Abstract
A new serine protease with fibrinolytic activity from a marine invertebrate, Urechis unicinctus, was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity using column chromatography. SDS-PAGE of the purified enzyme showed a single polypeptide chain with MW ~20.8 kDa. Its N-terminal sequence was IIGGSQAAITSY. The purified enzyme, UFEIII, was stable at pH 6–10 below 60 °C with an optimum pH of 8.5 at approx. 55 °C. The enzyme activity was significantly inhibited by PMSF and SBTI suggesting that it was a serine protease. In fibrin plate assays, UFEIII was contained 1.46 × 103 U (urokinase units) mg−1 total fibrinolytic activity, which consisted of 692 U mg−1 direct fibrinolytic activity and 769 U mg−1 plasminogen-activator activity. Km and Vmax values for azocasein were 1 mg ml−1 and 43 μg min−1 ml−1, respectively.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are very grateful to Bonnie Paxman (Utah, USA) for her help with language modification. This study was financially supported by the National high-technology research and development program (863 program) of China (No. 2009ZX09103-646).
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Bi, Q., Han, B., Liu, W. et al. UFEIII, a fibrinolytic protease from the marine invertebrate, Urechis unicinctus . Biotechnol Lett 35, 1115–1120 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-013-1187-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-013-1187-5