title: Complete amino acid sequence of ananain and a comparison with stem bromelain and other plant cysteine proteases.
abstract: The amino acid sequences of ananain (EC3.4.22.31) and stem bromelain (3.4.22.32), two cysteine proteases from pineapple stem, are similar yet ananain and stem bromelain possess distinct specificities towards synthetic peptide substrates and different reactivities towards the cysteine protease inhibitors E-64 and chicken egg white cystatin. We present here the complete amino acid sequence of ananain and compare it with the reported sequences of pineapple stem bromelain, papain and chymopapain from papaya and actinidin from kiwifruit. Ananain is comprised of 216 residues with a theoretical mass of 23464 Da. This primary structure includes a sequence insert between residues 170 and 174 not present in stem bromelain or papain and a hydrophobic series of amino acids adjacent to His-157. It is possible that these sequence differences contribute to the different substrate and inhibitor specificities exhibited by ananain and stem bromelain.
authors.affiliation: Genzyme Corporation, 1 Mountain Road, Framingham, MA 01701-9322, USA.
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Albee
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Bernasconi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Edmunds
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001963:Bromelains / Q000737:chemistry*; D003488:Cyanogen Bromide / Q000378:metabolism; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000737:chemistry*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000201:enzymology*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017421:Sequence Analysis
chemical_list: D010446:Peptide Fragments; D001963:Bromelains; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; C057808:ananain; D003488:Cyanogen Bromide