ABSTRACT
1. A kinin-inactivating chymotrypsin-like serine-endopeptidase was purified 202-fold from human urine by DEAE-cellulose chromatography, gel filtration, DEAE/HPLC chromatography and affinity chromatography. It hydrolyzed bradykinin at the Phe5-Ser6 peptide bond at a rate of 1.090 mumol min-1 mg protein-1 at pH 8.0 and 37 degrees C. The molecular weight of this endopeptidase H2, estimated by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and by gel filtration, was 60 kDa, and its optimum pH for bradykinin hydrolysis was near 8.5. 2. Bradykinin inactivating activity was inhibited 100 per cent by the serine-proteinase inhibitor PMFS (1 mM) and the chymotrypsin inhibitor TPCK (5 mM). Reagents such as 2-mercaptoethanol (3 mM) and pOH-mercuribenzoate (3 mM) inhibited the enzyme by 100 per cent and 67 per cent , respectively. 3. Endopeptidase H2 hydrolyzes the Phe-Ser bond of peptides related to bradykinin and its activity appears to be limited to peptide chains of < or = 18 amino acid residues since it does not hydrolyze BAM 22, peptide E or kininogen. 4. The molecular size and inhibition profile suggested that endopeptidase H2 differs from the serine-proteinases previously described in rat liver, rat hepatic endothelium, rat and rabbit brain. 5. The physiological role of endopeptidase H2 may be a link between the kinin and neuropeptide systems in the control of water-electrolyte balance