title: Unique precursor structure of an extracellular protease, aqualysin I, with NH2- and COOH-terminal pro-sequences and its processing in Escherichia coli.
abstract: Aqualysin I is a subtilisin-type serine protease which is secreted into the culture medium by Thermus aquaticus YT-1, an extremely thermophilic Gram-negative bacterium. The nucleotide sequence of the entire gene for aqualysin I was determined, and the deduced amino acid sequence suggests that aqualysin I is produced as a large precursor, consisting of at least three portions, an NH2-terminal pre-pro-sequence (127 amino acid residues), the protease (281 residues), and a COOH-terminal pro-sequence (105 residues). When the cloned gene was expressed in Escherichia coli cells, aqualysin I was not secreted. However, a precursor of aqualysin I lacking the NH2-terminal pre-pro-sequence (38-kDa protein) accumulated in the membrane fraction. On treatment of the membrane fraction at 65 degrees C, enzymatically active aqualysin I (28-kDa protein) was produced in the soluble fraction. When the active site Ser residue was replaced with Ala, cells expressing the mutant gene accumulated a 48-kDa protein in the outer membrane fraction. The 48-kDa protein lacked the NH2-terminal 14 amino acid residues of the precursor, and heat treatment did not cause any subsequent processing of this precursor. These results indicate that the NH2-terminal signal sequence is cleaved off by a signal peptidase of E. coli, and that the NH2- and COOH-terminal pro-sequences are removed through the proteolytic activity of aqualysin I itself, in that order. These findings indicate a unique four-domain structure for the aqualysin I precursor; the signal sequence, the NH2-terminal pro-sequence, mature aqualysin I, and the COOH-terminal pro-sequence, from the NH2 to the COOH terminus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Chemistry, University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Terada
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyata
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsuzawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohta
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004792:Enzyme Precursors / Q000235:genetics*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D007700:Kinetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D010957:Plasmids; D011487:Protein Conformation; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D013824:Thermus / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004792:Enzyme Precursors; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; C055102:aqualysin I