title: Purification and molecular cloning of a major antibacterial protein of the protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica with lysozyme-like properties.
abstract: A protein with potent antibacterial activity was purified to apparent homogeneity from pathogenic Entamoeba histolytica. It resembles lysozyme in that it is a basic protein which degrades cell walls of Micrococcus luteus, displays optimal activity at acidic pH, and shows a preference for Gram-positive bacteria. The protein has a molecular mass of approximately 23 kDa upon SDS/PAGE and is localized inside the cytoplasmic granules of the amoebae. The primary structure was elucidated by protein analysis and molecular cloning of the corresponding cDNA. It yielded a protein of 198 residues with structural similarity to the distinct class of lysozymes found in Streptomyces species and the fungus Chalaropsis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leippe
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003594:Cytoplasmic Granules / Q000737:chemistry; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004748:Entamoeba histolytica / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009113:Muramidase / Q000378:metabolism*; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D018076:DNA, Complementary; C095244:N-acetylmuraminidase protein, Entamoeba histolytica; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D009113:Muramidase