Abstract
A purification protocol, involving water extraction, ammonium sulfate precipitation, Sepharose 4B-trypsin affinity and FPLC Superdex G-75 chromatography, was employed to isolate a trypsin inhibitor from Albizzia kalkora seeds. The inhibitor, which had a molecular mass of 19,768.23 Da, consisted of two disulfide-linked polypeptide chains with approximate molecular mass of 15.5 and 4.5 kDa, respectively. It was stable from pH 2–12 for 24 h, whereas it was unstable either above 80°C for 10 min or under reduced condition over 60 min. The inhibitor, which inhibited trypsin activity with an apparent K i of 2.5 × 10−7 M, had one reactive site involved with a lysine residue. Disulfide linkage and lysine residue were important in maintaining its active conformation. Partial amino acid sequence of the purified protein showed a high degree of homology with various members of the Kunitz inhibitor family. Moreover, trypsin-like proteases from larval Helicoverpa armigera, Spodoptera exigua, and Pieris rapae were inhibited for 85, 57, and 68% respectively, by the inhibitor at 45 μg ml−1.
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This work was supported by grants from the Major Science and Technology Research Program of Ministry of Education of China (No. 104151) and from the Science and Technology Program of Southwest Jiaotong University (No. 20060116).
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Zhou, JY., Liao, H., Zhang, NH. et al. Identification of a Kunitz inhibitor from Albizzia kalkora and its inhibitory effect against pest midgut proteases. Biotechnol Lett 30, 1495–1499 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-008-9699-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-008-9699-0