32 DAI, respectively. The amounts of these proteins decreased in the following stages, and no positive reaction of the antiserum with mature tuber proteins could be found. The 20 kDa proteins were also detected in early stages of development of potato tubers grown in the field, indicating that these proteins are expressed during normal tuber development, and differ from the PKPIs reported previously.

Rhipicephalus sanguineus trypsin inhibitors present in the tick larvae: isolation, characterization, and partial primary structure determination.

Blood sucking animals are a rich source of proteinase inhibitors mainly those that interfere in their host hemostatic systems. The tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus is an ectoparasite of dogs and other animals. The aims of this work were the purification and characterization of serine proteinase inhibitors present in R. sanguineus larvae (RsTI). The inhibitors (RsTI) were isolated by affinity chromatography on trypsin-Sepharose and ion exchange chromatographies in Resource Q and Mono S columns. These RsTIs were separated in around 12 different protein peaks, when they showed molecular masses between 8 and 18 kDa, by SDS-PAGE. Purified RsTIs presented differences in the specificity for different serine proteinases. RsTIQ2 was, better inhibitor than RsTIQ7 and RsTIS5 for neutrophil elastase, plasmin, and HuPK with dissociation constants (K(i)) of 1.3, 3.2, and 22 nM, respectively. Other inhibitors such as RsTIQ7, RsTIS3, and RsTIS5 also affected neutrophil elastase and plasmin with K(i) in the nM range. The RsTIQ2, RsTIQ7, and RsTIS5 amino acid sequence data allowed classifying them as members of the Kunitz-type serine proteinase inhibitor family, even though the RsTI role is still unknown. Our present results showed that serine proteinase inhibitors from R. sanguineus are similar to inhibitors from Boophilus microplus other hard tick species, suggesting a similar role of these inhibitors in hard tick species and also as a potential tool to generate or improve vaccine against different ectoparasites with an unique antigen.

Evolutionary origin of a Kunitz-type trypsin inhibitor domain inserted in the amyloid beta precursor protein of Alzheimer's disease.

The Kunitz-type protease inhibitor is one of the serine protease inhibitors. It is found in blood, saliva, and all tissues in mammals. Recently, a Kunitz-type sequence was found in the protein sequence of the amyloid beta precursor protein (beta APP). It is known that beta APP accumulates in the neuritic plaques and cerebrovascular deposits of patients with Alzheimer's disease. Collagen type VI in chicken also has an insertion of a Kunitz-type sequence. To elucidate the evolutionary origin of these insertion sequences, we constructed a phylogenetic tree by use of all the available sequences of Kunitz-type inhibitors. The tree shows that the ancestral gene of the Kunitz-type inhibitor appeared about 500 million years ago. Thereafter, this gene duplicated itself many times, and some of the duplicates were inserted into other protein-coding genes. During this process, the Kunitz-type sequence in the present beta APP gene diverged from its ancestral gene about 270 million years ago and was inserted into the gene soon after duplication. Although the function of the insertion sequences is unknown, our molecular evolutionary analysis shows that these insertion sequences in beta APP have an evolutionarily close relationship with the inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor or trypstatin, which inhibits the activity of tryptase, a novel membrane-bound serine protease in human T4+ lymphocytes.

Characterization of trypsin inhibitors from Tora-mame seeds, one of the Japanese cultivars of Phaseolus vulgaris.

Four isoinhibitors against bovine pancreatic trypsin were purified from Phaseolus vulgaris(cv. Tora-mame) seeds by extraction with water(pH 2.0), ammonium sulfate fractionation, gel chromatography on Sephacryl S-200, trypsin-Sepharose gel affinity chromatography, and chromatofocusing. They inhibit both trypsin and chymotrypsin strongly. Their molecular masses are 85 kDa, estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Their isoelectric points range 5.09 to 4.46. They are high in the content of aspartic acid, serine, proline, and half-cystine but low in valine, methionine, tyrosine, and phenylalanine. Tryptophan is absent from them completely. They are bound to both trypsin and chymotrypsin with equimolar ratio, and have separate and independent binding sites for both proteases. Chemical modification showed that the inhibitors are of lysine type.

Molecular evolution of Bowman-Birk type proteinase inhibitors in flowering plants.

The Bowman-Birk family (BBI) of proteinase inhibitors is probably the most studied family of plant inhibitors. We describe the primary structure and the gene expression profile of 14 putative BBIs from the sugarcane expressed sequence tag database and show how we used these newly discovered sequences together with 87 previously described BBI sequences from the GenBank database to construct phylogenetic trees for the BBI family. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that BBI-type inhibitors from monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants could be clearly separated into different groups, while the overall topology of the BBI tree suggests a different pattern of evolution for BBI families in flowering plants. We also found that BBI proteinase inhibitors from dicotyledonous plants were well conserved, accumulating only slight differences during their evolution. In addition, we found that BBIs from monocotyledonous plants were highly variable, indicating an interesting process of evolution based on internal gene duplications and mutation events.

Purification and characterization of proteinase inhibitors from wild soja (Glycine soja) seeds.

Nine proteinase inhibitors, I-VIIa, VIIb, and VIII, were isolated from wild soja seeds by ammonium sulfate fractionation and successive chromatographies on SP-Toyopearl 650M, Sephacryl S-200SF, and DEAE-Toyopearl 650S columns. Reverse-phase HPLC finally gave pure inhibitors. All of the inhibitors inhibited trypsin with dissociation constants of 3.2-6.2 x 10(-9) M. Some of the inhibitors inhibited chymotrypsin and elastase as well. Two inhibitors (VIIb and VIII) with a molecular weight of 20,000 were classified as a soybean Kunitz inhibitor family. Others (I-VIla) had a molecular weight of about 8,000, and were stable to heat and extreme pH, suggesting that these belonged to the Bowman-Birk inhibitor family. Partial amino acid sequences of four inhibitors were also analyzed. The complete sequence of inhibitor IV was ascertained from the nucleotide sequences of cDNA clones encoding isoinhibitors homologous to soybean C-II.