title: Partial purification and characterization of N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase from human and mouse serum.
abstract: The enzyme N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase (mucopeptide amidohydrolase, EC 3.5.1.28) has been detected in human, mouse, rabbit, bovine and sheep sera. A method for detection of amidase activity using [14C]peptidoglycan monomer as the substrate has been developed. Partial purification of human and mouse amidase was achieved by gel chromatography on Bio-Gel A-1.5 m, DEAE-Sephadex A-50 and Sephadex G-100. Both amidase preparations exhibited maximal activity at pH 9.0 in Tris-HCl buffer and required Mg2+ for maximal activity. Following digestion of peptidoglycan monomer, GlcNAc-MurNAc-L-Ala-D-isoglutaminyl-meso-diaminopimelyl-D-Ala-D-Ala, the disaccharide GlcNAc-MurNAc and the corresponding pentapeptide L-Ala-D-isoglutaminyl-meso-diaminopimelyl-D-Ala-D-Ala were formed and subsequently isolated and chemically characterized. The enzyme therefore acts as an N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase by cleaving the bond between N-acetylmuramic acid and L-alanine. The glycan linked, peptide-not-cross-linked peptidoglycan dimer was also shown to be a substrate for human and mouse amidase.
mesh_terms: D000581:Amidohydrolases / Q000097:blood*; D000818:Animals; D002021:Buffers; D002417:Cattle; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D006868:Hydrolysis; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008274:Magnesium / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice; D009238:N-Acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine Amidase / Q000097:blood* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010457:Peptidoglycan / Q000378:metabolism; D011817:Rabbits; D012756:Sheep; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D002021:Buffers; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D010457:Peptidoglycan; D000581:Amidohydrolases; D009238:N-Acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine Amidase; D008274:Magnesium